The Palestinian Youth Dialogue Group Across the Enforced Borders Why? Threads of communication and dialogue among Palestinian youth are fading quickly. The geographic and cultural separation in the Palestinian society due to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian land within the last fifty years is believed to be the prime cause of such insufficient communication. Despite the current situation of enforced borders, communication between Palestinian youth must not be neglected for two main reasons. First, Palestinians all over the world share an Arab way of life that is the basis of their education and culture. Second, Palestinian youth, especially those presently living in the Palestinian areas or in Israel, all faced the Israeli occupation. It is essential during this critical period, when a Palestinian entity is being established, to build communication and dialogue among the Palestinians in Palestinian land and in Israel. Building communication will reinforce the Palestinian identity among youth and reaffirm the feeling that all the Palestinians are one people despite the location. In addition, the proposed program aspires to eliminate certain catastrophic phenomena such as the “Israelization” of the Palestinians who live in Israel, and the religious segregation between Christians and Muslims. The Rapprochement Centre plans this event to be a joint program between the above-mentioned organizations. The program will serve as a starting point leading towards more solid programs that will increase understanding and involvement among youth of Palestinian heritage on both sides. The Rapprochement Centre has selected a seed group of young individuals from the Ramallah and Bethlehem areas to begin this program that will work to recruit more people for future programs. Let us hope to build something together, yet, hope alone is not enough, so let us work toward gathering all the Palestinian Youth in all over the world together in "The Palestinian Youth Network" What Happened so far? Three sessions has been held already the first one was in Bethlehem and Beit Sahour, Click Here to read about the |