BADIL Project for Youth Education and Activation
“I believed that we, the Palestinians, had the right to return
only because we owned this land before Israel was established.
Now, I know that the Palestinian refugees’ rights are more than a
national right; they are a human and legal right, that all people
and states must ensure and respect.” Layan, 15, Lajee Children’s
Center, Aida camp. Resilience, resistance and the ability to
maintain the struggle for freedom and fundamental rights are based
on the heritage and knowledge of older generations and the energy
and new skills of the Palestinian youth.
This project for youth education and activation was
launched in 2005 as a contribution by BADIL to the collective
effort of community organizations to ensure that Palestinian
refugee youth can become active advocates of their rights as
children, as refugees and as a people entitled to return.
In May 2006, 285 children and youth aged 14 – 17 consisting of 11
West Bank refugee communities participated in a four-day summer
camp organized by BADIL. The aim was to participate in a joint
program which aimed to combine studies and meaningful social action
with leisure and fun. Participants studied and discussed materials
about Palestinian geography, history, refugee rights and the
Palestinian struggle. They also shared in awareness-raising
activities and the commemoration of the 58th anniversary of
the Palestinian Nakba.
Many additional children and youth have joined the project since
the successful summer camp bringing the number of participants to
382.
Abeer, aged 14 from Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem felt “it was
important to convince others, especially the wider public of my
rights” and can now “refute Israeli allegations distorting and
changing the facts about Palestine and Palestinians.” Samar aged 14
is not a registered refugee, but used to live with her family
in a small village near Hebron until four years ago. She tells that
her father was forced to move to the Beit Jibrin/’Azza refugee camp
in Bethlehem, to find a safe house, cheaper transportation and
access to Jerusalem, where he is working, because the Israeli army
had confiscated her grandfather’s land for the construction of the
Wall. “I know now what human rights really mean”, she says.
New ways to further develop this project are being explored by
BADIL and the program facilitators, members of the partner
organizations and with local and international NGOs working in the
field of children’s rights. One idea for future activities is a
regional refugee children’s rights network proposed by
Save-the-Children Sweden and Defense for Children International
(DCI)-Palestine.