(Freedom Theatre, Jenin)
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world" Nelson Mandela
"I put my hope in the youth, whose resiliency and capacity for growth seems unending. Investing in them now is our best chance for salvation"
Harry Belafonte
Summer 2010 Internships for Human Rights and Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
* For college and university students only *
Session I
Dates: June 5 - July 8
Orientation Course: June 5 - June 10.
Students should arrive in Jerusalem no later than Friday June 4.
Session II
Dates: July 3 - August 5
Orientation Course: July 3 - July 8.
Students should arrive in Jerusalem no later than Friday July 2
* Students are welcomed to apply for both sessions*
The internship program includes:
* An intensive orientation course with lectures, visits and meetings in locations such as Jaffa, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Bilin, Ramallah, Tel-Aviv, Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot, al-Ghabisiyya (destroyed 1948 village), Nazareth, Dheisheh refugee camp, Hebron, Jericho and settlements around Jerusalem. The course will focus on the following topics: The Holocaust, the Nakba, Jerusalem, Palestinian community in Israel, Settlements and Separation Wall, the occupation regime in the West Bank, grassroots nonviolent activism for justice and peace in Palestine/Israel.
* Four weeks of working as a volunteer in a grassroots organization, a research organization, or human rights organization in the occupied Palestinian territories or Israel. Students in the program will be placed in one of the organizations affiliated with FFIPP. While FFIPP welcomes input from students regarding which organization they would like to work with, students should be prepared to work with any of the organization affiliated with FFIPP. See list of FFIPP affiliated organizations below.
* FFIPP will organize lectures and trips during the internship program as as well as meetings with Palestinian and Israeli students and faculty.
This internship is an intensive, emotional, and a deep learning experience of the reality in Palestine/Israel. This is a non-traditional internship in the sense that learning does not come from working for eight hours a day on the job. Students learn by living in a community, creating friendships with members of the community and joining them in their daily work and struggles.
Housing: Students will live together in apartments that will be rented by FFIPP in different locations.
Academic Expectations:
Recommended books to be read before joining the internship program:
1. The Modern Middle East: Revised Edition by Albert H. Hourani, Phillip Khoury, and Mary Wilson, 2004
2. The Iron Cage by Rashid Khalidi, 2006
3. The Iron Wall by Avi Shlaim, 2001
* Students, in teams of two, will produce a power point presentation or a poster board presentation about their internship experiences.
Students will share their presentations in the last day of the internship program.
Cost: FFIPP-USA tuition, fees and housing for one session $1300, for both sessions $1900. Airfare and food is NOT covered by FFIPP.
European Students:
While every university student anywhere in the world is welcome to apply to the program via FFIPP-USA, it is recommended that European students should apply to the program via FFIPP-France. FFIPP-France is operating under a different financial system and hence has a different set of fees. For more information please contact FFIPP-France, http://www.ffipp-france.org/
Application process for Univercity/College students ONLY
1) Apply by downloading Application and send it with a $30 application fee to ffipp-usa, P.O.Box 2091, Amherst MA 01004. You can also email your application and use the donate button at the FFIPP website to pay the application fee. Also Sign and send or fax the Waiver and Internship Agreement.
2) Each applicant must forward a recommendation form to the three references (at least two must be faculty) along with a stamped envelope addressed to FFIPP-USA. The letters may also be sent directly by email to info@ffipp.org or by FAX to 413-253-0676.
FFIPP will not be able to accept an applicant without receiving three letters of recommendation.
Suggestions for Funding a FFIPP Summer Internship:
See the FFIPP Fundraising guide.
Students can also check: The Rotary Foundation - World Peace Fellowships
For more information, please visit the Rotary Centers website.
Email: rotarycenters@rotary.org
Questions? Call us at 413-253-0676 or email us at info@ffipp.org
Summer 2009 FFIPP Internship for Human Rights and Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
Thirty-seven students participated in last summer internship program. They came from 21 different universities in the US, France, UK, Netherlands, Canada, Belgium and Switzerland.
