Palestinian Law, Human Rights, & Palestinian Refugees Internships

My time at the Excellence Centre has been one of the best experience I ever had.
Osama and Marwha are so welcoming and make sure you are set up for success from the first day you walk through the centre door.

My host family were absolutley amazing and I consider them part of my own family.

We participated in various activities, we visitied a school for blind children, we visited refugee camps and we were taken to see the wonderful views around Hebron.

An experience that stood out most to me was meeting with lawyer, Osayd Awawada, he was a really Informative source in explaining about the history of Palestine. Having a legal background myself this was really surreal for me.

Saja and Duha were amazing Arabic teachers and now my friends for life, there teaching methods for Arabic made it super easy to pick up and I found myself engaging in conversation within a couple of days.

I made great friends in and around the centre, I already cant wait to return for an even longer visit to the Excellence Centre.

I love my palestenian family here in Hebron, Palestine and I will miss them all so much!!

I was very excited to visit the Excellence center after deciding I wanted to go to Palestine to see what is going on first hand. I was not dissapointed, Upon arrival my friends and I were made feel extremely welcome by everyone in the Center, I felt immediatley at home.
Having completed the Human Rights program I feel really satisfied with the course.
Osama was amazing from day one, every trip he orgainsied for us was well thought out and gave a great insight into the stuggle facing the people in Palestine. From meeting activists and visiting refugee camps to sampleing the local food and culture. We were even lucky enough to attend a Hebron wedding, something I will never forget. I found the Arabic lessons with Duha to be extremley engaging, informative and certainly helped us get around.
I can not fault me experience at the Excellence Center and have every intention on returning in the future.

My name is Conor, I am a 24 year old International Affairs graduate from Ireland and I have completed the Human Rights programme at the Excellence Center. I have had a great time during my stay in Hebron, participating in many engaging activities such as visits to local activists, refugee camps, governmental departments and local schools all the while learning about the situation in Palestine. I also got the chance to teach English to local students and had a great experience learning Arabic with the fantastic teachers at the Center. There is also an amazing atmosphere at the Center and all the staff and students are so welcoming, creating a really fun environment every day. During our stay we also got to visit many amazing places such as Bethlehem, the Dead Sea and Jerusalem to name a few. I also found our accomodation was perfect for our my here and we were helped with everything we needed from our landlord and were made to feel so welcome. Furthermore, not once did I feel unsafe in Hebron, with a very calm and peaceful atmosphere around the city. It is difficult to say what I enjoyed the most, as the food, people, culture and general hospitality were unparralled and like nothing I have ever experienced before. Some of my favourite times here were actually just hanging around the Center and having a laugh and fun with students and staff alike. My lasting impression of Palestine is that it is a place filled with beautiful people with such a rich and vibrant culture and something that I believe anyone would be lucky to experience and I can't wait to come back again.

I am just coming to the end of a 5 week Human Rights Internship with the Excellence Center. It has been a fantastic experience from start to finish. The center was extremely welcoming and efficient in helping us get setup with regards our arrival and accomadation. The course consisted of several lectures on the human rights sitaution on the ground here in the West Bank. These classes were highly informative and helped us get a better understanding of the plight of the Palestinian people. We are regularly brought out on trips to refugee camps, hospitals, schools and elsewhere which has provided futher important insight into what is going on in the ground. My favourite trips were into the Old City of Hebron which gave us an 'up-close' look at Al-Shuhada Street and the Tel Rumeida settlement, a historical but tense area of the city. The course also included numerous Arabic classes throughout each week which really helped me with the basics of the language and made it easier for me to get around the city by myself. Overall, the experience has been second to none, and I will most certainly be back.

i spent the last 6 weeks doing the Human Rights program with the excellence centre Palestine, over the 6 weeks we learned about the history of Palestine Maamoun i found it very interesting and moving to learn about the horrific history the Palestinian people have delt with. The irish history is quite similer as asides to being colonized by a foreign power, This is why i found the histories classes to be one of the most interesting part of my stay here.
We also learned Arabic with our teacher Duha , we had 3 one hour classes and week and very it very helpful with day to day interactions with the locals and we are all considing to continue our lessons online with excellence centre after our stay.
Our course coordinator Osama had daly trips organized for us we had trips all around the WestBank it was amazing way to see the city and get to know the very welcoming people of Palestine. It was also very eye opening as you see the struggle the people have to endure by the Israeli soldiers.
Over all i had an amazing experience here at the excellence centre, Meeting some of the nicest people of my life who I will never forget. I would highly recommend the excellence centre for anyone considering travelling to Palestine.

I spent the last three months as a Human Rights volunteer/intern with The Excellence Center, and will depart with one of my most significant life experiences. I came to Palestine,with a special interest in the political situation, both on a personal level, and a national level, coming from Ireland - a country that strongly criticises the human rights violations committed by Israel upon the Palestinian people.

