Palestine

The YMCA's work in the region is placed in jeopardy daily by the conflict and Israeli occupation. Moreover, the humanitarian focus in the OPT is often on children and women.

Y Care International believes that the plight of young people is frequently overlooked by politicians and left out of any dialogue on the conflict.

Background

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has touched every aspect of the lives of young people in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Young people have suffered from curfews, closures and checkpoints, and education has also been severely disrupted.

Administrative detention, movement restrictions, the destruction of olive trees and the building of the ‘security barrier' are all factors which contribute to making young people's lives almost intolerable.

Y Care International is part of the Palestine Platform, a network of UK-based development and humanitarian agencies working in the region. Members work together through the platform to raise awareness and improve understanding of the situation among policy makers, the press and other key audiences, and to campaign for change.

What you can do

Support the Olive Tree Campaign

Y Care International supports the East Jerusalem YMCA and the YWCA of Palestine’s campaign to replant olive trees in areas where they have been uprooted or are threatened with confiscation by Israeli forces. Replanting the olive trees will encourage Palestinian people to keep hope alive and to reaffirm their commitment to working constructively toward peace-building.

Go to the website of the East Jerusalem YMCA and YWCA of Palestine's Joint Advocacy Initiative to find out about sponsoring an olive tree. Sponsorship covers the cost of the young plant, distribution, planting and information for farmers on the best techniques for olive tree care and production.

Support the Good Earth Campaign

We support the East Jerusalem YMCA and YWCA of Palestine’s Good Earth Campaign which supports disadvantaged and disabled Palestinians whose livelihoods depend on the land, and advocates on their behalf. Go to the website of the East Jerusalem YMCA and YWCA of Palestine's Joint Advocacy Initiative to find out more about the campaign and buy products. 

Campaign against administrative detention

The issue of administrative detention of Palestinians by Israel - strictly restricted by international law - is one that our partner in the OPT encounters time and again. The YMCA has consistently faced the problem of staff and students being captured and held in administrative detention, without trial or charge. Watch this space for updates.