Annual Activities Report 2013-2014

2013-2014 Annual Activities Report Baladna - Association for Arab Youth

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ABOUT THE ANNUAL ACTIVITIES REPORT 2013-2014 Each year we assess the problems and struggles of Palestinian youth. This Annual Activities Report covers the Baladna projects and programs from August 2013 to August 2014. We hope it provides you with some insight about the issues facing Palestinian youth and what Baladna is doing about these problems. Our programs this year are committed to dealing with some of the most important problems facing youth like sectarianism, gender, human rights violations, and violence.

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About Baladna

Baladna - Association for Arab youth is the largest independent Palestinian youth organization working in the ‘48 area (Israel). We strive to provide youth with the training, resources and practical tools necessary to confront discrimination and marginalization of the Palestinian community within Israel.

Since our founding in 2001, tens of thousands of youth have participated in leadership training, cultural education, and media programs. Programming aims to strengthen understanding and application of the principles of democracy, gender equality, human rights, pluralism and tolerance; in conjunction with critical discussion concerning the history, grievances and culture of Palestinians in Israel, the Occupied Territories, and the Diaspora.

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Table of Contents 03 06

08 10

About Baladna

2013-2014 Summary of Baladna Activities

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Youth Leadership Program

Introduction

20

Together for Change (Mitaharikeen)

4

Projects

22

Volunteerism project

24

26

28

30

32

36

Culture Forum

Anti – Sectarianism Campaign

38

Campaign against so-called “Honor Killings” and violence against women

Naqab Youth for Human Rights

Count to Ten AntiViolence Campaign

40

Thank you’s

5

Oudna

Campaign Against Recruitment

Introduction

This has been an exciting year for Baladna! We reached more youth than ever before - 7,000 youth participants in Baladna programs and events. We released the first ever training manual and campaign in Arabic to combat sectarianism among Arab youth. Together with PalVision and AFSC Quakers, ‘Together for Change’ is the only group of youth working together from ’48, West Bank and Gaza.

Along with these accomplishments, there is still much work to be done. This year Israel intensified its efforts to recruit young Palestinians to civic and military service. Unfortunately, within our community we have seen a disturbing rise in sectarianism along with violent and extreme sectarianism in the rest of the region. Exploiting local and regional sectarian tensions, the recruitment efforts are focused on Christian youth. To deal with these two problems, Baladna released two campaigns on recruitment and sectarianism. The anti-recruitment campaign reached over 70,000 viewers through social media and the activities involved almost 1,500 youth. The anti-sectarianism campaign reached over 77,000 viewers from around the Arab world.

While recruitment and sectarianism are on-going problems, youth are working together to combat them. ‘Together for Change’ began this year and is the only project uniting youth from the West Bank, Gaza and ’48 to discuss and work

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together on problems facing Palestinian youth. The group has gained a huge social media following from all regions showing that Palestinian want to know each other. We have also seen large numbers of youth organizing themselves to speak out against injustice this year. They have been vocally opposed to the Prawer Plan, a plan intending to displace 70,000 Bedouins in the Naqab, and the war on Gaza, which to date has killed over 2,000 Palestinians. We are proud to say that many of the activists involved have taken part in Baladna activities. Despite the many challenges and difficulties of activism within Israel, the youth’s unwillingness to give up is inspiring.

We greatly appreciate everyone who has supported Baladna in order to make these projects possible. We especially appreciate the work of the volunteers who have committed themselves to these programs and who have given their time and energy to support us.

Khaled Enbtawe Chairperson of the board

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Summary of Baladna’s activities in 2013-2014 In 2013-2014, Baladna programs directly benefitted almost 7,000 youth – a new record for Baladna. Baladna’s projects are designed comprehensively to deal with problems facing Palestinian youth within Israel by enabling and empowering them to make a difference in their communities. The projects specifically target various issues stemming from the dispossession of the Palestinian people and the specific challenges of Palestinians within Israel through intervention and activation of youth. Some of the main topics focused on this year included, cultural dispassion, land confiscation, the effects of the occupation and geographic separation on Palestinian identity, the right of return, recruitment of Palestinians to the Israeli military, violence, women’s rights, and community cohesion.

Another significant accomplishment for Baladna was the campaign against sectarianism, a rapidly growing problem in the Palestinian community.

