Welcome to the third episode of the Web and the World podcast — it’s been a while, but I’m excited about this one 🥳. Listen here in Substack, or wherever else fine podcasts are found: Spotify, Apple Pods, and most others.
Today we’ll hear from Justin L., who’s lived and worked extensively around the Middle East, and is building something called Palestine Skating Game that I think is just badass. Justin is looking to hire a creative director to lead the charge and raise some funds to keep the game going, so I’m hoping some extra eyes and ears might help.
This also feels like a good time for the episode given that a ceasefire in Gaza has finally been called — though it’s hard to feel truly hopeful about Palestine’s future right now. As some readers know, this topic is near and dear to my heart: I lived in Turkey years ago and have traveled a great deal around the Middle East. And I visited Gaza in 2015 and 2017 to mentor startups with Gaza Sky Geeks, a startup accelerator and tech training organization that does amazing work. (I wrote about that experience a year ago in the newsletter — here, here, here, and here.)
Justin and I talk about the game at length, but for now I’ll say it’s gutsy and cool and I love it. Think of it as something like Tony Hawk, except the protagonist skates around Palestine graffitiing the big, ugly concrete walls that separate Gaza and the West Bank from Israel — and must avoid getting shot by Israel Defense Force soldiers in the process.
The game is still in prototype stage, which is why Justin’s raising funds and trying to hire an Arabic creative director to finish building it. But readers can check out demos on the game’s Instagram, and download a playable prototype. There’s women in purple headscarves skateboarding and rollerblading, realistic modeling of the oppressive concrete wall, and a ton of great modern music from around the Middle East. Part of why I love this game is the counter-narrative it presents to the usual portrayals we see of the Arab World — and also because it’s a gutsy activist pro-Palestine game that might just break through to the young, male crowd that helped elect Donald Trump. And it’s also helping employ coders and designers in Palestine and Lebanon, who could really use some support from us right now.
This conversation, it’s worth noting, sounds uncomfortably like two white guys talking at length about the Arab world — because it is 🫠. But Justin works exclusively with coders and designers in Palestine and elsewhere in the Middle East to build this, and I learned about the project via a Gazan friend named Doaa, whom I met years ago through Gaza Sky Geeks. She used to work on the game herself — I wrote about her in a newsletter post last January, after her family’s house was destroyed by an Israeli bomb. Luckily she was okay, and managed to raise funds to escape safely with her sister to Egypt, where she’s staying now. She’s no longer affiliated with the project, but I’m glad I was able to convince Justin to join in her stead.
So, without further ado — thank you all for reading and listening, and enjoy 🌍
Links from the episode:
Palestine Skating Game Go Fund Me — help raise funds to build the game, and support employees in Palestine and Lebanon
Some wonderful songs and videos from the Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila:
We Are Lady Parts TV show
Gaza Sky Geeks, an amazing Palestinian tech training organization
Show Music by Juanitos, “Do the Kangaroo” from the Free Music Archive (CC BY-SA).
Song of the Week: Mashrou’ Leila — Radio Romance, which comes up in the show.
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