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Reading, Internet, and Family
Communication: Study of Cultural
Globalization Challenges
Heyam Hayek
Unit Head/ Cultural Programs and Activities
Qattan Centre for the Child
September 23, 2011

2.
Reading, Internet, and Family Communication:
Study of Cultural Globalization
Challenges
Heyam Hayek
Unit Head/ Cultural Programs and Activities
Qattan Centre for the Child
September 23, 2011
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Reading, Internet, and Family Communication: a Study of Cultural Globalization
Challenges
Abstract:
Applied science and technology has changed rapidly over the past four decades, particularly in
the field of information technology and telecommunications. This series of changes is considered
to be the third revolution in human civilization. The world has become, therefore, as a small
village that reduces distances between people and accelerates the time wheel. Millions of people
in different cultures, knowledge levels, languages, and locations are now able to communicate
and interact in real time (audio and video). Hence, this technology might interfere with the user‟s
culture and privacy by promoting diversity of, for instance, culture, behaviour, and/or daily
lifestyle.
This might make the relationship between the generations weaker or more complex. The
emergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) could have a negative social
impact on family relations, especially in the Arab world. ICT could undoubtedly affect Arabic
culture, which has inherited specific themes and characteristics over thousands of years.
Cultural globalisation via the Internet tends to exclude or homogenise local heritages. Today we
are, therefore, obliged to study changes in attitudes about communication within Arab families,
and specifically Palestinian families. First, we must figure out the role of cultural and social
institutions in facing and responding to the emergence of ICT. Second, how can the narrative of
grandparents and parents be developed in its historical context? Third, how can reading be
integrated into social activities to maintain a coherent society in light of cultural globalisation?
And finally, what are the methods to conduct this integration in light of technological changes
such as e-reading?
Therefore, this study attempts to answer the previous questions. An exploration research will be
implemented to figure out the current activities by Palestinians' institutions for enhancing
reading and its skills in the studied society.
Introduction
Millions of people go online daily.. Some dedicate most of their lives to the online community.
Rather than other forms of social life which cause isolating users in a virtual world. These
strange phenomena in Arab culture which is based on dialogue and communication between
society and families members, which known as the extended family, where the father and the
son, and grandfather, all in the same house. Children no longer feel the kindness and the warm
feelings of their mother and father, they get while reading stories to them. Grandpa and
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Grandma no longer have important role in the lives of children. Father and mother on the
Internet chatting with friends from other worlds, or they browse the Web sites. Children playing
on the internet and browsing lots of sites that may contain good and bad contents. They become
addicted to their presence on the Internet, which causes a state of alienation from reality.
Grandmother or grandfather living in a world of memories because of a lack of communication
with them, there is no longer family meetings attended by different generations who enjoy
reading whether written or oral. The existence of the Internet and the consequences of cultural
globalization reduce the opportunities of society and people communication. They have lost
their solidarity and collaboration, which was linked by sitting together and practice many
activities like reading and listening to stories and news.
Reading Like other language skills, an essential skill for human communication, this
communication that convey the culture and heritage from generation to generation, and promote
warm relations that are based on love, brotherhood and solidarity.
Palestinian Generations
A generation being defined as an identifiable group that shares birth years, age, location, and
significant life events at critical developmental stages (Kupperschmidt, 2000)i
In this paper we divide Palestinian generation into three ``generations'', each with unique
Policy components, related to the social, economic and political characteristics of its period in history.