Sectarianism within the Palestinian community is fostered by Israeli policies that intend to divide Palestinians and fragment their united identity. Regional sectarian conflicts have only escalated the problem for Palestinians. To address this, Baladna released a manual and campaign to be used in Palestine and across the region to educate youth about the dangers of sectarianism. The campaign was widely distributed and received positive feedback not only within the country but also from organizations in neighboring countries, such as, Lebanon and Jordan.

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BALADNA IN NUMBERS Youth Leadership Program

14 180

youth leaders from around the country

20

10 public achievementsattended by

1350

youth participants in 11 groups

Together for Change (‘Mitaharken’) group members from ’48 region

Media campaign over people reached through social media

3

National Meetings

‘Palestine Tour’ attended by

250,000

Volunteerism

youth participants 4 youth leaders 20 in 2 groups 2 events attended by

Cultural Forum

80

250

youth camp attended by 70 youth from West Bank and 48 region

12 650 4 300

Forums in 4 universities:

seminars

Jerusalem Haifa Tel Aviv Beersheba

tours

10

participants

participants

Anti-Sectarianism Campaign

4

2

Youth Groups

1

Videos

Media campaign reached more than Public activities targeted

Printed educational guide

77,000 650 people

Count-to-Ten Anti-violence Campaign

5 75

Youth Groups Participants in youth groups

720

Students in Schools participating in workshops

5 workshops in 5 schools training 720 students and 75 teachers

Our Return (Oudna) National meeting attended by Local events attended by

2 30

200 230

Naqab Youth for Human Rights

4

Youth Leaders

11

4

Youth Groups

youth leaders from displaced villages participants in 2 youth groups

50

Participants

Campaign Against so-called ‘Honor Killings’

1

Survey

1

10

Manual

Youth leaders

6

Youth Groups

Campaign Against the Civil Service

1470 7000 6500

youth participating in workshops

20

awareness events

print materials (stickers, posters and postcards)

‘Project X’

9400

youth liked or shared online campaign materials

Articles on Electronic Intifada and Huffington Post reached at least

Approximately

12,000 direct beneficiaries

and

Video views

10,000

71,900

people

estimated beneficiaries of the campaign

Baladna’s Media As social media takes on an increasingly important role in modern society, Baladna has greatly expanded its use of this technology to enhance awareness of its programming.

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7000

youth from around the country participated in events and activities

In numbers More than

More than

friends of Baladna’s Facebook pages

views of Baladna’s Youtube page

Online database of educational opportunities for youth receives more than

54000 150000 500

visitors each day

7amleh – Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media Members of Baladna, recognizing the need for an organization dealing particularly with Palestinian social media, established 7amleh (or “Hamleh”) in June 2013 7amleh - the Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media is a professional Palestinian media centre dedicated to improving the skills and capacities of Palestinian activists and artists.

7amleh specializes in social media and aims to train Palestinian activists in methods to strengthen their ongoing campaigns for social and political change.

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Youth Leadership Program The youth leadership program is the largest and longest running of Baladna’s projects. Started in 2001, over the years thousands of youth have participated in the program from around the country. In the Youth Leadership Program, Baladna provides alternative education to Palestinian youth who, in the Israeli school system, lack access to their own history. Additionally the program promotes dialogue about internal challenges within Palestinian society. This is done through Baladna’s Public Achievement Model, in which university students are trained to lead teenagers in identifying a problem in their communities, designing a project to address it, and carrying out their plan.

This is the first time the members of the group were exposed to issues about identity and gender. These are issues that are not discussed in school or in daily life. Sharing and discussing these topics affected the participants.

For me, this experience made me closer to the youth. In order to make social changes, you have to understand the needs of the youth and I was able to achieve that. I saw how much the youth want to change and that they want to make a better future.

Now, I have so much energy and hope.

Safa Naamni, 21, group leader 14

This was my first time ever being in a group that doesn’t distinguish between Muslims and Christians. Together we worked on raising awareness about social and political issues in the community. We got to know each other better by sharing personal stories and meeting active community members. I felt that the coordinators were very supportive and helped me a lot.

Falak Mahamid, 16, participant

Accomplishments:

14 180

youth leaders from around the country youth participants in 11 groups

10 public achievementsattended by

1350

I think the youth leadership program is very important for youth and that every young person should participate in this program.

