Press Releases
BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights implemented a strategic planning meeting for the Palestinian Youth Forum (PYF), which included 30 members (12 females, 18 males) from different areas in Mandatory Palestine. All youth members of the PYF have completed at least one Al Awda Training Schools held from 2022-2024. The strategic planning meeting was held in Ramallah for three consecutive days.
On the organizational and skills level, several trainings and workshops were provided that focused on developing the youth’s skills such as building training workshops, giving lectures, and strategic planning to organize events and activities. The members also discussed the internal regulations and the bylaws of the forum, where the general goals, vision, working mechanisms and means of the forum were developed.
The PYF meeting included discussions and workshop on the most important current issues: including the ongoing Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, the role of the resistance, and the most important changes at the regional level. Additionally, the forum hosted Dr. Abdul Jawad Hamayel, a political science professor at Birzeit University, who discussed individual and collective resistance actions in the Palestinian uprisings.
Communal work models for community cooperatives and active youth movements - specifically in Palestinian universities and refugee camps were also highlighted at the meeting. Guest speakers from the "Roots of the Sun" agricultural cooperative from Tulkarm refugee camp and the “Edward Said Forum” from 1948 Palestine were hosted. The documentary film "Bring Back the Students" was screened to open discussion on the role of student movements in Palestinian universities.
The youth members also participated in a field trip to Al Jalazon refugee camp in partnership with the Social and Psychology Development Association to increase their awareness about refugees’ experience with continued Israeli repression and raids. The field visit included meeting families of martyrs and prisoners from the camp.
The PYF is one of BADIL’s main strategic programs, initiated by the alumni of Al Awda Training Schools, receiving special trainings, mentoring and support from BADIL. The PYF is an independent youth platform whose members wish to use their acquired skills and knowledge to implement community initiatives and activities aimed at strengthening the resistance of the Palestinian people and raising awareness of the policies of the Israeli colonial-apartheid regime.
