Maps reflect and perpetuate power relations, often expressing the interests of dominant groups, and the intricacies of nineteenth-century colonialism and imperialism were reflected in cartography, where cartographers drew lines on paper as boundaries separating human resources. Another example is the Mercator projection commonly used for world maps, which is an inaccurate representation because when cartographers ‘flatten’ the earth, they need to make certain choices: size, shape and distance will all be different from the real world. Maps are not just neutral tools, but strategic weapons for expressing power. Grassroots groups and individuals can also use mapping for a variety of purposes. Maps can be used to make counter-claims, to make marginalised and hidden histories visible, to develop practical plans for social change or to imagine utopian worlds1. Many NGOs and charities enable indigenous communities to map their territories in order to make land claims and protect resources from capital appropriation. It is worth noting that the maps do not need to be drawn on paper, nor do they have to be two-dimensional.

The map that the project finally expects to come up with is done by the Palestinian diaspora, who express their determination as a diaspora to want to return to Palestine, as a bottom-up mapping device. The virtual world itself is a map, it is not two-dimensional. The game engine maps all real facts and virtual non-realities, and the players become part of the map in the virtual world. Whatever route they have chosen to visit, once the game starts they can walk through the virtual Sebastia as they choose, without being restricted by so-called policies and walls of isolation. Everyone will have their own choice and therefore everyone will generate their own map in which they can also put forward their ideas, making the anti-apartheid cartography even more powerful.