The program makes youth come to know their roots, identity and history! When a young person understands his roots then he can know how to interact with his citizenship, his community and his future. Now I am more confident and more aware about my identity. I believe that I can make a difference and that I am an important part of the community.

Ragda Taha, 17, participant 15

Accomplishments in 2014-2013

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youth leaders participated in an intensive 3 month training to more effectively contribute to their communities and initiate successful service projects

11 180

youth groups active in cities and villages across the country.

10 1350

public achievement projects planned and implemented. people attended public achievement events.

teenagers coached by youth leaders on community participation, leadership, identity, citizenship, and human rights

Youth Leadership Program objectives

11. Equip Palestinian youth living in Israel with skills to become thoughtful and active agents for social and political change within their communities 22. Increase civic engagement among youth in their communities through education and facilitating hands-on service projects 33. Empower high school youth to embrace their Palestinian identity and to promote democracy within their communities 16

Achievements of Baladna youth leaders and participants in their communities: Lakiya branch: Leader: Layla Sayed The group identified that Arabic, a central element of local identity, is deteriorating. The group presented a play emphasizing the importance of Arabic to the history and identity of Palestinians. They also read traditional poetry, which has great resonance with the local people. A total of 400 people attended the event.

Rahat branch: Leader: Yara Tarabeh The group decided to work with local disabled persons to develop understanding and examine best possible responses, granted that the community has limited resources. Throughout the year, the group members volunteered with disabled people in the community. They held a final event in the form of a public discussion about the benefits of volunteering for the disabled to raise awareness on the issues.

Araba branch: Leader: Safa Naamneh The Araba group built a campaign on the issue of gender rights and justice, and the right of women to be involved in community and political life. The group produced a one-hour film on the issue that documented the stories of successful women from the community, and stated the need for gender equality in order for the community as a whole to grow.

Ableen branch: Leader: Sohela Ghatas Concerned about military recruitment aimed at Arab Christian youth in their community, the Ableen group looked at the history and future implications of Christian youth recruitment in the local community. They designed and presented an anti-recruitment campaign through a public debate with an audience question and answer session about the issue.

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Umm al-Fahm branch: Leader: Odai Mahamed Violence in the area, particularly violence against women, was a key concern.

The group looked at perceptions of violence against women and the concepts of women’s, individual and human rights. The group produced presentations and a film that they showed at their public event.

Bir al-Maksor branch: Leader: Malak Hogerat The group raised concerns about the displacement of local Arab families from their housing and land in favor of Israeli Jewish families who move to the village from outside the area. The group looked at the local history, studying how confiscation has been continuous in the village since 1948 and the lack of development planning in the village. The group determined that the crux of the issue was that the inability to build makes it impossible to meet the housing needs required by the natural growth of the local Palestinian population. The group gave presentations on the issues at their final public achievement event.

Al Maker-Jeide branch: Leader: Safa Khalidi The group addressed the issue of land confiscation and the government sponsored practice of moving Jewish Israeli families to the area. They developed a campaign to raise awareness of land rights to enhance the skills of local Palestinian residents in realizing their rights for themselves and their community. The group made a documentary film on the issues, which included interviews with residents and recordings of meetings with lawyers who looked at the legal situation. The film was shown at the group’s event, which also included an audience discussion session led by the youth group.

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Haifa branches: Maiysoon Horany & Jawad Maiky The first youth group focused on the needs of the Western neighborhood of Haifa, an area that is affected by low socio-economic development, marginalization, and neglect by the city’s municipalities. To effect change in the community and increase youth participation in creating change, they conducted a survey and campaign to increase youth engagement with local decision makers.

The second group was concerned with the displacement of Palestinian people from their properties in Haifa, and Israel in general. After learning more about the Nakba and its impact of subsequent generations they noticed the ongoing pattern of pressure on Palestinian residents to leave their neighborhoods. They designed a campaign for their event, which was an intensive day of raising awareness on the Nakba amongst their peers.

Nazareth branches: Yara Aun & Ru'ya Awad A major concern for the first group, from a town with a relatively large Arab Christian population, is the efforts by the Israeli government to recruit Christian youth into the Israeli army. They felt the recruitment drive was aimed at young people who are susceptible to accept incentive packages without considering its impact on the whole society. The group produced an anti-recruitment campaign for their public event, with a play on the issues and a short documentary of local concerns about the issue. A conscientious objector form the Arab Druze community who refused to be recruited to the military also presented.

