Hibr

Joumana Al Jabri, TEDxRamallah

Q&A with Joumana Al Jabri, Communications Architect for TEDxRamallah

1. How can people in Lebanon attend TEDxRamallah?

There will be live streaming in Lebanon (and Jordan and Dubai). The thinking behind this is that it facilitates all Palestinians and Arabs to attend TEDxRamallah without actually being there.
We’re hoping that there will be more than one live streaming in Lebanon: one in Beirut and also one in a Palestinian camp in the north and another in the south.

Also, although TEDxRamallah is a one-day event, the work that is happening before also contributes to creating dialogue and awareness in Lebanon.

2. Who will be speaking?

The speakers won’t necessarily be Palestinian. They might be Palestinian, or have Palestinian blood, but they will all be people who have done inspirational work around the issue of Palestine.

3. What are your favorite TED Talks?

There are two. One is by Evelyn Glennie, a musician who became deaf aged 12, but through her persistence managed to change the system of teaching music in the UK. Before, people with disabilities were not integrated. The second is by Blaise Aguera y Arcas whose topic was Photosynth. He presented a talk about technology that showed how we can make use of data collected in mass to actually produce something.

4. Who have you nominated as a TEDxRamallah speaker?

My goal is to have at least one disabled speaker and at least one speaker younger than 24. The person I had in mind was Raad Aweisat, who was the first Palestinian to take part in the Olympics in 2004. Also Lydia Mansour, who’s aged around 84 and became blind aged 2, who set up an organization for the blind and disabled in Jerusalem.