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6 Apr, 2013

Asia Times Online : Now for a vacation in Gaza, maybe

GAZA CITY – “We wanted to help foreigners in Gaza, so we created an English map of Gaza City,” says Amir Shurrab, one of the minds behind the foldable Gaza Tourist Map. At the time a lecturer for the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS), Shurrab led a team of Geographic Information System (GIS) professionals and students in mapping Gaza City street by street in 2009.

“GIS drawing is usually aided by satellites, but the Israeli occupation authorities prevented us from using the nearest satellite,” says Shurrab. “So we used one further away.

“We also wanted to share Gaza’s beauty and culture, to show a different face from what is seen in the media,” says Shurrab, referring to the images of Palestinians maimed and killed by Israeli bombings and shootings.

The map, also available on the Internet, is a cheery rendition of Gaza City’s highlights, and also optimistically depicts fishing boats in Gaza’s sea, an irony for Palestinian fishers daily targeted with shooting, shelling and abductions by the occupying Israeli navy.

Read the rest: Asia Times Online : Now for a vacation in Gaza, maybe.