Students came from the following universities and colleges:
Sciences Politique, Paris, France; Grenoble management business school, Grenoble, France; Sciences Politique, Grenoble, France; Sciences Politique Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Sciences Politique, Lille, France; UvA, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Roosevelt Academy (Utrecht Univsersity), Netherlands; Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design, London. UK; Winchester University , UK; St Andrews, UK; Fribourg University, Fribourg, Switzerland; Catholic University of Louvain, Belgian; University of Ottawa, Canada; University of Calgary, Canada; Brown University, Georgia State University College of Law, Smith College, MaCalester College, Hamline University, University of Iowa College of Law, University of Minnesota, Marquette University, Mt Holyoke College, Yale University, Hunter College, UC Berkeley, Oberlin College, UMASS Amherst.
The most outstanding aspects of the summer 2009 program have been the leadership role assumed by interns of past years in planning and running this year program and the central role that FFIPP-France has been playing in all aspect of this year program. FFIPP-France has been created by graduates of the FFIPP internship program.
Summer 2009 interns in Jerusalem
The week of orientation included the following meetings and visits:
* Hebrew university meeting with Daphna Golan, Professor of Law at Hebrew University, and Coordinator, Minerva Center for Human Rights Internship Program. Dudy Tzfati a peace activist who teaches Genetics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Students who work at the Minerva Center for Human Rights. Yonathan Mizrachi, an archaeologist and a founder of the archaeological tour From Shiloah to Silwan: An Alternative Archaeological Tour of Ancient Jerusalem
* Yad Vashem, the Jewish people's living memorial to the Holocaust, and the world center for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust
Summer 2009 interns in Yad Vashem
*Ayn Karim, and the destroyed village of Suba
2009 interns in Suba, a village near Jerusalem, destroyed in 1948
*A Meeting with Jeff Halper, Director of The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, ICAHD
* Tour of East Jerusalem.
* Anata to the house of Salim Shawamreh, a Palestinian whose house has been demolished four times by the Israeli authorities and who is still unable to inhabit his rebuilt home
* The village of Bilin
* The city Sakhnin
* The destroyed village of Kafr Bir'im
2009 interns in the church in the village of Kafr Bir'im, a village in the Galilee destroyed in 1953.
* The city of Akka
* A Meeting in Haifa with representatives from the youth organization Baladna, the feminist organization Isha L'Isha and a Palestinian student leader from Haifa University
* Hebron and a tour of the city by members of the Temporary International Presence in the city of Hebron (TIPH), who later explained their presence and work
2009 interns in Hebron
* A meeting with Dr. Jad Isaac the Director General of the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ) in Bethlehem
* Dheisheh refugee camp
* Ramallah. A Meeting with representatives from the Palestinian Hydrology Group and the Palestinian Working Women Society
Summer 2009 Interns worked in the following organizations:
• The Alternative Information Center, Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
• The Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), Bethlehem.
• Kayan Feminist Organization, Haifa.
• The Latin patriarchate society of St Yves Catholic Human Rights Center for Resources and Development, Jerusalem.
• Sindyanna of Galilee which markets Palestinian products, such as olive oil and baskets, according to the principles of fair trade.
• Who Profits, Tel Aviv.
• The Minerva Center for Human Rights, Hebrew University.
• Baladna - Arab youth organization, Haifa.
• The Palestinian Initiative for the promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH), Ramallah.
• Palestinian Farmers Union, Ramallah.
• Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), Jerusalem.
• The Regional Council for the Unrecognized Arab Bedouin Villages in the Negev.
• Al Quds University Human Rights Clinic, Jerusalem.
• Palestinian Hydrology Group, Ramallah.
• Union of Cooperative Association for Saving and Credit, Ramallah.
• Enfants, Jeux ET Education, Jalazon refugee camp, Ramallah, Arub refugee camp.
2009 interns with children in the refugee camp of Al Arub (Photos by Ophelie Hemonin)
• Palestinian Working Women Society for Development, Ramallah.
• Project Hope, Nablus.
• The Palestinian Business Women's Association, Ramallah.
Interns also took classes at Al-Najah University in Nablus and held meetings
with students and faculty at Birzeit University.
