Palestine's first aquarium brings marine life to landlocked West Bank

August 30, 2018 4:54 PM

On July 23, 2018, Palestine's first aquarium opened. Schools of fish and creatures in every colour of the rainbow dart across the tanks or sit motionless. Some have travelled from as far as Southeast Asia to grace the Palestinian public, such as the Giant Gourami. Even the Iguana, a reptile native to Central and South America as well as the Caribbean, greets curious visitors with its solemn stare. Sofia Qawasmeh believes everyone should be able to see these types of creatures.

Welcome to the Palestine Aquarium, the first of its kind [Al Jazeera]

Some fish photos from the opening day [imgur]

In pictures: Newly-opened 'Palestine Aquarium' turned into a tourist attraction in Ramallah [Arabian Business]

posted by standardasparagus (4 comments total)

Interesting, thanks. I didn't know West Bank residents were not permitted to visit the coast.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:21 PM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

I actually really like the design of the building - when they said ship, I thought that was nice, but the actual image still evokes a ship while probably being a lot cheaper and more space-efficient than a recreated or moved ship.
posted by AnhydrousLove at 3:21 AM on August 31, 2018

Hope the architects have planned for sufficient Ruinenwert.
posted by Meatbomb at 5:19 AM on August 31, 2018 [4 favorites]

Hey, Palestinians are human beings and they're allowed to have nice things and take delight in the riches of the world. Can we not joke about how soon this will be destroyed? There are not a lot of entertainment options in Ramallah, especially for kids, and this looks like people have put a lot of work into it - let alone the dedication and perseverance it must have taken to get the fish through Israeli border security, which is notoriously arcane, bureaucratic, hostile and arbitrary, even to non-Palestinians. I know it's fun to be cynical but it comes off as pretty gross.
posted by trotzdem_kunst at 7:20 PM on September 1, 2018 [1 favorite]