“To be honest, this program has made me able to see many issues related to the conflict from more than one side and more than one opinion.”

“During the program I met grief, anger, happiness and resentment, as well as hope.”

“As time passed, a great sense of curiosity came, from simple listening and attentiveness. We started knowing each other better, things became less black and white.”

This September, a group of sixteen inspirational Palestinians and Israelis embarked on Encompass’ two-week Journey of Understanding (JoU) workshop in Turkey. During these two weeks, the group would take part in intense group discussions and activities, challenging their preconceived perceptions of one another, as well as their understandings of truth, dignity, morality, and justice. As with every JoU, there was also time for fun and games with the participants making full use of the youth centre’s sporting facilities, as well as taking part in photo scavenger hunt, relay challenges, cooking sessions, and more. The participants were also given a chance to give back to the community, helping with the clean-up of debris (mostly plastics) in the sea. This challenging, fun, and varied programme was made possible by the efforts of coordinators/ facilitators Karen AbuZant, Yael Kalif, Suma Qawasmi, Rosa Hopkins, and Tareq Jarred.

What is the Journey of Understanding?

The Journey of Understanding is a bi-yearly programme organised by Encompass which brings together so called enemies to encourage them to listen and learn from one another, to see each other as human beings and break down the barriers that have come between them. The hope is to show participants how their shared humanity transcends their cultural and political differences through open and honest dialogue. The programme provides participants with the opportunity to hear another perspective; a perspective that is often neglected by their local news outlets and governments. For many participants, this is the first time they have spent with individuals from the ‘other side’ of the conflict and can therefore be a very emotional and challenging two weeks. To support the participants during this time, alumni from previous JoU programmes help facilitate the activities, providing understanding and guidance.

Why Turkey?

While traditionally taking place in Cyprus, this time around the Journey of Understanding was to take place near Izmir, Turkey at a German-Turkish youth centre called Afacan (Afajan). The decision to change location came after instances of Islamophobia experienced by JoU participants in Cyprus. While the change in venue made preparing for this programme a little more challenging than usual, upon arrival at Afacan, the stress of the unknown and unfamiliar soon melted away. The welcoming Afacan staff, green spaces, comfortable accommodations and of course the Aegean sea, was enough to give the team the ‘we got this’ attitude needed to sow the seeds of understanding and hope.

What happened there?

During their two-week stay in Turkey, the JoU participants took part in numerous activities aimed at fostering understanding through open dialogue, providing participants with the opportunity to put themselves in ‘the others’ shoes. For example, participants took part in a ‘community walk’ exercise. This walk involved participants getting into pairs and guiding their partner blindfolded through a virtual tour of their community. Whilst discussing their experiences, participants said they felt as if they were in their partner’s community, and could understand more about their lived reality.

In another exercise, participants had the chance to explore their own identities through a game of ‘Who Am I?’ This activity aimed to help the participants understand the various layers of their identity, giving them the chance to self reflect on each layer. A turning point in the discussion was when the participants started to talk about whether the first things said, such as nationality and religion, were the most important aspects of their identity. There were varied opinions on this. While some said these parts of their identity were very important to them, others expressed identifying more with other parts of their identities, such as their hobbies, interests and what they do.

Participants also took part in a number of discussions where they were encouraged to speak openly about their experiences of the conflict in Israel and Palestine. For example, participants were asked to get into groups and present a timeline of the conflict from their national perspective. After the presentations, the groups were asked to reflect on the events they chose and the events chosen by other groups. Each group explained why they had chosen particular events to form part of their national narrative. The discussion proceeded to one about racism, about living in fear as a result of these events, and the effect of this on their everyday experiences. This session was revisited later on in the week when participants had the chance to have their questions answered by others in the group. In this activity, anonymous questions written by participants at the beginning of the week were addressed in a group discussion. The first question revealed was, “How does it feel to hold a gun toward a Palestinian?” The Israelis in the group mainly responded to this by expressing their resistance to those acts of violence and explaining their points of views about the acts of the Israeli army. This led to a discussion about violent versus nonviolent resistance and to questions about how far the Palestinian and Israeli governments actually reflect their own needs and beliefs. At the end of the session, the subject shifted as participants began to express a shared responsibility to start making changes to their community upon their return home.

What happens next?

While participants have now returned home, their journey does end here. Rather, equipped with a new sense of purpose, 16 Palestinians and Israelis will return to their communities to continue the work of Encompass. They will use their experiences to contribute to calls for equality and peace, spreading the message of peace through understanding to their communities. Following in the footsteps of the JoU alumni that have come before them, many will do this by becoming involved in awareness-raising projects supported by their new friends and Encompass’ programme facilitators working in Israel and Palestine. Good luck to those entering the next step in their journey!