The second group decided to address sectarianism within the community. The Youth Leader led discussions on the issue, and helped the group build an anti-sectarianism campaign for local people. Using various campaign skills, the group made a short film on the divisions and tensions that sectarianism can cause, and how this holds back community development.

The campaign not only looked at the impact of the issues of sectarianism, but they also assessed ways to combat it and build a more inclusive and participatory society for the whole community. The group presented their film at the pubic event they held in Nazareth, and also performed with poetry and songs for the 80 people who attended.

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Together for Change (Mitaharken) Together for Change is a new project that facilitates cohesion between Palestinian youth from all of historic Palestine (West Bank, Gaza and ’48 regions).

Due to Israeli policies that intend to fragment the Palestinian people through different methods, communication between the different regions of Palestine is very difficult. The project addresses this situation by bringing groups together to communicate aboutabout national priority issues. The group decided together to work on the topic of right to mobility and its impact on Palestinian cohesion, which is how they came up with their name “Mitaharken” (no borders on our identity). Mitaharken launched a media campaign entitled "No limits our identity" that included a video, and 10 posters. Additionally, they organized a simultaneous screening of the short film, "Palestinian tour," in the West Bank, Gaza and ’48. In ’48 the screening took place in Nazareth and was attended by 80 people.

Objective: Address Palestinian fragmentation through cooperation between youth in the West Bank, Gaza and ’48.

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Accomplishments:

20

group members from ’48

Media campaign over people reached through social media

3

National Meetings

‘Palestine Tour’ attended by

250,000

80

I have been deeply influenced by the idea of breaking the boundaries and challenging the oppressive laws that detach our whole nation. My whole view of the barriers (checkpoints) and the separation wall has changed. I no longer deal with them in the terms that Israel (the lands of ’48) has forced on me. I am from Palestine and not the lands of ’48. Though this project, we can fulfill the change that we desire, and our aim is to gain our rights as a nation with free movement and to build a collective identity.

Khalil Gharra, 21, participant Social Media:

f https://www.facebook.com/mit7arken 21

Volunteerism Project The Volunteerism Project is a program designed to foster and strengthen volunteering among Palestinian youth. To understand how youth feel about volunteering, we conducted a survey about the concerns of Palestinian youth and volunteering patterns. Based on this, we developed a media campaign to encourage volunteering among youth. The videos and posters from the campaign reached more than 50,000 youth. Additionally, we held a camp for 70 young volunteers in Aboud village. The project created a database that matches volunteers with volunteering opportunities from 50 associations creating a stronger framework for participation in community engagement and civil society. We also wrote a manual about practical and theoretical volunteer work in Palestine. There were two youth groups from Iqrith and Kufr Bira’am who worked to enhance volunteering in their communities.

Objective:

Foster and strengthen volunteerism among Palestinian youth enabling them to become agents of change in their communities. “Me and my co-workers were given a large amount of responsibility by Baladna and a lot of trust. This enabled me to fully explore my skills.�

Amir Toumie, 19, leader

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Accomplishments: youth participants in 2 groups 4 youth 20 leaders

250

2 events attended by youth Camp attended by 70 youth from West Bank and 48

Iqrith branch: Leader: Amir Toumie The Iqrith group focused on the concerning issue of Palestinian Christian military recruitment, the increased effort of the state to recruit Christians and the impact this policy has on the local community. They created a campaign and local event to show Palestinian diversity and unity, which involved a protest to show popular support for the rejection of the recruitment process.

Kufr Bira’am branch: Leader: Hadeel Jeries This group also focused on the issue of Palestinian Christian recruitment to the Israeli military. They had discussions about politics and power dynamics, looking at specialized treatment of different groups to affect policies of ‘divide and rule’. This helped them understand the processes of community division, which motivated the youth to reverse this process. The group presented their work at their event, with speeches against recruitment given by conscientious objectors and in a demonstration of the popularity of the issue, the well-known Palestinian rap group DAM performed a -30minute set in support of the action.

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Cultural Forum

“As a nation looking for freedom, we cannot separate the social from the political struggle. The forum creates a collaborative space to discuss social issues. This space is not available in other outlets. For instance, political parties tend to avoid social issues. We provide this space through the cultural forum. It was interesting to see that the youth want and need this kind of space and enjoy discussing these issues. The activities were always crowded and the youth wereactively engaged with the topics.”

