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VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 J U L Y 2 0 0 6

and creative potential and to engage tools such as photography, radio and Welcome!!! themselves in a full civic participation. video. It will aim at giving young Arab- From the beginning, Baladna skills and resources to Welcome to the first issue of Baladna has created a special space for Arab- better advocate their projects, goals and News , the bi-monthly newsletter of Palestinian youth to meet and discuss views. In the longer term, the next step Baladna: Association for Arab questions unique to their experience as would be to create a national media Youth. Every issue we will be members of both a marginalized resource centre that would allow updating you with our ongoing minority and an oppressed nation. It is participants access to materials and activities, our achievements and our equipment all year round. plans for the future. Baladna is currently in its 5 th year of existence. Throughout this short Turn to page four for news time, the organization had managed to of our International overcome various difficulties and these Workcamps this summer!! last months have not been problem-free. Despite a particularly harsh financial situation during this academic year, Baladna achieved to establish several well-functioning Youth Groups nation-wide, to organize field visits, a Evaluation Time National Convergence on Gender and After 5 years of running the Youth trainings for both Leaders and Youth A youth group hard at work Leadership Project the time has also Groups. come for a thorough evaluation of our Within the Youth Group important to enable participants to make activities. Over the past 3 months, Project, Public Achievement is taking change in their communities and the Baladna staff and Leaders have been on more and more importance. We at aim of the Public Achievement Project working on analysing their current work Baladna think that it is vital for is to give the youths the means to and next year a restructuring of the youngsters to gain the knowledge, skills convey their needs to a wider public. Youth Project will be implemented, and tools required to work on issues in In the near future, Baladna will according to the conclusions of the their society, to express their cultural offer media trainings, using different evaluating team.

Academic Year Ends With Public Achievement Festival

The end of the annual Youth Group culmination of the Youth Groups’ rights. Project was the occasion of different work. Baladn’a Youth Group Project In the coming year we will be festivities at the Public Achievement In 2005-2006, 18 groups were Festival on 27 th May. established and led by graduates of our Over 250 Baladna members Leadership Development course (see gathered in Rahat for a day of page 3). workshops, music, dancing, debates and Dotted around the country in various presentations. places such as the Naqab, Haifa and All the youth groups and , the groups met on a weekly leaders from different towns and cities basis and gave a total of 300 youths introduced their annual work and the (aged 14-17) the chance to participate, projects they had planned and learn and discuss different issues implemented in their local concerning them such as identity, the communities. importance of gender in Arab society, The festival was also the the family, democracy and human Youths gather for games and workshops at the Public Achievement Festival VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 P A G E 2 Another Year of Successful Public Achievement Projects

From March to May, Baladana’s the library was already refurbished, they interviewed the people whose Youth Groups work on a Public stocked and operational. house has been destroyed and took Achievement project that aims to Sara joined Baladna in order many pictures in order to present an empower them by giving tools for to develop new skills and knowledge exhibition in Lod, Rahat and Haifa. full civic participation. Furthermore, and also to meet people that believed in Public Achievement projects aim to the same dream as her: that Arab- encourage a move from passive Palestinians from understand and Youth Group Field Trips learning in a classroom to actively know who they are and from where All year round, the youth groups engaging in the society. participate in different field visits. On the first April, 60 young people from Prpoject 1 Haifa, Jdaide, El Mker and Nazareth Sara Abu Syam, a Biology student at made a trip to Golan with a first study Ben Gourion University in Beersheba, visit in Berim, a village destroyed by has been a Youth Group leader with the IDF in 1949 Baladna for one year. There, the youngsters met M. Edmond Sara (20), became involved in Abu Hicham Endrawous, 80 years old, Baladna a year ago after having heard who explained them the history of his about its activities from her older village. The second part of this trip to brother who was already a member. the East led the youth groups to Golan The young girl wanted to know more Heights where they had an encounter about the association and became a Sara and her Youth Group in Rahat with the inhabitants and learned about regular reader of Shabab magazine the occupation and the annexation. then, last year, decided to take a more they come from in order to tell the real The second field visit drove active role and took part in the story of their homeland 100 High School students to Jerusalem Leadership training course. on 20th of April. They visited the After attending the Public Project 2 Alazariea area (a Palestinian Achievement training, she thought Another example of successful project neighborhood crossed by the Apartheid about running a project in order to help took place in Lod this year, a mixed wall). This study part was guided by her community. city in the centre of the country. Amar Zourba, he told the pupils about In Rahat, the teachers and students at A youth group led by Ruba the consequences of the wall on the school often complained about not Hamdan initiated a study visit to the Jerusalem is ‘daily life. The students having books. Sara and her Youth city and its destroyed houses. Many of then had a visit of the Old City: the Old Group decided to find a solution for the Lod Arab buildings has already been Market, the Al Aqsa Mosque, the pupils and their teachers to have these destroyed by the Israeli Police. The Church of Saint-Sepulchre and were educational tools at hand and came up houses were built many years ago taught about the history of the holy with the idea of a school library. without permission and the goal of the city. They also attended a play based In her town nobody believed Israeli government is clearly to make on Mahmoud Darwish poems at the that the young lady and her group could the Arabs inhabitants leave the city. National Palestinian Theatre and run such a successful project by The youth decided to gather received a lecture about the prisoners themselves, but they didn’t give up in material to create a testimony to what and the specific political situation of the face of this and, a few months later, happened and is still happening in Lod. Jerusalem since the wall has been built. Baladna invites Rim Banna

