July-September 2012

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Youth Education and Activation Project (YEAP)

Fourth Initiative: The YEAP participants facilitated and supported the implementation of BADIL’s World Refugee Day commemoration which occurred on 5 July.  The youth promoted the event and enlisted the participation of the civil society organizations in their communities. Through their engagement, the youth gained experience in event planning and implementation; became facilitators in their communities; and assisted in the set-up and breakdown of the kiosks of the participating civil society organizations.  See: http://badil.org/en/press-releases/142-2012/3582-press-eng-33

A portion of the YEAP youth increased their knowledge of ongoing displacement of the predicament of communities facing forced displacement by participating in the field mission and tour to the Jordan Valley and Central and Northern West Bank of the LYRN. See: http://badil.org/en/press-releases/142-2012/3608-press-eng-41

   

 
Strategy Forum

BADILZochrot Joint Action: The 2012 joint action initiative of BADIL-Zochrot was concluded successful.  This joint action focused on creating a practical vision of return that incorporated lessons learned from study missions to areas with comparable situations, such as Cape Town, South Africa.  The outputs of the joint action include four articles that broadly outline Palestinian refugee return.  The articles were published in BADIL’s English periodical, al majdal issue # 49.  See: http://www.badil.org/en/al-majdal/itemlist/category/221-issue-49

 

Civil Society Activists Forum (CSAF): The second meeting of BADIL's CSAF was held in Bethlehem on Friday, 28 October 2012. During the first session of the meeting, CSAF members discussed the early history of the Palestinian issue, elaborating key concepts and ideas, like colonialism and its 'moral justifications', utilized both by colonial powers as well as the Zionist movement/Israel. Consequently, the members of the forum engaged in a lively debate on the historic and ideological links between Zionism as a national movement and as a colonial enterprise.

 

During the second session of the 5-hours long meeting, the members of the forum embarked on a discussion on the 'ethnocratic' nature of the State of Israel, discussing the various components of this concept based on reading materials provided to the CSAF members beforehand.

 

BADIL's Civil Society Activists Forum (CSAF) aims to engage activists in the strategy debates about BADIL's rights-based vision and the root causes of the conflict. It will be supported by BADIL to encourage the implementation of popular initiatives whose themes are grounded in the historical and cultural events that have shaped Palestinian identity (Nakba, World Refugee Day, anniversary of UN Resolution 194).

 

Academic Activists Training: “Palestinian Refugees under International Law”, the BADIL course given at Al Quds University continues to gain momentum and popularity among academic activists and future human rights defenders.  For the fall semester, currently 61 students have enrolled in the course.

 

Local Youth Refugee Network (LYRN):

 

30 July-1 September - Thirty members of the LYRN participated in a 3 day field mission and tour to the Jordan Valley and Central and Northern West Bank. Through meeting and interacting with local communities, the tour aimed to educate youth on Israeli colonial practices, as well as the displacement mechanisms in these regions. In addition to this, the tour aimed to revive volunteerism among Palestinian youth. Participants not only learnt how forcible displacement policies take place, but also interacted with victims and set a plan for future activities. As future human rights defenders, participants have decided to conduct various activities aiming to raising the voice of displaced people. Moreover, between lectures given by local activists, meetings with members of popular committees, and visits to local communities in these areas, LRYN youth left their mark on one luck local elementary school, painting it walls, now adorned with beautiful paintings and colorful solidarity slogans. The school gardens and yards also had a fair share of LRYN care! See: http://www.badil.org/en/press-releases/142-2012/3608-press-eng-41

 

13-14 July - The LYRN participated in the “First Palestinian Diaspora Youth Conference” in Bethlehem sponsored by the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation. Despite the fine objectives, engaging agenda and good intentions, the conference had a decidedly political/factional bias.  Therefore, the LRYN, after consultation with BADIL, decided to boycott the second day of the conference in objection to the bias. 