Palestinians who were Palestinians who were born Palestinians who were born
born before and in the from(1957- 1977) from (1978- 1995)
first years of 54- 34 years old in 2011 33_16 years old in 2011
Nakba(1938-1956)
73- 55 years old in 2011
General Between 600,000 and Lived through the period of Palestinians born and raised
view 700,000 Palestinians were struggle and the Palestinian under Israeli occupation: jil al-
made refugees by the commando operations intifada, the intifada
summer of 1949. jil al-thawra—the generation. This was a
—jil alnakba— revolutionary generation generation composed of
as having failed to resist teenagers as much as it was of
the Zionist conquest.ii children (some as young as
nine-years-old), who
confronted Israeli soldiers
openly despite the imbalance
of power
atfal al-hijara or the
“children of the stones”
Hero Jamal abd el naser and Yasser Arafat, Hawatmeh Shaheed(a religious term in
&symbol Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni and George Habash, who Islam, meaning both "witness"
who were heroes for them were heroes for them and "martyr”
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"Return Key" Koffiyeh, symbol of the fight Patriotic songs and poems
The key symbolizes the and the struggle glorifying the atfal al-hijara
right of return for were
Palestinian refugees produced with gusto ,
worldwide symbols of struggle and
sacrifice
Fashion Traditional clothing Keep Palestinian traditional Islamic clothes. Hejjab in
costumes beside modern addition to the latest fashion
fashion for young people,
such as shirt & pants and
short dresses for girls
Lifestyle Agricultural Community Relief and international aid, Multitaskers , they don‟t focus
Extended family Work within the Israeli as they‟re more distractible
characterized by solidarity territories, Relations of the Disintegrated relations as a
and integration. camp associated with the result of Ideological extremism
differences of Refugees
Value Social participation, Solidarity, sacrifice, contradictory value systems:
System bravery, and uncertainty, Commando revolutionary the most liberal and democratic
freedom, power of self- work and the most extremist Islamic,
esteem, Domination, and sometimes existing inside one
responsibility and the same person
Have high affiliation for
home and land
Cultural The opening of Arab Palestinian universities such e- learning
icons College in Jerusalem and as Birzeit University and An- Virtual app.
cinema in Jaffa Najah National University (24/7 on internet).
View of Return back to their land Double vision; some have as Pessimistic vision, Tomorrow
the one day optimistic view on return, is a dark tunnel
Future and others possessed a
pessimistic view on return
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These generations that the Palestinian table shows, indicates some features of living together in
the same family within the Palestinian community adding another important factor represented in
the return of the Palestinians from abroad. After years and for some, decades of living in
foreign countries and cultures, these Palestinian “Returnees” bring with them not only their
desire to contribute to the new state, but also new ideas and values from abroad. Many of these
“new” ideas are really Western ideas that are clashing with Palestinian-Arab cultural traditions
and beliefs.
This mode of living, and this difference of intellectual and cultural enhance to deepen the gap
between the generations which appears in many forms of disagreement, contradiction and
divergence in certain matters regarding their attitudes, values, closeness, and communication.
This lack of understanding of social, moral, political, musical, sartorial or religious opinions
leads to lack of acceptance, which is the primary reason why families break and why all this gap
between the Palestinian generation .
Models for institutional efforts to frame the reading as a link between the generations
One concept of the generation gap is that parents and offspring have different values and beliefs.
As a result, many parents fear that they will lose influence on their children when peer pressure
becomes too highly valued. Parents and their children find it hard to learn from each other, so
they point their fingers at each other instead. In Palestine there are few contributions for cultural
institutions and organizations to link between Palestinian generations like:
 Qattan Center for the child
 Tamer Institute for Community Education
 Cultural gatherings such as Salon "NOON
Qattan Centre for the Child in Gaza City, which boasts over 100,000 volumes and a variety of
other library and information services, was established to compensate for the lack of incentives
and opportunities, both socially and in the traditional educational system, for children to nurture
their curiosity, expand their knowledge and facilitate their access to outside cultures. It also aims
to cultivate children intellectually, emotionally and socially in order to enable them to become
active and effective social beings within the context of an increasingly globalised world.
How Qattan Centre for Child bridges the gap between generations?
Qattan Centre for Child have many efforts to improve links between the young and older
generations, through intergenerational programs as deliberate attempts to connect the old and
young through program activities that have shown to produce desirable outcome and increasingly
recognized as an effective tool to close the generation gap
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Qattan Centre for the child bridging the Gap generation through a variety of activities, involving
adults and children, for example
 Hekayat Jady( My Grandfather tales)
 Family Literacy
 Qattan clubs
 Reading workshops
 Computer Literacy
 Open days ( all community share in this events ) ... etc.
Here we will introduce a simple explanation for some activities in order to acquire insight
into the nature of these activities designed to reduce the gap between generations:
Hekayat Jady
In Qattan Center for the child , we can no more assume that strong bonding will certainly exist
between the generations, even when three generations live under the same roof. Grandparents
who are alone the whole day may feel
isolated in a three-generational
household; even when their children and
grandchildren are at home in the evening,
For this, It was necessary for cultural and
community centers in Palestine to adapt
the activities of these elderly people which
help them return to normal life and give
them the sense that they have value in
society and can provide useful services
to others. From this point Hekayat
Jady program was released.
