Palestinian Law, Human Rights, & Palestinian Refugees Internships

I stayed with the Excellence Centre for one month from mid-May to mid-June 2023 and I can honestly say it's been one of the best month's ever! The centre helped me facilitate my master's degree disseration research in Hebron, while at the same time, I also enrolled on an Arabic class and began teaching some English with local children at the centre. The staff are incredibly helpful and there is a really strong community vibe in the centre. I would strongly recommend the Excellence Centre!!!!!!!!

My name is Leiko and I am from Japan. I did the program teaching English and learning Arabic at the Excellence Center for one month. I joined this program during my summer vacation of master's study.
At excellence center, besides Arabic lesson, I usually joined English club. There are two types of English club: for beginner and for advanced person. The center offers two days and three days a week respectively and while giving students informal English lesson with other volunteers, I could learn how to teach English effectively with fun. I also joined informal English lesson at Al-Arroud refugee camp. Al-Arroud refugee camp located between Hebron and Bethlehem. At the camp, I taught English with other volunteer twice a week to about 50 students at a local community centre, replacing a school that had closed due to a strike.
As part of my learning Arabic, I took Arabic lessons three hours a week, and my class had
usually two people, so it was based on our level and curiosity which was very helpful. All
teachers in here are so nice and kind, they teach and talk to participants during and outside of the class.
The environment is very good in terms of people, opportunities, and location. Not only the
people at the centre, but also the people of Hebron are very kind and welcoming. They help all the time, and they treat us as one part of their family. The location of center was also nice which is in a main street and the street has plenty of place to eat, cafes, stationaries, supermarkets, ATM, and so on.
The center offers us many short trips. I visited old city and went to historical mosque called Al-Ibrahimi Mosque, traditional Kufiya factory, and glass factory. Also, with other volunteers in the center, I’ve visited other cities in Palestine like Jericho and went to Dead Sea and Red Sea.
Host family which center arranged to us were also very nice. I live in a house 15 minutes’ walk from center which was nice location and host families and neighbors were so kind. They sometimes offer me traditional food and they showed me their job place and shared me with Arabic culture.
Before I came here, I was a little scary of safety because of many terrible news and severe political situation. However, Hebron is quite safe and peaceful town and there was no problem even I walked alone after 21 or 22 o’clock. During one month in Hebron, I’ve never felt fear or heard threaten situation from other volunteers as well.
The hospitality of the Palestinian people is what we like most about Palestine. They often
approached us on the street, and at small local shops they served us tea and coffee and told us many stories. It is a precious memory that not only on the street, but they invited us straight to their houses and served us food and tea.
My experience at the Excellence Centre made me realise how important it is to examine the current state of education in Palestine and the extent to which what is reported in the news is presenting the current situation. I highly recommend visiting the excellence centre, as there are many things you can't understand unless you are there.

I came to Hebron from Turkey to do the Human Rights Intenship Program. During my time here, I got to get a sense of the life in Palestine. I met with Palestinian famiies living in the town or the villages, had interviews with professionals such as lawyers and teachers, and did field trips to see significant places for the city. I also learned Arabic to a level that I can form dialgoues now. The staff, including my Arabic teachers, were super nice, and helped me have a smooth and productive time. Because I had some free time during the week, I visited Bethlehem, Jericho, and the Dead Sea, which were not only beuatiful places to visit, but also helpful to get a better idea of how life in Palestine actually is. In addition, my host family was very nice, and helped me improve my Arabic a lot.

Hello, my name is Dena and I spent one week at the Excellence Center volunteering with the refugee program. I am a Palestinian American and it has always been a dream of mine to visit my home land. When I came across the Excellence Center, I found it was the perfect fit for me. I had the opprotunity to visit numerous refugee camps to learn more about the life in the camps. I met with many Palestinian people who welcomed me into their homes to tell me their stories. The arabic lessons the center provided made it easier to communicate with the people. I have learned so much during my time in Palestine. I visited many beautiful places such as Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Jerusalem. I felt very safe during my trip to Palestine and I am very excited to return.

Marhaba,
My name is Basim Warra and I was a volunteer here at the Excellence Center with the Palestinian refugees. The experience was absoutley amazing. The center provided lots of activities regarding my program which truly helped me grow not only as a learner but as a human. The program truly gave me a greater grasp of what is going on in my home couontryThe center also provided Arabic lessons which helped me enhance my current skills. In regards to the center's staff, everyone was very welcoming and generous. Overall as super great time and I highly reccomend.

