The tensions between Israel and Palestine have been going on for so long that they should be old news, but of course, they aren't. I'm volunteering in Jerusalem with a human rights organisation known as Achvat Amim, the 'Solidarity of Nations' in February. This organisation is committed to promoting equality and understanding between Palestinians and Israelis and educating about the conflict. It's a relatively young movement, but it expresses a commitment to Israel that is socially aware and politically engaged.

There's no naive hope that peace in the Middle East will miraculously emerge from our time there, but this will be a really amazing project on a grassroots level, and you have to start somewhere. Through small steps, we'll be trying to build the relationships between individuals, and through them, communities. For example, we're working with the 'Hand in Hand' Project in bilingual (Hebrew and Arabic) schools, the 'Interfaith Encounter Association', and campaigning with 'Rabbis for Human Rights'. Areas of Jerusalem, schools and communities in general are segregated between Jews and Arabs. Uniting those communities is the only way to bring about stability and peace that is sustainable, and provides equality for everyone.

Please help support this!!! I'll be so grateful for donations of any size :)

If you'd like to read more about it, scroll down.....

Achvat Amim is a twofold programme:

1. Volunteering

Our group's main aim is to bring about social change by building communities through small steps.We each have a lot of control over what type of volunteering we will do once we get there, so nothing's set in stone, but I can give you an outline of some of the things we've been planning.

We'll be promoting cohesion and communication between communities both culturally, for example at the Jerusalem Intercultural Center, or religiously, through the Interfaith Encounter Association. This includes the campaign for human rights (e.g. against demolition of homes) using social media campaigns and conventional media such as the joint Israeli-Palestinian thought and opinion journal, Palestine-Israel Journal. We'll also aim to build communities from within, by running activities for women and girls, leading the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, and running after-school youth activities. Our group will also be teaching English to children from bilingual and special needs schools in East Jerusalem. Hopefully we'll also get the chance to support the environment at the Tent of Nations, an ecological educational farm near Bethlehem.

I wanted to be engaged with the local community and remain politically aware while I'm living abroad. It’s so important to define a good relationship to Israel, and I’m hoping that this project will let me engage with my Jewish identity without losing the ability to see Israel critically. Having grown up in the OJC, the importance of plurality and reaching out to other communities is something I really value, and I’m hoping this project will be an opportunity for me to continue promoting inter-faith values in Jerusalem as well.

As well as volunteering, I will be gaining internship experience from what we're involved in as part of our community work. I may have an placement with journalists and researchers, e.g. at the Israel-Palestine Journal or IPCRI, which would be my first experience of those fields of work.

2. Learning

At the same time, I’ll get the opportunity to learn other languages (Hebrew and Arabic), and also learn about the history and the politics of Israel-Palestine relations. The region has a huge and complicated history that is so relevant to continued tensions today, and it's important to understand the cultures not merely as an outsider. Hopefully I'll get the knowledge to form my own response to the difficulties, which will be immensely valuable in dealing with and planning the emphasis of our volunteer work. Along with the others on this project, I'm passionate about social justice and promoting equality and self-determination, and being together with like-minded people will mean we can take action to bring about change to the region.

Please help support this!!! I'll be so grateful for donations of any size :)

If you'd like more details, you can follow this link: http://www.achvatamim.org/, or feel free to ask me any questions!!