10-days in Palestine with the JAI for 16 Norwegian students

Category: Students Exchange Programs Created: 15 November 2016

See more photos of the visit

From the 6th to the 15th of November 2016, the JAI has arranged and hosted a trip to Palestine for 16 students from the YWCA-YMCA Norway related JAI-partner' Rønningen FolkHighSchool.

ronn nov2016 1t

ronn nov2016 2tTheir program included guided tours in the areas of Bethlehem, Hebron, Ramallah, Jericho and Jerusalem, to witness the wall, settlements, land confiscation, checkpoints, closures, division, and other various measures of the Israeli occupation.

They met, chatted and listened to stories and experiences from Palestinian students and youth at the YWCA in Ramallah, Bethlehem University and Aida Refugee camp. Presentations with discussions were organized for the Norwegian students on the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions (BDS) Campaign, Kairos Palestine, the JAI work and Olive Tree Campaign, the Palestinian refugees' issue and ongoing displacement by the Israeli occupation, and other occupation-related main themes.

ronn nov2016 3tGuided visits were made with Israeli activists in Jerusalem, Popular Resistance Committee in Nabi Saleh village, the EAPPI team at the checkpoint, Aida Refugee camp with a Dabka folklore dance show by Lajee Center, to the YWCA kindergarten and food production center and YMCA Vocational Training Center in Jericho. This is beside the main historic and religious sites in Palestine.

Two days were organized for the Norwegian students to help Palestinian farmers and their families pick olives at their threatened fields.

A session was at the end organized for future committment, engagement and follow up through the JAI campaigns and proposed actions and activities, with a reporting mechanism.