Firas Naamnih, 25, leader Volunteers run the Cultural Forum from universities around the country who bring youth, academics and professionals together to discuss issues affecting the Palestinian community through lectures, film screenings, discussions and tours.

Topics discussed this year included a diverse range of social and political topics such as, freedom of expression in new media, feminism and Islam, the Prawer Plan, violence against women and so-called ‘honor killings’, youth participation in political parties, occupation and marriage, language, pluralism and nationality.

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Objectives: - Compensate for a lack of programming for Palestinians at Israeli universities - Provide a forum in which Palestinian university students can openly discuss issues relevant to them and their communities

Accomplishments:

Forums in 4 universities:

Jerusalem Haifa Tel Aviv Beersheba

Lecture on revitalizing PLO institutions

12 650 4 300

participants

seminars

tours

participants

Expression in New Media

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Haifa Tour

Naqab Youth for Human Rights “This project is very important and necessary in the Naqab. Overall, it was a great experience, especially because the project serves the youth in the unrecognized villages where they lack many basic services and where their rights are frequently violated. This was the first time the youth were able to learn about their rights and discuss them. Through this experience, I got to know myself better and I learned that I can make a difference in my community. It also opened my mind to new perspectives and new ways of looking at different problems.�

Sabreen Abu Kaf, 21, leader

Objective: Enable youth in unrecognized villages in the Naqab to advocate for their human rights through rights education followed by trainings on documenting and sharing the human rights violations facing the unrecognized villages in the Naqab.

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Accomplishments:

4

Youth Leaders

4

Youth Groups

50

Participants in youth groups

Naqab Youth for Human Rights is a new project that aims to support a new generation of Arab Bedouin youth in the Naqab in the defense of their human rights. The project is currently running in 4 unrecognized villages in the Naqab: Awajan, Abu Talul, Abu Kaf and Wadi Nam. It focuses on educating these youth about human rights and democratic concepts, documentation of rights abuses, advocacy capacity, skills in film and photography, and new and traditional media. Once participants gain an understanding of these concepts they then use new and social media to publicize evidence of human rights violations in the Naqab. The program enables participants to advocate against on-going violations in the Naqab through documentation and publication.

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Oudna Accomplishments:

200 2 230 30

National meeting attended by Local event attended by

youth leaders from displaced villages

participants

Objective: Train internally displaced youth from the 3rd and 4th generation of the Nakba to conceptualize, visualize and implement return to their villages thereby actualizing their right of return despite political obstacles imposed by Israel.

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Like many of Maa’lool’s youth, I was not born in the village of my ancestors and I was deprived of my right to return. However, I inherited the love of my village. This love, which we all inherit generation after generation, made me confident in our ability to make the impossible possible. To believe that return is not only a dream, it is a possible reality. Even when the old are gone, the young will never forget.”

Oudna Qubti, group leader from Maa’lool My participation in the project with the group from Ma’er made me feel very strong. The project makes us imagine and visualize our return in all aspects from the meetings, preparations, reading materials, and recording the testimonies. I felt that mentally the return has already been implemented just by the existence of such a youth group that did not forget their homeland, their ancestors’ homeland, and will never forget it. Participating educated me so much about the history of the Palestinian people and how its ‘cleansing’ has been on-going from the beginning until now. The project has revived and strengthened the spirit of determination in us to take practical steps to return without fear or confusion. The project stresses return as a right that should not be forgotten and participating was very supportive to me personally to deepen my duty to do more in order to prove my right on this land and the rights of the people who did not and will never forget.

Salma Haybi, participant in Ma’er group

Displacement is one of the many repercussions of the Nakba. Within Israel almost a quarter of the 150,000 Palestinians remaining in the borders of the state were expelled from their homes and not allowed to return. “Our Return” in 2013 involved youth from 5 displaced villages and trained them how to conceptualize and implement return to their villages in cooperation with the Arab Association for Human Rights, the Association for the Rights of the Internally Displaced and Zochrot. The project trained 70 youth and was exposed to 1,600 people who attended local events. Social media of the networks of the organizations targeted over 50,000 people.

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Campaign against Sectarianism

Sectarian-Prejudice Disease video

Dr. Ismael Nashif Lectures about Palestinian Sectarianism

“I found the experience of working with youth very interesting and beneficial. The youth came to the program with some awareness about their identities. During the first meeting, I asked the participants “How do you define yourself?” The first participant said, “I am Arab-Palestinian” and everyone following had the same response. Then I asked, “Why are you not Arab-Israeli?” This opened up the group to a very interesting discussion about defining identity.