 
Ongoing Nakba Education Center (ONEC)

BADIL Resource Center for Residency and Refugee Rights is delighted to announce through its Ongoing Nakba Education Center (ONEC) the release of the latest multi-media advocacy tools on the ONEC website. Several new tools have been added to the project documenting further cases of Palestinian displacement.

 

Additions to the ONEC-3rd Quarter

 

Type

Films (4)

Audios (5)

Photographic Galleries (4)

Titles

1. Gaza: Half a Million Displaced

2. Sakhnin: My land

3. Inwas

4. Silwan

 

1. Zakariyya: Memories of  Zakariyya

2. Gaza: The New Nakba

3. Saffuriya: The March of Return

4. The ongoing Nakba in al-Walaja

5. Land Day in Jaffa

1. Kafr Bi'rim (Safad)

2. Al-Ghabasiyya (Acre)

3. Khirbet Umm Burj (Hebron)

4. Ayn Ghazal (Haifa)

 

See:http://www.badil.org/en/press-releases/142-2012/3599-press-eng-38

and  http://www.badil.org/en/badil-news/1454-story-3

 
Al Awda Award Compitition

The second phase of the Al Awda Award which was comprised of the Best Caricature and Best Photograph (for youth under 18) categories was completed in July.  Winners from the first and second phase were honoured at the Fist Palestinian commemoration of World Refugee Day that BADIL implemented on 5 July.See: http://www.badil.org/ar/press-releases/143-2012/3581-press-ara-32

 

We are now in the process of implementing the third and final phase of the Al Awda Award Competition.  The categories for this phase are Best Documentary Film (deadline 15 October) and Best Children’s Story (deadline 15 September). Winners will be honoured during a special cultural event commemorating the anniversary of UN Resolution 194 that will take place in December.

See: http://www.badil.org/ar/press-releases/143-2012/3585-press-ara-33

 

Category

Name

Location

Place

Best Nakba Poster

Muhammad Khasoun

Gaza

3rd Place

Mustafa Akram Badr

Batir

3rd Place

Emam Housni

Ramallah

3rd Place

Best Photographic Story

Muhammad Waleed Al Azza

Aida Refugee Camp

1st Place

Muhammad Kamel Badarna

Haifa

2nd Place

Mahmoud Ahmed Al Ashamin

Khan Younis Refugee Camp

3rd Place

Best Caricature

Khader Majdi Khader Al Kerdie

Gaza

1st Place

Mousa Ajawi

Jordan

2nd Place

Rashad Muhammad Abedallah Al Sama’ie

Yemen

3rd Place

Best Photograph

Muhammad Nidal Abu Aker

Aida Refugee Camp

1st Place

Wala’ Kefah Al Hamouz

Al Fawar Refugee Camp

2nd Place

Rowayd Al Azza

Bethlehem

3rd Place

 
 
Support to Popular Initiatives

For the first time in Palestinian history, BADIL, in collaboration with our partners, commemorated World Refugee Day. Under the motto “Return is not an ideology, it is a legal right”, the festival was the biggest public event gathering Palestinian civil society organizations in recent years.

The day long event was implemented with a clear vision to highlight and reemphasize the rights of Palestinian refugees, in particular their right to return to their homes of origin. In this sense, Palestine’s First World Refugee Day as a cultural event differs from the traditional Nakba Commemoration (15 May), since it reflects the Palestinians’ creativity in defending and advocating their rights, as well as confronting Israel’s ongoing policies aiming to displace the remaining Palestinians both inside and outside the Green Line.

The event attracted the general public as well as local and international observers via a wide range of cultural activities: from folkloric dance to academic publications, from traditional food to an exclusive exhibition of historic Palestinian posters. The main activities on the stage included live music, poetry and folkloric dance. Although the official date of World Refugee Day is set by the United Nations for 20 June, the event was held on 5 July to take into consideration local school matriculation and university final exams.  See: http://www.badil.org/en/press-releases/142-2012/3582-press-eng-33

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