Internship In Palestine (Human Rights, Palestinian Refugees, Law)

I didn't know what to expect when I signed up with the Excellence Center. I was going to travel halfway around the world to a place where I didn't speak the language and every day brought alarming news.
The past 3 months volunteering for them have been one of the best experiences of my life.
From the start they welcomed me in like a member of the family. Anything I had trouble with, they were there to help me. Hebron was very different from my hometown of Seattle but thanks to their hospitality within a couple weeks it felt like a second home.
The Center arranged trips throughout Palestine so I could learn more about the situation firsthand. Besides these trips there was always something going on with the other volunteers. On top of that there were the Arabic lessons from a local instructor, and the volunteer activity itself tutoring children in English. Every day was full but it never felt overwhelming.
The political situation here had its ups and downs during my stay but I never felt personally in danger. Hebron is safe. The Excellence Center keeps close watch on the situation to make sure nothing happens to its volunteers.

My name is Abigail Friedman, I am from the United States. I have a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Behavioral Sciences from Clemson University and I am receiving my master’s degree in Refugee Policy from American University- Athens, Greece. While obtaining my degrees I have focused my research on the Syrian and Palestinian refugee crises. This passion is what fueled my desire to come to Palestine and gain a firsthand account of the struggles Palestinians face.
During my month and a half in Hebron, Palestine, I volunteered with the Excellence Center in the Human Rights Program and the Volunteer with Refugees Program. While in these programs, I visited various Palestinian villages, camps, and historical sites learning more about the Palestinian struggle and steadfastness. The most inspiring and thought-provoking was when we visited Masafer Yatta Village; while there, we heard stories from numerous residents recounting the violence and hate they had experienced from settlers. The power of their stories stuck with me through the duration of my trip and reinforced my passion and reasoning for coming to Palestine. Through the program, I also had the opportunity to teach in surrounding villages and interact with local Palestinians. Through this, I was able to garner a deeper understanding and admiration for Palestinians. In addition to the programs I participated in, I took 15 hours of Arabic classes. These classes provided me with the ability to communicate with locals through basic conversations and allowed me to forge lifelong friendships in Palestine.
While in Palestine, the Excellence Center provided an apartment for the women to stay in. The apartment was five minutes away from the Center, was centrally located, and was walking distance from everything we needed. When walking to and from the apartment, during the day and at night, I never felt unsafe. The people in Palestine were so welcoming and hospitable, I never feared for my safety nor did I feel unwelcomed. The locals, those at the center, and those at the sites you visit want to ensure you have an educational and fun time exploring Palestine, and often will invite you for tea, dinner, or coffee. These invitations are a great way to learn more about Palestinian culture.
As my time in Palestine comes to an end, I am saddened to think about all of the friends and experiences I will be leaving but I look forward to returning soon.

My name is Louise, and I’m from Australia. I work in education development and have had had the good fortune to live and work in many countries. Hebron is the friendliest and safest place I have ever been to. I have never felt so welcomed by a community as I have in Hebron, from neighbours, taxi drivers, students, shop keepers to people in the street. This is the most hospitable place I have ever experienced.
I participated in the Palestinian Refugees program and had the privilege of teaching displaced young people in a camp near Hebron. I got to know so many people living in the camp and hear firsthand the stories of their lives and learn a lot about the history and current situation of Palestinians. I also taught in a beautiful village outside Hebron, which has many historical sites. The Palestinian colleagues who supported and helped me in these activities are amazing. They are so knowledgeable about history and the best times I spent here were conversations with the wonderful people I met during my stay. I got to enjoy A LOT of traditional Palestinian food- everywhere I went I was offered delicious food!
My Arabic greatly improved, due to both the clear teaching of my Arabic Teacher at the centre and the willingness of locals to be patient and explain to me what I could say in Arabic. I have lived in Arabic speaking countries before but honestly the Excellence Centre in Hebron is the best place to learn Arabic because of the expertise of the teachers, who make interesting, simple and practical lessons and the friendliness of the locals, most of whom speak some English but who are also really happy to talk with you in Arabic.
The Excellence Centre feels like home, the daily breakfast is delicious, and there is a constant supply of freshly ground coffee! The Excellence Centre has a great vibe, the students studying English are so happy to talk with visitors and also show visitors around, to their favourite café, and the best place to have shawarma. The Excellence Centre is highly regarded by the local community because it makes a real difference in the life of Palestinians.
I was so busy and made so many friends in Hebron I didn’t even go outside to visit any of the usual ‘tourist’ sites! I had the best time just hanging out with the friends I made in Hebron and eating amazing food. I explored the fascinating Old City of Hebron- people on the street and in shops will teach you about their area, the history and the culture. People here are so happy to share with you their beautiful city.
The welcoming culture of Hebron makes it the safest city I have ever spent time in. It feels like everyone in the city wants to help you. There is no crime, I left my phone in a café and it was returned to me. I took taxis off the street, visited strangers’ houses, walked everywhere. The greatest challenge was eating all the food I was offered and finding time to take up all the offers of hospitality.
Come here to learn about Palestine, to make friends and to have an amazing time while also feeling that you contribute positively to the Palestinian community.

