Workshop: «Where the sea meets the mountain»

In completion of the work of the Youth Forum for Reconciliation and Tolerance affiliated to Pal-Think for Strategic Studies, as an independent Palestinian youth gathering seeking to strengthen dialogue and discussion around the issues and challenges facing Palestinian society and Palestinian youth in particular, the Youth Forum, in cooperation with the Palestinian Institution for Empowerment and Local Development (Reform), organised a meeting via Skype titled “The Sea and the Mountain Meet”, to discuss the social reality of Palestinian youth in light of the division and the blockade, with the goal of strengthening social harmony and reinforcing the systems' responsiveness to the youth's demands.
The meeting was opened by Mr Omar Shaban, director of Pal-Think for Strategic Studies, affirming youth's role in strengthening the unity and harmony of the Palestinian people. He likewise pointed to the importance of supporting youth in all fields, given the importance and role of youth in forming Palestine's future — they being a source of condensed energy that always needs stimulation and help to rise and go forward for the sake of building a firm, strong society able to challenge difficulties.
The attendees discussed the social reality of Palestinian youth in light of the division and the blockade, and youth's role in planning for the future in order to end the division and strengthen the gathering national identity. The participants affirmed that despite the difficulties and challenges our Palestinian people is passing through, and despite the unemployment and poverty from which the youth especially suffer, there is a great number of youth who strive with all diligence and effort to fight these phenomena and overcome them through holding sessions, seminars, conferences, and projects of their own that contribute to supporting themselves and supporting others — in which the youth's effective role is embodied. The youth affirmed the responsibility of the Palestinian movements and factions and the Palestinian government toward them, as well as the role of the non-governmental associations in providing work opportunities for the youth, and the universities' responsibility toward the youth and their care.
The session concluded with the affirmation of the importance of ending the division and opening a new page, and it was agreed on the necessity of taking steps to raise the awareness of the youth and society of the danger of the division's continuation — among them: creating an observatory to measure the effect and cost of the division on development in society; investing social-media and communication sites in awareness campaigns on the danger of the division's continuation for the Palestinian cause generally and the youth's reality especially; using creative ways and means in order to create a culture opposing the division and strengthening collective awareness and the importance of the homeland's geographic unity; and strengthening the culture of diversity and the acceptance of the other..