Since identity was clearly a priority topic for the group, we held three workshops focusing on identity.”

Ru’ya Awad, 25, leader 30

Accomplishments:

4

Youth Groups

2 1 Videos

Printed educational guide Download

77,000 650

Media campaign reached more than Public activities targeted

people

Objective: Spread awareness about the dangers of sectarianism and its increasing prevalence in Palestinian society through a campaign in Arabic supplemented by workshops in schools in highly effected communities.

Baladna led the first-ever Palestinian campaign against sectarianism to deal with rising sectarianism in Palestinian communities. Palestinian society has not been immune to the disease of sectarianism, which has developed because of regional presence and the Israeli government’s attempts to spread it as part of a larger divide and rule strategy. The campaign was implemented through a week of awareness in December, primarily online through a large social media campaign, including 2 videos. The campaign was viewed over 77,000 on Facebook. We received positive feedback and appreciation from individuals in Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Tunis. Additionally, 80 local youth from Nazareth, Ibilin, Laqiya, Baqa, and Bi’r al-Maksour participated directly in spreading the campaign by distributing stickers and posters within their communities and among their peers reaching an additional 650 youth. We also published the first manual for training youth about sectarianism. The manual was published in print and online. The online copy is available for free download in Arabic.1000 copies of the manual were printed and distributed in January to 470 schools all over the country and to various educational institutions and youth organizations.

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Count-to-Ten Anti-Violence Campaign In response to increasing violence among youth in Palestinian communities, Baladna has continued to work with youth and faculty in schools across the country to end violence in schools. This year we worked with 5 schools (Lakiya, Ramle, Umm al-Fahm, Al Mash’had, Illut) providing trainings and support on the topics of political violence, community violence, school violence, and violence against women.

“For the participants, this project was the first time that they had the opportunity to deal with issues like so-called ‘honor killings’. In these cases, the woman is always treated as guilty while the man goes unpunished.

The students discussed this issue and were eager to deal with such issues related to violence from various perspectives. They were only required to do one activity but they were so enthusiastic that they did two: a film and a play. For me, it was a very interesting experience because it was the first time I dealt in depth with issues related to violence, such as, anger management and conflict resolution. I now feel that I have more experience to deal with these issues of violence and also to work with other groups on the subject.”

Layla Saed, 30, leader 32

Objective: Decrease violence in the Palestinian community by intervening in schools and providing training and support about violence, conflict resolution and anger management.

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Illut branch: Leader: Mohammed Kadah The group felt that violence was having a very negative effect on their community and they discussed causes and appropriate responses to violence with the community. The campaign developed by the group focused on how to reduce violence in the Palestinian community, particularly in their own. The group produced a short film on the issues for their community event, and there was a discussion on psychological violence and the psychological impact of perceived threats.

Mash-had branch: Leader: Doa’a Athamleh The Mash’had group focused on violence in schools. They discussed the causes of violence in schools and reactions to end violence such as building mutual trust, participation in group cooperation, building positive appreciation of each participant’s strengths, appreciation of the other, and building self-esteem.

They developed a campaign and held an intensive day of workshops in schools.

Lakiya branch: Leader: Layla Saed The Lakiya group against violence wrote a script about the problems of sectarianism in their community. In Lakiya, sectarian tensions are related to family or clan conflicts. The students wrote their script about this form of sectarianism and then performed it at a final event in the school. This was accompanied by a video the group made from interviews with local community leaders and civil society actors about how to combat the problem of violence. and revenge crimes.

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Umm al Fahm branch: Leader: Doa’a Athamleh This group created a movie about psychological violence and how this form of violence may not be obvious but it is harmful. They used examples like bullying and neglecting new students to illustrate their point. They presented their movie in an event at school.

Ramle branch: Leader: Aya Zenaty In Ramle, they held workshops for 4th - 9th graders about the intensity of violence within the Palestinian community where they discussed its origins and its long term effects on everyone in the community.

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Campaign against recruitment “I am not a servant/ I will not serve” Objective: Decrease enlistment of Palestinian youth through education and community organizing.