Experience Report
My name is Simon Kim, and I am from South Korea. I study political science and
international affairs in Gordon College in the United States. I came here for the Human rights in Palestine program.
In my program of two months, I have mainly had a lot of different visits to numerous
places around Hebron, Arabic classes, and teaching English classes to Palestinian children. I had an intensive Arabic program, where I had my Arabic classes for two weeks. During these two weeks, I was able to learn how to read and write, and also some of the basic conversations. The teachers here had a lot of experience teaching, which gave me even better experience learning Arabic in this place. They were also really passionate in their job of teaching, and they actually cared about our Arabic knowledge, unlike some of the teachers in other countries where they do not have the genuine passion in teaching. Also, this center was just the right place to learn Arabic, because I got to actually use the language to people outside after learning them. Also, other volunteers were also passionate in learning Arabic, which was also a huge merit in my Arabic lesson journey.
Also, one ohter huge part of the program was all the visits that we had. We had a
chance to go to different places, which some of them were related to the human rights and the current Israeli-Palestinian issue, and the others about the Palestinian culture. The most memorable places for me were the Human Rights Defenders and the Bedouin camp, where the volunteers had a chance to listen to the first-hand accounts of the victims of this conflict. Moreover, since the other cities were all nearby, it was really easy for me to travel to different places, such as Jericho, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem.
Of all things, my favorite part of my two months here in Palestine must be the people.
Unlike the way the western media portrays the people in the region, Palestinians were very hospitable and welcoming to not only me, but to all foreigners. Before I came here, I was a bit worried that this place might be dangerous and I might be the target of a crime, but as soon as I came here, the hospitality of the local people made me realize that my all my worries were unnecessary. It was really safe here to the point that I did not feel threatened or dangerous even though I was outside alone at night, which would have been different if I stayed in New York or Boston. During my two months here, I really enjoyed the kindness of the Palestinians, not to mention the delicious food and cheap transportations.
This experience for me was such a whole new journey, which taught me a lot of new
things, not only about the human rights issue but also about how to interact with other
individuals and how to coexist with them. I do recommend this program to other people. The presence of volunteers here means a lot in this place and it will mean a lot to the volunteers themselves.

My time in Palestine has been incredible. I rode horses at sunrise, interviewed the director of Al-Haq, and established lifelong friendships. I came here with a desire to spotlight Palestinian voices, gain journalism experience, and improve my knowledge of Islam as a Muslim. I have been able to make significant progress toward all of these goals.

It has been hard to get homesick during my time here because so much here reminds me of home. I'm from Virginia in the United States, and Khalil is in every way a Southern town. Nablus reminded me so much of New York City, and the lovely town of Dura is like the Arab sister to my hometown.

It is also much safer here in the West Bank than news reports would have you believe. I have never felt myself to be at risk in any way. The most dangerous thing that happened to me here was accidentally sparking a space heater. I have been content, comfortable, and calm during my time here.

