Press Releases
On Friday, 17 March 2023, the first Al-Awda School for the current year was implemented by BADIL Resource Center with the theme “The Land and The People”. This school focused on topics that reflect humans’ relationship with their land, the concept of land in Palestinian culture and its place in the liberation struggle.
With the approaching anniversary of Land Day, Al-Awda School included a field visit to Beit Sakarya village in the Etzion colonial bloc, and a visit to Artas village. It also included workshops about the ongoing Nakba for Palestinians, and the role of non-governmental organizations in Palestinian displacement and land grab. These workshops were presented by members of the Palestinian Youth Forum (PYF). The PYF is a network for youth led by youth from Mandatory Palestine who are graduates of the previous Al-Awda Schools. The members of the PYF had a central role in determining the agenda for the school and providing some of the workshops.
The 3-day school also included a field visit to Dheisheh Refugee Camp, which was organized by Shoruq Organization. During the visit, the participants visited the families of four young Palestinian martyrs (Fadi Ghattas, Adam Ayyad, Omar Manna’, and Amr Al-Khamour) and watched films produced by Shoruq about the camp.
In the context of learning about experiences in the Palestinian reality, the struggle for liberation and learning from them, the participants visited a number of Palestinian families experiencing the Israeli policies of suppression of resistance.
The youth participants heard from the family of the martyr Anton Al-Shomali about his life and the role of Beit Sahour in the First Intifada; Ikhlas Al-Azzah in Beit Jibreen Refugee Camp about people with disabilities in Palestine and their challenges; the family of Nidal Abu Aker to learn about the experiences of arbitrary administrative detention; and Hassan Mizher in Dheisheh Refugee Camp, suffering from physical disabilities caused by Israeli illegal use of force. They also visited the family of martyr Abed Alhamid Abu Srour from Aida Refugee Camp to learn more about the Israeli illegal practice of withholding the bodies of Palestinian martyrs and the so-called “numbers graves”.
The school included 40 participants (20 females) from Mandatory Palestine, between the age group 18-29 years, with 24 new participants and 15 members of the PYF.
Al-Awda School is a part of the Palestinian Youth Forum, which aims to strengthen the communication and connections between Palestinian youth in Mandatory Palestine, in addition to strengthening the skills of the youth and providing them with the necessary knowledge to raise their voices demanding their rights, including the rights of return and self-determination of the Palestinian people.
