Members of the Young Journalists Club in Gaza meet PalMed in France
A delegation from the Young Journalists Club in Gaza will be visiting France as a response to an invitation by the French town of Neffies. PalMed EU chair Dr. Mohammed Al-Salem will be accompanying the delegation in addition to a number of others. The delegation will consist of 5 girls: Maram, Nour, Rana, Lara and Emma who will participate in the 5th Youth for Peace meeting.
Whilst listening to members of the delegation, a sense of respect is immediately given towards these girls who came from a besieged land and who insist on carrying a clear message and on making their voices heard. Their message is a message of humanity and struggle to the youth and to the peace loving forces in this world. After having a conversation with them they appear to be very mature unlike the misconceptions one would have towards people coming from a place with unusual and harsh circumstances and that has been besieged for the past 4 years.
Each one of the girls has a different character, one is shy, one is more willing to start a conversation, one speaks English while the other speaks French. However, they all insist to deliver one united message. One girl answered a journalist’s question saying “We want the free world to listen to us so we can explain our case. The Palestinian people are civilized and love other peoples from other countries. We are open to other cultures and experiences and we like to follow international events”. She added that “Palestinians like to travel, go out and see the world; however we are unable to do so because of the siege and the halt of the peace process. We are one of the most energetic and active people in the region and we have several talents and potentials, all we need is solidarity and support”.
They also added that they condemn the Israeli siege on Gaza. The physical and psychological scars it is causing to children, women and Gazans reminds them of the war Israel lead on Gaza.
They appear as professional journalists when they are actually students in different faculties such as Arts, Humanities and Business. At the same time, they run the Young Journalists Club in Gaza.
They represent the link between Palestinian’s suffering and the attempt to express this suffering to Western reporters by taking photographs, gathering evidences, running websites and contacting media outlets in an attempt to make their voices heard. The delegation was invited as part of the club’s activities to take part in the fifth meeting for the Youth for Peace.
Lille was the next stop for these girls where they met representatives of several organisations (such as the France-Palestine Solidarity Organisation) in order to promote the club’s activities and to speak to the youth in the city.
Their next stop will be next Friday and will be in Paris to see the Eiffel tower before travelling back to Palestine to continue their struggle.
