Resistance through gaming and fun is the aim of two young women from the Middle East who launched a new card game last week which links the shared histories of Ireland and Palestine under colonisation.

The aim of the ‘Roots and Resistance’ game is to teach players about the history, heritage, and culture of two countries with a shared history of being colonised and occupied.

It took the two young women, Hiba Awaysa from Palestine and Maria Kesherian from Lebanon, just five months to develop the game after meeting up at a large national demonstration in solidarity with the people of Palestine in Dublin last year.

Both Hiba and Maria live in Galway, on Ireland’s west coast, and both of them found that they had a shared interest in history, education, and social justice issues. The card game, which can be purchased online, marries Maria’s love of gaming and card games with Hiba’s burning desire to tell the story of her people at a time of crisis in Palestine.

They have come up with a new company called Yalla Craic and a card game called ‘Roots and Resistance’ which they launched in front of a hugely enthusiastic audience at Aras nan Gael in Galway City last weekend. “Yalla!” in Arabic loosely translates as “Let’s go!”

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They have described the game, which can be played by two or more players, as an exploration of “two lands, one struggle, and a deck of defiance and hope”. The game came about when Hiba noticed that many people had misconceptions about each other’s backgrounds when she first moved to Ireland to take up a scholarship at the University of Galway.

Maria and Hiba developed the game over just five months, through weekly meetings at their respective homes in Galway City. They gave each other weekly tasks as they set about transforming Hiba’s dream – a game which could teach people about the history and culture of both Palestine and Ireland – into a game which people could play in their leisure time.

Both have been inspired by Ireland’s long struggle against colonisation since they both moved to Galway to study. While they both have busy lives – Maria works full-time for a homeless charity in Ireland and Hiba is doing a Ph. D – they made sure to meet up every week and to plan out their start-up venture.

Hiba already had a background in innovation, having set up her own tech startup in Palestine before she received a scholarship to study at the University of Galway in 2023. The organisation she co-founded, Sawaed 19, connects volunteers, organisations, and institutions, and has remained unbelievably busy due to the onslaught in Gaza over the past two and a half years.

“I wanted to set up Yalla Craic, because I wanted to teach young people about the ancient places, the historic places, in Palestine. When I came to Ireland, I wanted to build connections, to challenge the biases that every one of us holds, unintentionally and unconsciously, about each other,” says Hiba.

“I have always had this sense of ‘what can I do?’. The social start up I helped set up is a platform which connects volunteers with volunteering opportunities. We provide a volunteer management system to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). During the genocide, we put our emphasis on humanitarian initiatives in Gaza. We tried to connect Irish NGOs with Palestinian NGOs, reflecting this sense of ‘what can we do?’”

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After their first chance meeting at a Palestine protest, they met up weekly at their homes on the west side of Galway City. A business strategy soon unfolded. Maria became the game developer, trying out ideas on her friends and volunteer students, while Hiba oversaw logistics and the business side of things. Both saw a fun game as a way of raising awareness about what is happening in Palestine.

“Coming to Ireland was the first time I lived outside Palestine. We met in my house that first night and we brainstormed our ideas. Our first idea was a game which asked how to defeat the Brits,” laughs Hiba.

“Maria had the responsibility to think about the game itself, and I had to think about the commercial perspective, where we could produce it, who could design it, what would the marketing plan look like.”

The second week they met up, Hiba had offered to cook dinner. Maria was so excited about the ideas she had come up with that they almost forgot to eat the burgers Hiba had prepared. They began to think about what the cards should look like.

“I don’t have a business mind at all,” laughs Maria. “If you talk to me about business, everything would be a mess. It is amazing that we now have the finished game out after just five months of working together. It is hugely rewarding. This game is created in Ireland, it is illustrated in Palestine, and it is printed here in Ireland.”

Hiba said she had a great network of contacts at home in Palestine, since she co-founded the tech start-up in 2021. That network helped her to bring Maria’s ideas to fruition.

Web developers and designers back in Palestine helped the women turn Maria’s vision into a game which people could play with friends at home. Maria said they both were struck by how much Irish people love telling each other stories after they moved to Galway. They wanted to “honour” that through the game.

Hiba and Maria provide a glossary of terms and explainers to help players tell their stories or win arguments with rival players during the game. For example, not everyone realises that the Black ‘n’ Tans were redeployed to Palestine after their brutal deployment in Ireland. The Yalla Craic website gives players background information.

The Black and Tans were a paramilitary force who terrorised the people of Ireland during its War of Independence between 1919 and 1921. When most of Ireland broke free of British rule, they were recruited into the police force of the British Mandate in Palestine between 1922 and 1926.

The Black and Tans were a paramilitary force who terrorised the people of Ireland during its War of Independence between 1919 and 1921. When most of Ireland broke free of British rule, they were recruited into the police force of the British Mandate in Palestine between 1922 and 1926.

They were known for brutal tactics against civilians, using communal punishment and excessive force, in both countries.

Painful tragedies in both countries, such as the murder of 14 Gaelic football supporters by British forces at Croke Park in Dublin in 1920, are covered and explained in the game.

“Not everyone would know about the Black ‘n’ Tans, for example, so that is why we have a glossary of terms on the website. Not everyone would know that before the Bloody Sunday in Derry there was a Bloody Sunday at Croke Park in Dublin during the football game. We want people to share stories while they are playing the game,” says Maria.

“When people think about Palestine, they always think about the occupation, about bad things. But Palestine is more than that. Throughout the game, when people are playing it, they will see the similarities between the two countries, and it will kind of change their perspective. They will see it as a real country and see that Palestinians are just people like us. We are humanising Palestinians through this game.”

“When people think about Palestine, they always think about the occupation, about bad things. But Palestine is more than that. Throughout the game, when people are playing it, they will see the similarities between the two countries, and it will kind of change their perspective. They will see it as a real country and see that Palestinians are just people like us. We are humanising Palestinians through this game.”

The launch of ‘Roots and Resistance’ in Galway was a joyous affair, as the two young women were joined by friends, activists for Palestine, and volunteers who had helped them to “test” the game.

“We hope that this game will raise awareness, get people thinking, and asking questions,” she says. “We want to expand our community and use this game to connect with the younger generation. As activists, we must improve our own tools. We are not saying ‘Resist now’ or ‘Kill each other’. We want to bring people together and raise unanswered questions which will leave people thinking, and curious, and asking questions.”

Their new venture is called Yalla Craic and they have a website https://yallacraic.com/. Their new ‘Roots and Resistance’ game, which they hope will be the first of many, can be purchased through Shopify. 

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