Week six: getting out there
So here we
are, over half way through! With all of our capacity building sessions planned
we've been focussing on meeting with people about Voice of the Youth and
building the project's links with Palestinian NGOs. We've had some really
valuable meetings and since Jenni gave such a wonderful account of the people of
Palestine in our last post, I thought I'd tell you more about some of the
Palestinian organisations we have encountered and their work.
Visiting the Beit Ommar Centre for
Freedom and Justice
Last week several
of us travelled to Beit Ommar, a town 11km north of Hebron, to visit the town's
Centre for Freedom and Justice. Beit Ommar is surrounded by six illegal Israeli
settlements to which it has lost thousands of donums of fertile agricultural
land through expansion and improper disposal of waste. The centre works with
farmers to reclaim land, and to engage the local community in acts of peaceful
resistance.
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| Center for Freedom and Justice |
We met with
Muna, the centre's director, to discuss their work and to ask her expert
opinion on some key issues. In particular we were interested in the centre's
projects for women and how women engage in peaceful resistance, as we're
working on a Voice of the Youth video on the subject. The meeting gave us lots to
think about for our video, but also helped us gain an insight into the impact
of the occupation on the community in Beit Ommar. In a town where youth
unemployment is a major issue and residents are regularly subjected to abuse
from settlers, it was inspiring to visit an organisation dedicated to
strengthening the local community and resisting occupation in the face of
considerable challenges.
Women's empowerment at Aida Refugee
Camp
We gained
equally valuable insight when we visited the Noor Women's Empowerment Group en
masse on our day off. Noor WEG is an organisation in the Aida refugee camp,
Bethlehem, established by a group of women living in the camp and in the
neighbouring Al-Azzeh camp, who have disabled children and/or are solely in
charge of their families. The group offer cooking lessons, tours of the camp
and home stays to raise money and improve the lives of their children and
families
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| Noor Women's Empowerment Group |
We were
given a culinary master class by the amazing Islam, who welcomed us into her
home and showed us how to make delicious bread with za'atar and famous
Palestinian maqluba. We had a wonderful time learning how to make traditional
food and about the lives of the women in the group. Far from conforming to what
most people's ideas of a refugee camp would be, the visit proved to be just
another example of the endless Palestinian hospitality and openness.
Learning about Palestinian prisoners
at Addameer
More
recently, we visited Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association,
the leading Palestinian NGO that supports Palestinian political prisoners held
in Israeli and Palestinian prisons. Addameer provide legal aid and advocacy for
prisoners, as well as documenting violations of prisoners rights and
campaigning for change.
We were
distressed, though not surprised, to hear about the conditions Palestinian
prisoners are kept in by Israeli authorities. Arbitrary arrest, the absence of
due course in trials and detention conditions that violate human rights are all
routine experiences for Palestinian prisoners. The meeting gave us some idea of
the systemic injustice faced by Palestinians living under occupation, and has
certainly encouraged us to think of ways we can continue to advocate for the
Palestinian cause when we return home.
Other goings on
Aside from
our meetings we have been busy delivering capacity building sessions to our
brilliant Tamayyaz groups and even starting to think about our handover to the
next cohort (sob sob). We've decided to create a Voice of the Youth board of
editors to make sure the project is truly where it belongs, i.e. in the hands
of young Palestinians. To this end, we've begun recruiting Tamayyaz students to
work alongside the next batch of ICS volunteers as VOTY editors. With so much
talent and enthusiasm in each of the Tamayyaz groups we know we're going to
have an amazing editorial team, and are already excited about seeing where they
take the project when we leave. We've also sent our first Voice of the Youth
monthly newsletter, and are coming up with even more ways to promote the
project and grow its audience.
With only
three weeks left we're all trying not to think too much about the prospect of
going home, and have plenty to keep us busy until then so make sure you carry
on checking this blog for updates. Until the next time...
Salaam!
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