I am very grateful for all I have learned and for all the wonderful people I have interacted with during the short time I volunteered with the Palestinian Excellence Center (PEC). It has been a privilege to work with an organization that is well respected locally and well connected to the community.
Because of my interest in women’s rights and based on listening to the requests of the women we met via the PEC, I was able to create two small projects while in Hebron. The first was to teach professional skills at the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association. I ran a two-hour workshop on CV preparation and cover letter writing the Association's young volunteers.
My larger project is to help Palestinian women communicate their stories outside of Palestine. This project arose from hearing several women ask us as volunteers to share their stories. I am calling this project Amplifying Palestinian Women’s Voices. Through connections made for me by the PEC, I interviewed six inspiring women from the Old City, the Palestinian government, and the Al Fawwar Refugee Camp. I will translate and edit videos of the interviews into a short, cohesive documentary, allowing women to bring their stories to people across the world.
Fortunately, I have a lot of help with this project. Osama Hussein set-up the interviews and provided important conceptual guidance on the filming and production. Ghalya Abu Omar has been an excellent translator, both in this project and with the professional development course. She also learned to use a camera to record the interviews.
That leads me to reflect on one of my favorite parts of volunteering at the PEC, which is working with young local volunteers. I think the capacity building the center facilitates for young
Palestinians is a very important part of its work, and creating relationships between local and foreign volunteers helps foreign volunteers to better understand Palestinian culture.
I believe I made the most of my short amount of time here. Although I think all volunteers
would like to start working right away, the PEC’s method of scheduling the first week of a
volunteer’s stay with visits to local people and important sites creates perspective that informs further work.
I will miss Palestine very much. I have never interacted with people who are so welcoming, resilient, and kind, and I admire the Palestinian people deeply. I hope I will be able to return and to support people here from afar as well. I’d like to thank the PEC for this incredibly insightful opportunity

this is my second time visiting the excellence center, and it will not be my last. the first time i worked with the center I worked as an English teacher. I got to learn a lot about the education system and spend time with the local Palestinian kids and learn about their personalities and studying habits. my second time hear i participated in the human rights program. I missed teaching the kids, but with this program i got to learn a lot the history and day to day life of Palestinians. I got to hear stories and see for myself the struggles of the Palestinians suppression and occupation. I was able to visit multiple camps and family homes and learn about their future goals and optimism for a Palestine with no apartheid. The human rights program is a great way to make connections to local people and network with other volunteers to create plans to help the community. I loved my experience here and will be back very soon.

History is always written by victors. Instead of being documented impartially, it is usually being reported under the influence of some sort of ideology. Therefore, as a history and political science major student, it is imperative for me to view things as impartially and discreetly as possible.

In an era filled with information, with such vast information that it is arduous for us to distinguish accurate information from fake information, it is paramount for me to see eye to eye what really happened. With this in mind, I decided to fly to Palestine, to see what really happened, to see whether the news media, regardless of their political stance, is impartial or not, and most importantly, to document what happened so that I would be able to showcase the genuine situation of what Palestinians are facing day by day.

Before I came to Palestine, I thought the situation would be quite perilous. With the fact that I am a tourist, I feared I might be robbed by some random people on the street (As my skin color explicitly distinguishes me from local inhabitants). I even fear that my skin color might make me a target of some sort of extreme racial group, as I do not look Arabic at all, and there aren’t that many Asians traveling to Palestine.

Nevertheless, my experiences in Palestine and the excellence center have proven me utterly wrong. Contrary to my expectations, people here are so lovely that I have been greeted with a smiling face daily by people I do not know. They are so benevolent that they even treated me falafel balls when I said hi to them. In the center, my Arabic teacher, Miss Haya, taught me with patience and kindness even when my Arabic was pretty atrocious (Arabic is very sophisticated). Even though my Arabic pronunciations might not be comprehensible and even embarrassing, she taught me how to pronounce the vocabulary one by one with love and care. As a language teacher, Miss Haya's passion and devotion to her students are why I continue to learn Arabic after trepidations and obstacles. Overall, We are like a family in the center, where we congregate for breakfast, live together, go on field trips together, and spend our time in Palestine together. Even though some of the experiences might be daunting (as it is normal for a human being to be despondent after witnessing and hearing some of the most melancholiac and disturbing stories from people suffering from the atrocities being inflicted by some settlers), I have learnt more about appreciation and also treating people around us with affection and respect as we would never hope something like this would ever occurring upon anyone of us, including our worst enemies.

Everything happens for a reason and thank you for being one of the reasons that motivate me to continue on my goal. Everything wouldn’t have been so great without this center, Alhamdulilah.