Due to increased recruitment efforts directed at Palestinian youth to recruit young Palestinians to serve in the military and civic service in 2013-2014, Baladna has expanded its campaign against recruitment and militarization of the Palestinian community. Since 2005, Baladna has led a coalition of Palestinian politicians, religious leaders, activists and leaders in civil society.

This year the coalition released a report about service in Jerusalem and held a National Congress Against Recruitment, which was attended by 1,000 prominent Palestinian community members including Knesset members and religious leaders. We also held awareness workshops in schools in Araba, Dabburiya, Nazareth, Jasr Al Zarka, Jaffa and Sakhnin that reached 1470 youth. Additionally, this year’s media campaign was very successful and widely distributed through print and online materials. One of the most successful tools was a short film and public service announcement entitled ‘Project X’ about the dangers of enlistment in the military.

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Accomplishments:

1470 7000 6500

20

Youth

awareness events

printed materials (stickers, posters and postcards) youth liked or shared online campaign materials

9400

Video ‘Project X’ viewed

10,000 12,000 71,900 Articles on Electronic Intifada and Huffington post reached at least Approximately

people

estimated beneficiaries of the campaign

direct beneficiaries and

“I was both surprised and pleased by the positive feedback I received from young students I met while I was lecturing about violence and civil service in middle schools and high schools. I didn’t expect that a 2 hour meeting would affect them so much or that it would actually change some of their ideas, opinions, and beliefs. Working with youngsters is hard work, but the results are very rewarding.”

Ronza Najjar, 20, leader 37

Campaign against so-called ‘honor’ killings and violence against women

Lecture about so-called ‘honor’ killings 38

An ‘honor’ killing is murder of a family member due to the belief that the victim has brought dishonor or shame on the family. Unfortunately, this is still practiced in many places in the world and the vast majority of victims are women. Baladna’s new campaign in collaboration with Kayan Feminist Organization began in 2014 to counter act violence against women and so called ‘honor killings’ in the Palestinian community. With the support of the European Union, thus far, we have conducted a survey and released a report about youth attitudes on violence against women and the killing of women in Palestinian society.

Objective: To uphold the human rights of women as articulated in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and specifically to offer protection against so-called ‘honor’ killings and related violence.

Accomplishments:

1

Survey

1

Manual

10 39

Youth leaders

6

Youth Groups

Thank you to all of the donors, volunteers and staff who make these programs possible. Baladna’s work would not be possible without your support. !‫شكرا جزيال‬ 40

Donors:

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Members of the Board 2014-2015: Khaled Enbtawe, Chairperson Lana Adwan Weaam Baloum Rawan Eghbaria Mariam Farah Maisan Hamdan Tha’ra Zoabi

Monitoring Committee 2014-2015: Fatime Asle Mahmoud Mawassi Ameer Zriek

Members of the Board 2013-2014: Amir Zreik, Chairperson Rawan Eghbaria Shahim Elias Khaled Enbtawe Mariam Farah Natalie Hayek Osama Tanous

Monitoring Committee 2013-2014: Maisan Hamdan Ahmad Jabarin Areen Shtewe

Staff:

Nadim Nashif, Director Nidaa Nassar, Project Coordinator Asrar Kayyal, Project Coordinator George Ghantous, Project Coordinator (2014-2013) Rasha Hamed, Administrative Coordinator Charles Morse, Fundraiser 42

Jowan Safadi, Fundraiser (2014-2012) Majd Hamdan, Web site editor Lauren Blaxter, Intern Gareth Bridgewater, Intern (2013)

Youth Leaders: Youth Leadership Yara Aun Ru’ya Awad Sohela Ghatas Essam Haddad Malak Hogerat Maiysoon Horany Safa Khalidi Odai Mahamed Jawad Maiky Safa Naamneh Layla Saed Yara Tarabeh

Volunteerism Saher Jeries, database administrator Hadeel Jeries Amir Toume

Cultural Forum Rafat Awayshi Rem Gawe Jad Kadan Firas Naamneh 43

Naqab Youth for Human Rights Gamila Abu Kaf Sabreen Abu Kaf Layla Saed Samah Salameh Yara Tarabeh

Our Return Shadi Akare Ali Mawasi

Anti-Violence Doa’a Athamleh Mohammed Kadah Layla Saed Aya Zenaty

Anti-Recruitment Iman Ali Fatime Asli Shadi Khafaja Ronza Najjar Rana Taha

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