What the Summer 2009 interns say about their FFIPP Internships:
The best decision I have made this past year was to stop being lazy and actually look for opportunities to go to Palestine/Israel. I had been studying and talking about the conflict for so long but had never actually gone to the land. When I came across FFIPP, I applied immediately because it looked like exactly what I wanted: an orientation week to see different places and meet with people working in the field, a connection to great NGOs, lots of support from the program leaders, and mainly, the opportunity to work at incredible places like the Alternative Information Center.
The experience with FFIPP was my first in Palestine/Israel, but definitely not the last. I plan to go back and work against the occupation and for peace in any way I can.
Alia Lahlou, Brown University, USA.
What has FFIPP brought me? I would say that FFIPP could be summed up into a word: "opportunity".
First of all, FFIPP prepared me to go to this part of the world not as a tourist, not as a full intern but rather as an involved citizen ready to listen, think and understand. Moreover, I experienced the life of Palestinians (since I was living and working in the Territories). Thus, I could understand their way of life, or what seems to me as an "oriental" way of life, their fears and their
hopes. I also had the privilege to travel all around Israel and discover the consequence of the conflict inside the society.
Secondly, FFIPP offered me the opportunity to meet amazing and diverse local people going from the Israeli journalist Danny Rubinstein to my Palestinian neighbours in Ramallah. All of them came with their experience of the conflict
and helped me think about the issue.
Thirdly, FFIPP gave me the opportunity to spend time and share my experience day after day with bright students and scholars, especially during the orientation week, from different countries. All of them were aware of the situation and always eager to share their feelings and listen to my worries and questions about the conflict.
Finally, FFIPP helped me to think about the conflict in a new perspective. I am now able to go beyond the News, and to explain what is at stake there and maybe to propose by myself possible solutions. I now have some clear opinions about the issue and I am ready to defend them.
Damien Simonneau, Sciences Politiques Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
The FFIPP program was an extremely rewarding experience. One of the things I would have to say I was most impressed with in the program was my fellow interns. I met so many creative and intelligent people who inspired me to shoot for the stars and nothing less. I have never been more proud to call a group of people my friends.
During my time in the Middle East I encountered many great Palestinians and Israelis who really opened my mind both to the conflict, and life in general. You learn way more then you expect to from these people and yourself, when you defy the limits you may have previously set for yourself. FFIPP's speakers grant you access to valuable perspectives never obtainable in the US.
When traveling to a foreign land, and immersing yourself in its culture and people, you learn things in a whole new dimension.
While I lived in Nablus, working for Project Hope, I also had the opportunity to take a law class at An-Najah University and meet many locals my age. I took Arabic classes as well as spent time with local families. If you want to help with the conflict in a more personal way I can guarantee you this is the way to do it. I would request that you enter this internship with no expectations or
fears, because what you gain will exceed all of these. If you're like me then this trip and the people you meet will stay in the forefront of your mind forever. It's an emotional and complicated journey that will leave you feeling homesick for the places and people who made your experience so rewarding.
Audrey Murphy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA
Summer 2008 FFIPP Internship for Human Rights and Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
This summer sixty-one students from sixteen countries participated in the internship program. Twenty-two students participated in Session I, June 1 to July 4, and forty-two students participated in Session II, June 29 to July 31. The interns came from sixteen countries: USA, France, Netherlands, Hungary, Egypt, Japan, UK, Germany, Belgium, Turkey, Bulgaria, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Canada, and Brazil.
