The 1st International Sabeel Young Adult Conference

26 July- 6 August 2006

 

 

 

Together: Facing Challenges ...Finding Hope

 

 

CONFERENCE REPORT

 

 

 

Introduction

 

From July 26th to August 6th 2006, young adults from around the world gathered together for the first Sabeel International Young Adult Conference themed Together: Facing Challenges...Finding Hope.  Participants came from Palestine, Sweden, Denmark, Hong Kong, India, Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States.  The group included 14 internationals, 18 locals, and 7 staff and volunteers.  The group traveled together to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, Hebron, Jifna, Taybeh, Ramallah, Aboud, and Jericho.  Participants had a chance to meet, share stories, and learn about one another's cultures and denominations.  The trip included cultural activities, tours of Christian sites, engagement in the realities facing Palestinian Christians, community service, meetings with government officials, and time to relax and engage in honest cross-cultural dialogue.  Though the young adults were not able to travel to the Galilee as originally planned because of the conflict in the north between Israel and Hizballah, our conference was a great success.  As one of the international participants reflected: "Truly, to see is to believe and to be changed.  In no other circumstance would I be able to meet with so many Palestinian Christians and form relationships with them.  For that, I am very appreciative.  This is what will frame my involvement for fighting for peace throughout my life."

 

 

Planning

 

The idea for this conference was planted in conversation with the Friends of Sabeel group in Sweden.  Once the Sabeel staff began exploring the issue more seriously, it was important to develop a vision and goals for the conference.  One of the goals was to educate international young adults about the current realities in Palestine and Israel,  and more specifically about the lives of local Palestinian and Israeli-Arab young adults.  Another goal was to expose local young adults to new perspectives in their own country, and to help to show that young adults around the world care about them and the context in which they live.  Finally, to empower Christian young adults to become more active in working for justice in their home communities.  The primary focus of the conference, as embodied in the theme, was a 'coming together' of young adults to face challenges and to work to find hope in the midst of those challenges.  Thus, it is only fitting that the staff who planned and implemented the conference were young adults as well. 

 

 

 

Conference Support

 

Funding

In February and March of 2006, fourteen proposals of support for the young adult conference were sent out to both local and international organizations.  Four of those organizations offered support to the conference, some helping to cover specific costs such as bus transportation or scholarships.  Thanks to generous support, we were able to offer four international scholarships (one of which was accepted, as challenges with visas prevented the other applicants from being able to attend).  The rest of the funds designated for scholarships were thus used to offer 18 partial scholarships to all local participants, in recognition of financial hardship resulting from the occupation.  Others funders offered broader undesignated gifts to support program costs and to help subsidize international registration fees, to make this event affordable for young adults.  We are grateful for the financial gifts which made this conference possible!  We must also acknowledge that the local communities which we visited often offered resources that were immensely helpful. 

 

 

 

Volunteers/Staff

This conference was unique because it was planned by young adults for young adults.  The conference was facilitated by seven Sabeel volunteers and staff members: Youth Coordinator Haya Dow, Omar Harami, Krista Johnson, Andrea Dalton, Nevart Ateek, Jenan Sim'aan, and Amal Geraisy.  In addition, the conference staff was supported by a spirit of volunteerism among the participants.  From taking pictures to helping with lunch preparations and leading devotions, participants were often willing to pitch in to make the conference a success. 

 

Travel Agent

Since this was Sabeel's first young adult conference the support of a travel agent was very helpful.  We chose to work with Yusif Daher, of Daher Travel, largely because of his history of working with youth.  Daher Travel helped with the flights for international participants, provided logistic support throughout the week, and aided us in intentional capacity building in local communities.  We are grateful for the professional support that Daher Travel provided us for the first conference and also for the t-shirts that they provided for the conference participants. 

 

 

Invitations/Pre-Conference publicity

 

All invitations for the conference were sent via e-mail to Friends of Sabeel Chapters around the world, international contacts, local churches and youth groups.  The conference was also advertised in Sabeel Programs, on the website, and in Sabeel's Cornerstone publication.  Originally, there were plans for pre-conference programming with the young adults in Nazareth, but the conflict in the north made that impossible this time. 

 

Participants

Country

Number of participants

Denmark

1 participant

England

2 participants

Hong Kong

1 participant

India

1 participant

Israel

 

5 participants

2 staff

Palestine

13 participants

3 staff

Scotland

2 participants

Sweden

5 participants

United States

2 participants

2 staff

Total

39 young adults

 

International Participants

Fourteen international participants came to Palestine to participate in the conference despite the intimidating headlines in the news.  Unfortunately, one week before the conference there were 26 international participants registered, but 12 registrants decided not to come due to the unstable situation in the north and the uncertainty that comes with it.  We hope that they will maintain a connection with Sabeel and attend conferences in the future.

 

Local Participants

Eighteen local Palestinian young adults participated in the conference: thirteen from greater Jerusalem and five from the Galilee.  Those participants who joined us from Nazareth came later in the week and in smaller numbers than we had originally expected.  It was a difficult time for them to leave their families in light of the conflict.  We are grateful that they were able to come and to share their experiences as Israeli-Arabs who live in Israel but identify as Palestinians.  They quickly became an important part of the group during the second half of the conference.

 

In addition to the international and local conference participants, the group had the opportunity to meet with over 55 additional young adults from the West Bank in their different localities.  The group would have been enriched by their presence throughout the whole conference, but severe restrictions on travel for Palestinians from certain areas of the Occupied Palestinian Territories limited the opportunity for these young adults to participate.  The Sabeel Youth department is in the process of developing further relationships with those young adults through follow-up conference events.  We hope that they will continue to be involved with the work of Sabeel.