I spent six weeks at the Excellence Center in Palestine, where I attended the Human Rights program.

I arrived on a rainy day in Hebron coming from Bethlehem and felt unsure, what would expect me. The minute I arrived the people from the staff were extremely helpful and welcoming and told me we would have dinner at the center and then later I would meet my host family. Feeling tired of the new circumstances and unsure about what would expect me I started my first day at the center.

To be honest, I did not know what to expect of the host family and how the cultural differences would affect the co-living. I got to stay with Maha and her family who treated me as part of their family from the second I met them. Even though their English was very limited, their warm heart and hospitality exceeded all of my expectations and enabled me to settle in to my new life in Hebron with no issues at all, moreover it helped me to have a smooth start and gave me feeling of being at home even though I was in a completely new setting.

Quickly I realized that my foreseen three arabic hours a week would not be satisfactory for me as I really developed the want of being able to talk to my host family and connect with locals. Therefore I upgraded my Arabic classes and did about two hours a day with Duha. As there were not that many people at the center because of Ramadan, I got to have my Arabic classes by myself, which I am very grateful for. This setting allowed me to learn a completely new language at my own pace and not feel insecure about asking as many questions as I would need/want. I also enjoyed the fact that my teacher Duha was the same age as me. Through her I did not only start to learn the language. Additionally we could exchange thoughts and views about the different cultures we come from and I could have an insight into the views of a young Palestinian woman, which I really appreciate.

During my program I visited different refugee camps. We went to H2, which is the region in the old town of Hebron controlled by the Israeli authority, and visited a Palestinian family, who is strongly affected by the Israeli authority’s arbitrary aggression daily. We also went to see beduins, who struggle to keep their homes intact as they get destroyed by the Israeli authorities over and over again. We met human rights activists who told us about their work as well as local Palestinian authorities. We met Rani, who is a local artist, expressing the conflict through art.

The other volunteers at the center were all very open and quickly I built new friendships. On weekends we would visit places like Bethlehem, Ramallah or the Dead Sea and would spend many evenings eating Kunafe together or study at a café together. These friendships also helped me to process all the new insights and gave me a feeling of home away from home.

One of my favorite moments was a Ramadan iftar invitation we foreigners got from a big Alkhalili family. It was a big gathering, which was gender seperated. It was an experience I had never had before and the hospitality of this family I will never forget. In general, Palestine has to have the most hospitable people I have ever come across with. People here go out of their way to make you feel welcome and part of their community. I will truly miss this hospitality and kindness in other places.

During my entire stay in Hebron I never had any security issues or did not feel unsafe. There is nothing more to add to that. Of course, we as foreigners are in a privileged position though as we mostly stand out the crowd. People live a normal live here under the given circumstances.

I spent six weeks with the Excellence Centre learning about the situation here in Palestine, occasionally helping with English teaching, and also studying intensive Arabic. There was a wide range of visits, both in Hebron (which has a unique situation because there are settlements in the middle of the old city) and around it to the refugee camps and Masafer Yatta. It was a unique opportunity to visit many of these places and hear from local people about their lives and their opinions. Teaching English was also a rewarding experience. I was here during the winter and the number of international volunteers was quite small but there was a good group and there were lots of opportunities for people to travel together on the weekends. I was really happy with my Arabic class with Doha, who put a huge amount of effort into designing our classes to suit my interests and my level. I would recommend to anyone who comes here to try and take more than the minimum level of Arabic because spending time here is a great opportunity to improve.

I know many people may be worried about coming to spend time in Hebron because of security but I had no problems at all in that regard.

I was only here for a week, but through several visits, I got to know Hebron. I feel that being able to see the Israeli occupation by myself and hear stories from loclas was very valuable experience. Palestinans are supposed to be in difficult situation, but i felt that they didnt make us feel that. they are cheerful and friendly. Through this stay, i learned not only about the difficult situation but also about how cheerful the people are.
I also took arabic lesson and it was good to me. I have learned standard Arabic, but never learned dialects. BUt to communincate, the dialects is most important, so the class is very valuable and my teacher taught me very well.