Summer 2008 interns in Jerusalem ( byDaanish)
The students came from the following universities and colleges:
• Macalester College
• Yale University
• University of Massachusetts-Amherst
• New York University
• Princeton University
• Harvard University
• Cornell University
• Columbia University
• Webster University
• Claremont McKenna College
• Hampshire College
• University of Windsor
• University of St Andrews
• Michigan State University
• University of Amsterdam
• Colby College
• Johns Hopkins University
• McGill University
• University of Leuven
• American University Cairo
• Golden Gate University
• University of Chicago
• University of Essex
• Middlebury College
• University of Utrecht
• UCLA
• Boston College
• Sorbonne University
• Sciences Po Bordeaux
• Sciences Po Grenoble
• Sciences Po Paris
• Toulouse University
Each session had an orientation program that included the following visits and meetings in Palestine/Israel:
• Bat Shalom, Jerusalem
• Ibdaa Center, Dheisheh Refugee Camp, Bethlehem
Ibdaa dancers perform for the FFIPP interns (by Daanish Faruqi)
• The Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), Bethlehem
• The Alternative Information Center, Jerusalem
• Hebron
• The Ghetto Fighters' House – Itzhak Katzenelson Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum, and The Center for Humanistic Education, Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot
FFIPP Interns at the Ghetto Fighters' House – Itzhak Katzenelson Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum (by Daanish Faruqi)
• Kibbutz Gan Shemuel
• The remains of the destroyed 1948 villages of Biram, al-Bassa and Suhmata
FFIPP Interns visit the remains of the destroyed 1948 village of Suhmata (by Daanish Faruqi)
• Sakhnin
• Meeting with Dr. Saeb Arakat, Jericho
• The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Jerusalem
• Meeting with Dr. Luay Shabaneh, President, Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Ramallah
• Meeting with Khaleda Jarar, member of the Palestinian National Assembly, Ramallah
• Village of Billin
Interns visit to the Israeli fence on the land of the village of Bilin (by Georg Hoehne)
• Isha L'Isha and Kayan, Haifa
• FFIPP conference at Al Quds University in Abu-Dis
• Meeting with Dr. Alam Jarrar at the Palestinian Medical Relief Society office in Ramallah
Interns worked as volunteers for a month at the following places:
• Freedom Theatre, Jenin.
• Sindyanna of Galilee which markets Palestinian products, such as olive oil and baskets, according to the principles of fair trade.
• The Center for Humanistic Education, The Ghetto Fighters' House, Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot.
• The Alternative Information Center, Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
• The Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), Bethlehem
• Ibdaa Center, Dheisheh Refugee Camp, Bethlehem.
• Hameshulash Research Center - Kfar Kara, Israel
• The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Jerusalem.
• Kayan Feminist Organization, Haifa.
• Rabbis for Human Rights, Jerusalem.
• The Latin patriarchate society of St Yves Catholic Human Rights Center for Resources and Development, Jerusalem
• Baladna - Arab youth organization, Haifa.
• The Palestinian Initiative for the promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH), Ramallah.
• Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), Jerusalem.
• Al Quds University Human Rights Clinic. Jerusalem.
• Isha L'Isha, Feminist Organization, Haifa.
• Zochrot ["Remembering"], a group of Israeli citizens working to raise awareness of the Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948, Tel-Aviv.
• Kav LaOved, an independent non-governmental organization committed to the defense of workers rights, Tel-Aviv.
• Palestinian Hydrology Group, Ramallah.
• Union of Cooperative Association for Saving and Credit, Ramallah.
• Development Research Center at Birzeit University.
• Enfants, Jeux ET Education, Jalazon, Ramallah.
• Palestinian Working Women Society for Development, Ramallah.
• Project Hope, Nablus.
Summer 2008 interns at work (by Georg Hoehne)
The most striking fact about this summer program was the large number of students in the program and their great national diversity. It is inspiring to see so many bright and idealistic students join the program, willing to take risks to learn and to do volunteer work in Palestine/Israel. Moreover, it was encouraging to see how quickly strong friendships were formed among the students, as well between the students and their hosts.
Other significant developments in the program occurred this year. A group of students who were interns last summer formed a FFIPP chapter in France last fall and recruited sixteen students for this year’s program. Three leaders of FFIPP France came to Palestine/Israel a week before the beginning of the internship program to assist in the process of finding host organizations for the interns. They were very successful in finding intern placements.
The development of leaders within the internship program will become a feature of the program. Student interns from will be invited to serve as field coordinators for the next year.
This summer a series of weekly meetings were held in Ramallah between some of the FFIPP interns and Palestinian students. This is a joint project of the Combatants For Peace and FFIPP. A discussion has started on ways to establish long term relations with the Palestinian student group and plan for joint activities in the near future. Next summer we are planning to organize a parallel series of meetings with Israeli students and organize joint meetings of the three groups as well.
