Sunday, March 05, 2006

Anyone Interested? (what the other side is doing)

Interested?

For the last three years in succession, young leaders from many various countries went to Palestine, to show solidarity with Palestinian youth by experiencing a little of what it is like to live under occupation. They were on a "Journey for Justice".

Based on the successes of the visits in 2003 - 2005, the programme is now an annual event. This year young leaders from all YMCA and YWCA movements are invited to participate in the “Journey for Justice 4” at the YMCA in Beit Sahour.

The YMCA and YWCA movements’ vision and goals believe in:

• Empowering youth to take increased responsibilities towards international issues.
• Committing to work in solidarity with the humiliated, uprooted people and oppressed nations.
• Seeking to be mediators and reconcilers in situations of conflict and working for meaningful participation and advancement of people for their own self-determination.

The idea was that international youth should get involved in the situation, and not only read or hear about it, but also experience it. In order for young people to understand more of the everyday life of the youth from Palestine, it is important that young people can meet and experience each others reality, cultural background and socio-political context.

It is a journey that lasts far beyond the actual trip and aims not only at giving a new perspective to the participants but also to widen the YMCA and YWCA network by involving International youth and youth networking with special interest in Palestine.

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