Programming

 

     Speakers

  • Wassim Khazmo and Raja Shammas- Current situation Palestine & Israel
  • Zoughbi Zoughbi- Current Situation in Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Beit Sahour
  • Waleed Al Halaweh- Hebron and the work of Hebron Rehabilitation Committee
  • Janet Mikhail, Mayor of Ramallah- History of Ramallah, Birzeit, and Jifna
  • Asher Kauffman- Israel/Hezbollah/Lebanon Crisis (Historical Perspective)
  • Cedar Duaybis- Israel/Hezbollah/Lebanon Crisis (Faith Perspective)
  • Rev. Naim Ateek- Reflections on the Mt. of Temptations
  • Cathy Nichols- Networking, IFOS, and advocacy
  • Sami Musallem, Governor of Jericho
  • Breaking the Silence Presentation
  • Operation Dove Presentation

                        

 

Tours/Field Trips

  • Tour of the Church of the Nativity
  • Tour of Christian Holy Sites in Jerusalem
  • Mt. of Temptations visit and reflections
  • Tour of Hebron with CPT

 (Christian Peacemaker Team)

  • Tour of Old City, with a focus on political change
  • Tour of churches and archaeological sites in Aboud
  • Visit to the Western Wall and an attempted visit to the Dome of the Rock
  • Lifta: touring, hiking and history- Lifta is one of nearly 500 villages de-populated in 1948.  Never completely destroyed, its ruins still stand just outside Jerusalem.
  • Swimming in the Dead Sea for an afternoon.
  • Contemporary Way of the Cross  This unique tour is a half-day visit to present-day sites ("stations") in which Palestinians face the occupation.  Visitors respond to these stations, which included a refugee camp, a settlement, checkpoints, the wall, Deir Yassin and Ein Karem among others, in prayer using a liturgy developed by Sabeel. 

 

Cultural Events

·        At the Tent restaurant in Beit Sahour participants and local young adults joined together for a traditional Palestinian meal and  traditional dancing called dabka.

·        In Jifna the group participated in a reenactment of a Palestinain wedding, in which participants played the roles of bride, groom, and wedding party.  It provided a hands-on way to learn about traditions and have fun in the process.

·        traditional Palestinian meals throughout the trip

Dialogue with local young adults

-Barbeque with Christian Young Adults in Beit Sahour

-Lunch and sharing of stories with Muslim Young Adults in Hebron

-Fellowship and dialogue with young adults in Jifna

-Lunch and tour in Aboud with Birzeit young adults

 

Volunteer Work

Participants had a chance to volunteer for a day in Beit Sahour.  After receiving a quick lesson in painting, they divided up into four groups and went to four different sites to work.  They painted homes, refurbished gardens, and helped to prepare schools for the upcoming school year.  It was a challenging day, but in the evaluation, one participant described the volunteer work as his favorite part of the conference, since it gave the chance to help people the community.

 

 

 

Worship

We opened the conference by worshiping together with music provided by local music group Raja' and reflections by Sabeel staff member Nora Carmi.  On Sunday morning participants had the chance to choose between attending the Catholic or Orthodox churches in Jifna or the Quaker Meeting in Ramallah.  In addition to formal worship experiences, each morning we joined together as a group for informal morning prayers and reflections.  Participants were able to draw from their own cultures and faith backgrounds to share reflections with the group, and by the end of the conference there were so many volunteers that we began having nightly reflections as well.  The conference closed with a communion service led by Assis Naim Ateek and a commissioning, which called participants to commit to working for justice as they returned to their home communities.

 

 

 

 

Evaluation/Follow-up

 

Evaluation sheets were distributed on the last full day of the conference.  Evaluation of the conference by the participants was largely positive.  While providing constructive criticism and suggestions for future conferences, nearly all the participants claimed that they would recommend this conference to others. 

 

In addition, the conference staff and later the larger Sabeel staff met to evaluate the conference.  Not only were the different aspects of the conference discussed and evaluated, but as we discussed recommendations for future conferences, it was decided that we would begin the process of planning for another young adult conference in the summer of 2007.  Information about the dates and theme will soon be available on our website: www.sabeel.org. 

 

Preparing for a second young adult conference, we will work to learn from our experiences in this conference, in hopes of making the next conference even better.  Our conference leadership team must be intentional about fostering a higher level of interaction between local and international participants.    A conference leadership team made up of young adults was an asset in many ways.  However, there is a delicate balance to be achieved between the expertise that comes with experience and age, and the opportunity to be in solidarity as young adults.  Being a young adult and possessing a high quality of historical expertise, sensitivity to group dynamics, and spiritual leadership are in no way mutually exclusive.  However, when planning future conferences, we must be very intentional about providing both.

 

In the coming year the Sabeel staff will work on building our network of young adults, both locally and internationally, in hopes of drawing a broader group into our future conferences.  At the 2006 conference, young adults expressed an interest in finding a way to continue dialogue using internet technology such as blogs.  Ideally, this technology will enable us to provide a resource for conference participants and to reach out to a larger group internationally.  

 

A Word of Thanks

The Sabeel conference staff wish to express thanks to everyone who helped to make this conference possible.  From those who offered funding to those who continue to support the work of Sabeel; this conference would not have been possible without friends who support this ministry.  Thank you!