What interns say about this summer experiences:
I learned more about the conflict in these 5 days of orientation as in the two years prior…. Fantastic time…I worked for Rabbis for Human Rights, which in itself was a very educational experience….I would also be interested in being a coordinator next summer.
Maurice Chammah, College Scholar Program/Near Eastern Studies/Music, Cornell University
Even as a child, I loved history and dreamed of one day visiting Israel to see where all the characters from my Sunday school lessons actually lived long ago. This summer, I had the opportunity to do that and more with the FFIPP Internship for Human Rights and a Just Peace.
The entire experience was more than I could have imagined or hoped for. From visiting Bethlehem, Hebron, destroyed ’48 villages, Jerusalem and women’s rights organizations in Haifa during orientation, to working for the Alternative Information Centre (AIC), my time in Israel and Palestine was packed with fascinating things to see and do. I made great friends and took more pictures than my camera could hold. I attended lectures, workshops and guest speakers. I researched and wrote articles on the torture of Palestinians in Israeli prisons and the political participation of women in Hamas (articles that were published on the AIC’s website). Plus, I had the opportunity to see the effects of the conflict with my own eyes; something no book or lecture could ever do. In short, this internship gave me the experiences, skills and passion to continue working for human rights, justice and peace long after I return home.
Cheryl Rettig, Political Science Graduate Program at the University of Windsor, Canada
I learned a lot and had an amazing time with the other interns. I
plan to keep in touch with a lot of people… I have come away from this month with a great motivation to do more. I now feel like I have a solid grounding of the situation, and plan to go back to help in any way that I can.
Abbie Taylor, University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK
The orientation week was very informative, interesting, and eye-opening. I really liked that in the first week we got so much information and packed a lot into the first week. It prepared us for the rest of the trip and gave us a chance to bond with the other students…An amazing experience overall.
Maha Moushabeck, Brunel University, London, UK
I especially enjoyed our time in Deheisheh [refugee camp]. Previously, my academic understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict was defined in political terms and historical events; interacting with the people living in the camp and witnessing first-hand the conditions in which they lived allowed me to examine the oft-ignored human dimension of the conflict.
The [ interns were the] most intelligent, inquisitive and adventurous group of people I have ever met... I am confident that the friendships I formed this summer will last a lifetime...I had the summer of a lifetime. Thank you!
Allison Hutchings, The College of William and Mary
Interns art work, Nablus, 2006
Participating Organizations in Palestine/Israel
Ibdaa center Dheisheh Refugee Camp, Bethlehem. Ibdaa is a grassroots initiative of Dheisheh Refugee Camp. Founded in 1995, Ibdaa serves over 1,200 children and young people annually through various programs, while providing job opportunities to over 25 families in the camp. Ibdaa's mission is to provide an environment for the camp's children and young people to develop their abilities, creativity and leadership skills through social, cultural and educational activities not otherwise available. Ibdaa strives to empower children and instill in them the confidence and strength necessary to face up to their difficult future, while educating the international community about the Palestinian refugee issue. http://www.dheisheh-ibdaa.net/
Kayan Feminist Organization, Haifa
. Kayan, which means "Being" in Arabic, is a feminist organization established by Palestinian Israeli women. Founded in 1998, Kayan is a capacity-building non-governmental organization devoted to women's development, and offers a wide array of courses, knowledge-based trainings, mentoring programs and activities with women's groups and associations, with non-profits, and with the public. Current strategies for women's empowerment and gender-equity include: Grassroots Skills and Capacity Building, Knowledge-Based Training, Civil and Legal Demands, Networking and Coalitions, International Advocacy. Kayan organizes, educates and motivates women to be vocal, visible and participatory members of society.