Older generations in Hekayat Jady
program tell stories and tales for children
about the history of Palestine, the customs and traditions of the Palestinian cities, Use narrative
speech and story reading to enhance children's knowledge of Palestinian culture and veer a child
towards values that can become principles for life. Hekayat Jady program offer a high-impact
experience for the new generations.
Senior citizens in Palestine will contribute mightily to the nurturing, mentoring, and academic
success of Palestinian children who are struggling with the effects of:
 Israeli wars
 Division between the two parts of the country (Gaza - West Bank)
 Internal conflict (Hamas - Fatah)
 Different affiliations and poverty.
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Computer literacy program
Computer literacy is a great way to
bridge generation Gap, Reduce the
technology gap between
generations involved in the Qattan
Center is a strategic matter for the
institution, For this there were
technology programs for the
elderly to enable them to interact
with the younger generation, like
“My Child and Computer
“program, In this activity, fathers,
mothers and children in joint
activities combine fun and
education
Family Literacy
Among the various social institutions, the family is probably the only institution that is „truly
age integrated‟ (Hagestad and Uhlenber, 2005, 2006), Family literacy is a powerful way to
support parents with few skills and show them how they can help their children become more
confident and effective communicators.
Qattan center for the child runs 2 parents‟ clubs, empowering the parent-child relationship.
a) Kindergartens’ Family Literacy:
Empowering the parents‟ role as the first
teacher to their preschool children,
through:
 Capacity building through a Family
Literacy Program targeting the staff of
24 kindergartens (KGs) in Gaza
 Establishing 24 parents clubs in the
participant 24 KGs
(b) QCC Parents Club:
 Established in Nov. 2008.
 40 members (Fathers and Mothers).
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 Offers workshops, where parents can receive ideas about how to strengthen their child‟s
literacy skills.
Qattan center for the child promote initiatives from the young where youth/children provide a
service for the elderly, such as children visits to old folks‟ homes to serve as volunteers and
provide companionship to the older residents,
Tamer Institute for Community Education
An educational non-governmental non-profit organization established in 1989 as a natural and
necessary response to uregent needs in the Palestinian community.
The library is the Tamer Institute‟s resource centre and functions as the hub of a large network of
local children‟s libraries, currently more than seventy, which also work with each other. In
addition to distributing books, the Tamer Institute coordinates and initiates various activities
such as storytelling and reading aloud, workshops for authors and illustrators and psychosocial
literary activities for children and their families traumatized by the experience of war.
Daddy, Read to Me is one of the most
successful program in tamer institution. This
program reconnects incarcerated fathers to their
children in meaningful ways. It also provides the
child with the opportunity to re-connect to the
parent to be loved and nurtured.
For its exceptional reading promotion work, the
Tamer Institute for Community Education has
been awarded the 2009 Astrid Lindgren
Memorial Award
Salon "NOON" bridge the gap between generations
Like Salon, "" May Ziade " the famous Lebanese-Palestinian poet. Salon "NOON" holds
discussion meetings every first Tuesday of each month.
Salon "NOON" was founded in 2002 to focus on the role of intellectual women and to create a
climate of feminist, but this objective has expanded to become the home of all Palestinians,
regardless of sex and age. For each generation there are particular experiences that mold specific
preferences.
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Conclusion
It is clear that the current Palestinian experience has a range of important local initiatives that can
serve as a layout for a new development process, and have initial requirement emphasizes the
need to mainstream the idea of reading and make it a habit of community-based rehabilitation to
communicate through reading.
i
1- Fatah’s early magazine, Filastinuna (Our Palestine), published from 1959 to 1964 regularly
referred to the Palestinians as “children of the catastrophe” who had been reduced to “nothing
but jetsam and flotsam … dispersed in every corner.” Cited in Yezid Sayigh, “The Armed
Struggle and Palestinian Nationalism,” in The PLO and Israel: From Armed Conflict to Political
Solution, 1964-1994, ed. Avraham Sela and Moshe Ma’oz, 26 (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997).
2-
Kupperschmidt, B. R. (2000), Multigenerational employees: Strategies for effective management. The Health
ii
Care Manager, 19, 65-76.
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