A bilingual board game, in French and Arabic, was designed by the association Support for Solidarity Hebron to raise awareness of daily life under Israeli occupation.
The game is similar to a kind of Monopoly of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In the Topoly, each player chooses his pawn – a circle made of olive wood – each displaying a symbol of Palestine: the olive branch, the bunch of grapes, the refugee’s key or the Hicham palace in Jericho. “We’re leaving Jerusalem, anyway”, explains Madeleine Jarry, who has lived in Hebron for years. She imagined the game for the association Support for Solidarity Hebron: “The cheapest cities correspond to the northern cities well surrounded by the wall that are Tulkarem and Qalqilya. The four stations are replaced by the four most famous gates of the old city of Jerusalem. We continue via Tubas and Jenin.”
“Obviously there is the prison and simple visit space, then Jericho and its refugee camp. Afterwards, we go to the Jordan Valley and towards the Dead Sea. We also have a Gaza space surrounded by barbed wire.
Madeleine Jarry, Hebron Solidarity Supportat franceinfo
Snapshots of the lives of occupied Palestinians
This game is also a travel guide to Palestine. A brochure proposes to know more about each place. The most expensive places are Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, Hebron, the economic lung of Palestine, and Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, bourgeois and trendy. The “Chance” and “Community Chest” cards are snapshots of the lives of occupied Palestinians: “The idea is to show both what everyday life is from a social point of view, but also from a point of view of the political situation”explains Madeleine Jarry, before giving a few examples: “There are curfews; colonies are built on your land, you do not receive your rents; it’s Eid, you can go straight to Jerusalem; your well has been demolished by the army, you buy water; your olive trees have been uprooted by the settlers; you have been shot in the knee by a soldier’s shooting, you have to pay the hospitalization costs”…
“It’s a bit dark humor, but I think you can’t really survive in this country for many years without having humor.”
Madeleine Jarry, Hebron Solidarity Supportat franceinfo
As in reality, the price of electricity and water are prohibitive and will quickly put players out of business. Creepiest card: “The UN passes a resolution in favor of Palestine… Nothing moves, pass two rounds”.
THE Topoly is on sale online on the website of the association Solidarité Hébron.