http://www.kayan.org.il/
The Alternative Information Center, Jerusalem, Bethlehem. The Alternative Information Center (AIC) is a joint Palestinian-Israeli organization which prioritizes political advocacy, critical analysis and information sharing on the Palestinian and Israeli societies as well as on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In doing so, the AIC promotes responsible co-operation between Palestinians and Israelis based on the values of social and political justice, equality, solidarity, community involvement and respect for the full inalienable national rights of all Palestinian people. http://www.alternativenews.org/
The Freedom Theatre, Jenin. The Freedom Theatre is an independent, dynamic, community-based center which encourages normal childhood by targeting behavior, knowledge concepts and practices. http://www.thefreedomtheatre.org
(FFIPP Interns in Jenin, summer 2007)
Rabbis for Human Rights , Jerusalem. Rabbis for Human Rights is the rabbinic voice of conscience in Israel, giving voice to a Jewish tradition of human rights. It promotes justice and freedom, while campaigning against discrimination and inhumane conduct. http://www.rhr.israel.net/
B’Tselem, Israel. The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories was established in 1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists, and Knesset members. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel. http://www.btselem.org/English
Project Hope, Nablus. Project Hope is a non-profit volunteer organization whose goal is to provide a participatory, educational space for Palestinian youth and children. Committed to the principles of international humanitarian law and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, our aim is support children denied access to basic services by providing educational and recreational activities, medical and humanitarian relief and practical training that can empower them with hope and skills for the future. http://www.projecthope.ps
FFIPP Interns teaching at Project Hope, Nablus, summer 2006
Bilingual Summer Camp in Shaknin, Israel.
The Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem, ARIJ, Bethlehem. Founded in 1990, the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting sustainable development in the occupied Palestinian territories and the self-reliance of the Palestinian people through greater control over their natural resources. http://www.arij.org
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA
, Jerusalem. The OCHA office in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) was established in late 2000. The office was established in response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza caused by military incursions and closures - mobility restrictions imposed on the Palestinian civilians, local and international service providers. http://www.ochaopt.org/
Baladna - Arab youth organization, Haifa. Baladna aims to strengthen Arab youth's understanding of democracy and gender equality, to foster pluralism and tolerance, and to enable a discussion and debate about Arab Palestinian history, grievances and culture. http://momken.org/baladna/en/
Machsom Watch, Women for Human Rights in Israel. http://www.machsomwatch.org
Freedom & Culture Tent – English summer camp, Sakhnin, Israel.
Combatants for Peace, Palestine/Israel. http://www.combatantsforpeace.org/
(FFIPP Interns, summer 2007)
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR). Physicians For Human Rights-Israel was founded in 1988 with the goal of struggling for human rights, in particular the right to health, in Israel and the Occupied Territories. Human dignity, wellness of mind and body and the right to health are at the core of the world view of the organization and direct and instruct our activities and efforts on both the individual and general level. It was established during the first months of the Palestinian uprising in the Occupied Territories by a group of Israeli and Palestinian physicians. http://www.phrusa.org/healthrights/phr_israel.html
Yesh Din, Israel. An organization of volunteers who oppose the continuing violation of Palestinian human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. http://www.yesh-din.org/site/index.php?page=about.us⟨=en/
The Palestinian Initiative for the promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, MIFTAH, Jerusalem and Ramallah. MIFTAH, is a non-governmental non-partisan Jerusalem-based institution dedicated to fostering democracy and good governance within Palestinian society through promoting public accountability, transparency, the free flow of information and ideas, and the challenging of stereotyping at home and abroad. http://www.miftah.org/
Bimkom - Planners for Planning Rights, Israel. Bimkom strives to achieve the right to equality and social justice in matters of planning, development, and the allocation of land resources, and assists communities and minorities affected by social and economic disadvantage and by civil rights' discriminations to exercise their rights in this area. http://www.bimkom.org/aboutEng.asp
Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, GCMHP, Gaza City. The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) is a Palestinian non-governmental, non-profit organization established in 1990 to provide comprehensive community mental health services - therapy, training and research - to the population of the Gaza Strip. http://www.gcmhp.net/
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, ICAHD. ICAHD is a non-violent, direct-action group originally established to oppose and resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories. As our activists gained direct knowledge of the brutalities of the Occupation, we expanded our resistance activities to other areas - land expropriation, settlement expansion, by-pass road construction, policies of "closure" and "separation," the wholesale uprooting of fruit and olive trees and more. The fierce repression of Palestinian efforts to "shake off" the Occupation following the latest Intifada has only added urgency to our efforts. As a direct-action group, ICAHD is comprised of members of many Israeli peace and human rights organizations. All of our work in the Occupied Territories is closely coordinated with local Palestinian organizations. http://www.icahd.org/eng/
Treatment & Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture, TRC, Ramallah. The TRC is a Palestinian non-governmental, non-profit organization, which was established to provide psychosocial services to survivors of politically-motivated torture and violence, to their families and to their communities. http://www.trc-pal.org/ /
Gisha, Israel. Center for the Legal Protection of Freedom of Movement is an Israeli not for profit organization that seeks to protect the fundamental rights of Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories by imposing human rights law as a limitation on the behavior of Israel's military. http://www.gisha.org/
What Interns say
This internship has opened me up on many levels. I saw the reality of the Occupation in Palestine and was forced to question my own country's (and hence my own) part in what is happening there. Working with a number of organizations I gained a sense of the peace movement in Israel and Palestine and also of the smaller, more local efforts, such as children's centers, to address the disadvantages Palestinians face.