I am grateful to the dedicated coordinators of The Excellence Center Marwa and Osama, for making my time here so valuable by providing many opportunities, and catering to my requests so that I could I have a vastly informative experience about the Israeli occupation, from the local to the national level, as well as an insight into the bureaucratic, legal, economic, social, healthcare systems; and the media.

The first week, Ma’moon hosted the Human Rights in Palestine Lecture, and he covered everything from memory. He recalled specific dates, and intricate details from memory. Ma’moon is a very skilled teacher, as well as a wonderful person, with whom I became very good friends.

The inclusion of Arabic lessons in the programme is a vital aspect, and my teacher Marwa made the classes very enjoyable and easy to learn. Marwa was patient, and always so kind even when I was struggling with the alphabet at the beginning, because I found it tedious to study! I was fortunate enough to have one on one classes, and so we tailored my classes to learn as much vocabulary and language as possible according to my learning capacity. Marwa is really open minded and approachable, I could confide in her about anything, and have definitely made a friend for life!

There is always a relaxed, easygoing, fun, vibrant environment in the Center. With such a diverse, international family from Palestinian to Irish, British, Australian, German, Norwegian, Danish, Filipino/a, everybody was so kind and friendly.

During my time in Hebron, I travelled around the West Bank, visiting Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jericho, Jerusalem, Nablus and Masafer Yatta.

I always felt very safe in Palestine. Palestinian people are one of the kindest and hospitable I have ever met, I was surprised to see that Osama even leaves his car unlocked! During my first week, I also lost my phone temporarily in a “service” and the taxi driver went completely out of his way to track it down and retrieve it for me.

I stayed with a Palestinian host family, who are so generous, kind and hospitable. However, as I am thirty years old, and used to being very independent, I found it hard to really mix with the family, as it is not in my nature to stay home all the time. I enjoyed being involved with other local human rights organizations, so while I was fairly independent, I did not feel as quite independent as I would do, when I am usually abroad. I think it would be worthwhile to stay with a host family for possibly one month, however I think it would be in The Center’s advantage to open a shared accommodation for female volunteers, perhaps from age twenty-five upwards. As a vegetarian/vegan living with a host family, particularly a very traditional one, it was awkward for me to cook hot food.

I personally have forged a very strong bond with Palestine, and am very sad to leave. I would really like to come back in the future and possibly stay for at least six months. Palestine is one of the most beautiful, culturally rich places I have ever visited, with the most incredible, kind, funny, resilient people, and I wish to continue learning Arabic so I can return and converse like a Hebronite!

My favourite experience to date is visiting Masafer Yatta. Thanks to The Excellence Center, I was introduced to this enriching place, with breathtaking scenery, and some of the most sorrowful situations I’ve seen, where houses and schools are being demolished. After I returned more than five times, to stay with the local people and their children, appreciate the magnificent landscape and document their stories that so desperately need to be heard and broadcast.

I truly had one of the most enriching, enlightening and productive three months of my life, and I’m so thankful to my Excellence Center family for giving me this opportunity. I know it will not be the last time that we shall cross paths!

شكراً كتير

Rachel Farrelly

Marhaba my name is Angela and I’m from the United States. I recently graduated with a degree in political science and the program I participated in at the Excellence Center was the Israel and Palestine in Context Internship. I stayed at the Excellence Center for one month and did various activities everyday. There were frequent visits to offices around Hebron that dealt with different aspects of society. They ranged from governmental offices to local artist studios. Throughout each of these visits, we were able to inquire about their work and how the unique situation of Palestine affects their work. The Excellence Center also provides Arabic lessons so that everyone is able to master basic communication that is vital for moving around Hebron and Palestine as a whole. Because of this I hope to continue my lessons in Arabic back home. The staff and teachers at the Excellence Center are passionate about their work and are especially helpful to the international volunteers. They are eager to teach us Arabic and about the complexity of their daily lives. The students at the Excellence Center are sweet and enthusiastic about learning English and practicing with the internationals. Since the location of Hebron is ideal within the West Bank, I was able to travel every weekend to Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Nablus. The Excellence Center also provided great information about traveling to these areas and the types of activities we can do. However, I greatly enjoyed my time spent in Hebron due to the hospitality and generosity from the host family. This was one of the best parts of my time in Palestine because I was able to fully immerse myself within the beautiful Palestinian culture and even practice my Arabic. Not only did my host family make me feel protected but Hebron as a whole is a very safe city. Internationals do typically stick out but it is not a bad thing since many Palestinians are eager to speak with us and invite us over for coffee. I am grateful to the Excellence Center for providing such an amazing experience to me and all the internationals

I spent 2 weeks as a volunteer, with the intention to learn more about the Palestinian culture and struggle. I also wanted to learn some Arabic and contribute in any way I can. My experience was amazing and surreal. I was hosted by an very sweet family. The staff at the Excellence Centre are VERY supportive and it was refreshing to be with volunteers who are passionate about similar things. Through the centre I was able to safely open channels of communication with the local community in Palestine.