On May 28 th , Baladna held local sponsorship, this year its annual benefit event: Rim was a success: about 500 Banna’s concert in Haifa. persons attended the event and The singer was accompanied we got support from the French at the guitar by her husband Cultural Centre. During the Leonid Alexeienko, musician evening, the first part of the and composer. scholarships were delivered to This concert helped to our Youth Leaders for all their fund Baladna’s activities by work during the academic year. receipts on tickets sale and Rim Banna in Haifa for Baladna’s annual benefit concert VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 P A G E 3

successful youth leaders. Leadership Training Courses During the academic year, students take part in different workshops and study Each year, Baladna visits. offers university On May 17 th , the 60 students throughout Leadership Course participants the country a have visited unrecognized Leadership Training villages in the Naqab area. On Course in four 10 th of June, 60 students took different cities (Tel- part to a study trip to Jerusalem Aviv, Beersheba, organized by Baladna in Jerusalem and collaboration with IPCC ‘Field visits in West Haifa). (International Peace and The course Cooperation Center). The visit Bank or in introduces them to included an historical tour of leadership and identity Study visit in the holy city of Jerusalem the Old City and a less unrecognized concepts, improves their for the Leaders course participants ’traditional’ visit during which awareness about the society villages of Israel the participants the Wall and they live in and gives them the the Jewish settlements skills and tools required to and encounters surrounding Jerusalem. graduate and become between Arab- Palestinians from

different areas are Encounter With Youth From the necessary to emphasize the

In early June, 15 Baladna Palestinians in West Bank as The encounter also gave the common History.’ leaders from throughout the well as in Israel. opportunity to youth from both country made a trip to the sides of the Israeli separation Palestinian administrative wall to express themselves, to Participants in Ramallah capital to meet PCC learn from each other’s (Palestinian Peace Coalition) experiences and to get to know volunteers from different each other to take away pre- cities in the West Bank. ideas. At the end of the week- This encounter end all the participants agreed focused on topics such as that this kind of encounter has Arab-Palestinian identity and to be repeated in the future. the difficulties of daily life of

Brand New Shabab Magazine Happy Birthday

with such issues as education, Momken!

Thanks to our Editor Salim literature, culture, gay issues, Abu-Jabar and the politics, international affairs, A Year ago, Baladna contributing writers, the last health and psychology all in an launched Momken , a Arabic two months have seen a attempt to raise awareness in language website dedicated really positive improvement to giving young Arabs in in our monthly Arabic Israel up to date information language youth Magazine, on a host of issues such as Shabab. education, culture, With a new stable employment and their rights. form and more systematic The website is content with five key sections, growing and we currently The cover of the latest issue of the magazine now focuses have approximately 5,000 Shabab Magazine better on student life and deals unique users per month. Momken Website Coming soon... The Summer is always a busy and advocacy process. exciting time for our organization Photo journalism with an influx of foreign volunteers and many training courses. This training year is now different and below are A training course will take place next some of the projects we will be month, from 24 th to 26 th August in working on in the coming months. cooperation with IDEA (International Debate Education Association). This training will teach the volunteers how Workcamps to analyse and to use media such as After the success of last years audio and photography. workcamp in Eilabun, Baladna is Baladna’s Youth Leaders Theatre exchange resolution or existence and co- in Italy existence in a situation of conflict. A delegation of Baladna will soon Leaders Intensive Training travel to Italy to take part in an At the beginning of August, the exchange between 29 th July and 14 th prospective Youth Leaders for the August. It will give the opportunity following academic year are invited to for 5 Baladna volunteers and their an Intensive Leadership Training that coordinator to meet young people focuses on leadership and facilitation from Italy, Turkey and Spain. The skills. This summer there will be youngsters will take part to theatre about 30 students taking part to this Volunteers in Eilabun workcamp workshops and present the results of Intensive Leadership Training. their work at the end of the exchange organizing four international in the city of Brescia workcamps in the country this EVS summer. Two of them in Palestinian In Cooperation with YAP Movement , villages. About 10 to 15 international Arte Diem 2006 Baladna is going to be host volunteers coming mainly from In Cooperation with YAP coordinator for the EVS project in Eastern and Western Europe or Japan Movement ,,Baladna is hosting the Israel this year 2006-2007. It means will be working on each camp. Some Arte Diem festival from 15 th August to linking 17 volunteers at 16 different visit trips, workshops and other 4th September 2006. associations throughout all regions, activities will be held to enhance In a response to conflictual North, Center and South of Israel: participants' understanding of the and highly charged political situation Nazareth, Haifa, Ein Hod, Um el Arab-Palestinian situation within that people in Israel and the Middle Fahem and Jerusalem. The European Israel. East on a daily basis, This year’s volunteers will have the opportunity theme is 'Promoting a culture of to experience youth participation and Story Telling Workshop Peace through art' community work in a variety of nd th Participants will come from cultural, social welfare and From 22 to 26 July, Baladna will different European and Mediterranean awareness-raising activities in support propose a Story telling workshop. A countries and will work in different of anti-discrimination and anti-racism professional teacher from the United workshops such as Theater, Dance, efforts in disadvantaged communities. States will give the participants tools Music, Media, Painting and An EuroMed Festival will be held at to build up a video-clip in order to Sculptures. These workshops will the end of the EVS project. make youth able to take the media focus more precisely on issues linked language to themselves and begin an with conflict prevention and

Tell Us What You “Balancing our work to strengthen Palestinian identity, Baladna also aims Think: to address internal problems within Palestinian society, encouraging a This is our first issue Palestinian political culture based on pluralism and democracy capable of and we hope you have Baladna Association for neutralizing factionalism and guaranteeing social and gender equity. We found it interesting. Arab Youth Any comments about [email protected] work to cultivate a healthy balance of pride and self-critique as a the newsletter will be greatly received here at Tel: 972 4 8523035 framework for developing genuine, durable individual and collective the office! Fax: 972 4 8523427 identity, strengthening youth capacity and enabling young people to express [email protected] www.baladnayouth.org their full leadership, cultural, and creative potential”