Summer 2006 student intern, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
When I saw the Deheishe refugee camp, I thought it was not true. Just imagine. There are 11,000 refugees there and a segregation wall around them. But, what is the most surprising is that there in Ibdaa, the community center in the Deheishe refugee camp, you also find the most open-minded people, the most free-thinking people and the friendliest people you have ever met. For me, Ibdaa needs to exist as long as the Palestinians rights won't be recognized. We mustn't forget that Palestinian Rights are also our rights, so Ibdaa is also the place where our own freedom is surviving.
Summer 2007 student intern, Institute of Political Studies of Bordeaux, France
Though the situation here is dismal, it is encouraging to know that there are so many Israelis and Palestinians here who are working towards peace. During my session here, I will be working with the Freedom Theatre in Jenin, contributing my time to a wonderful organization that has already given many children here the chance to participate in and create art. Needless to say, my life has been changed much since arriving here a week ago, so in the fall, I will tell my peers at Georgetown and in Shanghai about my experiences here in the hopes that we can translate the peace movement I have found here to around the globe.
Summer 2007 student intern, Georgetown University
For me it was a great opportunity to get in contact with Israel and Palestine. I had the chance to do research and to work on my final thesis, but more importantly it was a way to get in contact with people, be it Palestinians, Israeli or other international students, who worked in the same field. By this experience I understand much more of the political and social situation in the Occupied Territories and about life in the Middle East in general (during the internship I also had the chance to visit Jordan and Egypt).
Summer 2006 student intern, University of Bologna, Italy
Past Internship Programs
Summer 2007 Internship
FFIPP Student Internship for Human Rights and Just Peace in Palestine/Israel and the Middle East, Summer 2007
Thirty students from seven countries - France, Italy, Germany, Holland, China, Canada and the US - participated in the Summer 2007 program. They come from universities such as Colby College, Columbia University, University of Bordeaux, Sorbonne University, University of Michigan, Swathmore College, Yeshiva University, Emory University, Smith College, Harvard University, Earlham College, Umass Amherst, University Pennsylvania, Portland State University, Princeton University, and University of Arizona.
Photos: Interns visited the remains of the 48 village Saffuriyya and the city of Nazareth (photos by Ann-Lise)
Each student participates in a weeklong orientation program before being placed in an organization to do internship. The orientation program includes visits and meetings in Jaffa, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Bilin, Ramallah, Tel-Aviv and Nazareth. During the orientation week the students stay at the guesthouse of the Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisheh refugee camp.
Students did internship and volunteer work in following organizations: Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem in Bethlehem, Rabbis for Human Rights in Jerusalem, Freedom Theatre in Jenin, Israeli Committee Against House Demolition, Project Hope in Nablus, Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisheh refugee camp, Kyan a feminist organization for Israeli Palestinian women in Haifa, Arab American University in Jenin, Alternative information Center in Jerusalem, Palestinian Farmers union in Ramallah, and summer camp in Shaknin, Israel.
Photos:Summer 2007 interns Suhad and Dorit
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| 2010applicationinternship.pdf | 48.67 KB |
| 2010 Internship Agreement.pdf | 32.12 KB |
| FFIPP Funding Guide.pdf | 119.66 KB |
| 2010Personal Recommendation .pdf | 50.01 KB |
