Program Reviews

I volunteered to teach English at the Go Palestine centre for a month from December 2022 to January 2023, and my experience was overwhelmingly positive.

My time at the centre was spent teaching English twice a day, with each class about 90 minutes long, and taking Arabic classes twice a week. Fridays and Saturdays are the weekend, and there is always something to do, whether it's visiting a different Palestinian city, or a social engagement with someone in Hebron, who will be very happy to show you around.

On Mondays, the centre will travel to a location of historical or political importance in or near Hebron. These were often refugee camps or Hebron's famous old city. These visits will show you the uniqueness of Palestine's situation, and allow Palestinians to tell their stories.

The Palestinians I met were all extremely friendly, and very happy to invite me over for dinner, go bowling, show me the old city, or any number of activities. I was worried that Palestine would be too traditional for me, but this was not the case. Everyone I met was accommodating towards our cultural differences, including on matters of religion.

importantly, my experience of Hebron was also completely safe. I never once felt in any danger, contrary to what I had heard prior to my visit.

I would absolutely recommend people interested in the program to take part, and see Palestine for yourself!

I am currently studying for my Master's in Conflict Transformation and originally planned to return to Israel-Plaestine through GoPalestine in Summer of 2020. However, I reconnected with GoPalestine this fall and just completed my two weeks with the program, focusing on Palestinian media. I arrived at the center and was placed with a host family. While I’ve only been in Hebron for two weeks, GoPalestine immersed me in the city and unique one-on-one conversations with professionals in the media field. Even my professional meetings have included a deep sense of hospitality. I have felt incredibly welcomed to the city in every interaction with the center, my host family, and the people of the city.
Throughout my internship, I met with media professionals in the local radio stations and worked with students at the center. Before arriving to Palestine, I researched some broader topics about Palestinian media and media functioning within the context of conflict. Most of my questions to the media professionals included questions about occupation, conflict, and pressures from government. I was able to form a better understanding for the specific impact on media in Palestine and walk away with better questions.
The Palestinian culture in Hebron is incredibly generous, welcoming, and grounded in relationship. I never felt unsafe and especially directed all cultural questions to my instructors at GoPalestine. If anyone is interested in learning more about the Palestinian story, situation, and history, GoPalestine will meet you where you are and your interests. I am leaving with a better understanding of the situation and language, as well as many new friends and family in Hebron.
Two weeks is too short a stay to Hebron. In two weeks you can feel at home. You can grow your family and relationship with the world. I will say a temporary goodbye to Hebron in three days, but will carry conversations, connections, and concepts with me as I continue to research, learn, and travel.

I highly recommend the Go Palestine Arabic Language Online Program. My teacher is a wonderful teacher, she speaks English very well and she also brings great enthusiasm to her work. She has a good understanding of where the gaps are in my knowledge of the Arabic language.

This enables her to select and prepare the material for each lesson carefully. The first lesson is free, but I immediately signed up for the next one. I really appreciate the format through Zoom, very flexible and compatible with my own work.

I really don't know from where to begin. I spent the most wonderful month in Palestine and it was the best experience of all. My name is Ashley from Britain. I came to Palestine to participate in the teaching in Palestine Program, where I was able to teach many Palestinians of all ages, as I taught school students and university students. My students were very friendly and very eager to learn :))

One of the best thing I had there was staying with a lovely Palestinian family, I felt home with them and learned a lot about the culture and their daily life as Palestinians. It was defenitly an eye opening for me as I found everything here different from what we usually see in the media. Palestine is completely safe, and I never once felt unsafe.

The center also organised day trips to refugees camps in Hebron and Bethlehem, where I had the chance to know about refugees' living conditions and listened to many stories. I also had the opportunity to learn the Arabic language with my amazing teacher Mohammad, who has a distinctive and wonderful style, and I really improved my Arabic. "Momtaz" was my favourt word btw as my teacher used to say it to me every time I say or write something correctly.

My volunteer journey was an amazing experience that will remain in my memory forever thanks to all the people at Go Palestine who helped me and was there when I needed them. I highly recommend traveling to Palestine and joining the Go Palestine's fabulous programs. Don't think twice :)

My name is Allie, and I am a graduate student studying Media Studies in the United States. My time working with the Palestine Center in Hebron has been exceptional. For three months, I have worked at the center. Because of my extended trip, I was able to participate in several of the Palestinian Center’s programs, including the Media Program, the Conflict Resolution Program, and the Palestinian Refugee Program. I am very thankful to be able to gain a more holistic view of the reality in Palestine through each of these programs. For the programs, we met with experts in each field and conducted field visits to relevant organizations in and around the city of Hebron. We work for five days each week at the center and have two days off per week. Though the week is scheduled ahead of time, it is common for plans to fall through or need to be rearranged, so I encourage all potential volunteers to be flexible! I have learned to embrace a “go with the flow” attitude here.

I took weekly Arabic lessons and taught English a few times each week. My students were engaged and quick to learn and always came to class excited. My Arabic teacher was highly educated and spoke fluent English and we became very good friends!

I was invited to speak at a university in Bethlehem at a media conference. I attended cultural symposiums and movie screenings all over the West Bank. I ate amazing food (my favorite Palestinian dish is maklouba) and gorged myself on kunafa (the best dessert in the world). I learned so much about Palestinian culture and was able to talk at length to my students, professors, and others about culture exchange.

I want to emphasize how safe Hebron is. I never once felt fearful or threatened and as a woman, I was comfortable walking around the city by myself, even at night. Though you often hear of clashes in the news, I never felt threatened as a tourist in Hebron nor anywhere else in Palestine. Furthermore, Palestinians are extremely welcoming and love to meet tourists. I have been invited to many peoples’ homes for dinner, which has allowed me to integrate more deeply into Palestinian culture and lifestyle.

Everyone who works at the center is incredibly kind and welcoming. Meeting volunteers from all over the world was exciting. We frequently had group dinners at the center and became so close that we celebrated my birthday together as well. I am so sad to be leaving the center but entirely sure that I will come back soon to see my Palestinian friends here! I highly recommend volunteering at the Palestinian Center in Hebron!

My experience with the Palestine center was one of the most fulfilling experiences I have done in my many years of travelling. Whilst, I was here I was able to help teach school children in a refugee camp essential English skill that could really change the course of their future.

The center was also great in preparing visits in our free time to see other cities in Palestine and they exhibited a real interest in ensuring everyone who stays with them has a robust experience with regards to the culture and the amazing food that exists in the country. I, like many, had some trepidation before travelling to Palestine and Hebron. However, after arriving at the center, my thoughts on safety could not have been further from the truth. The people in Hebron are so accommodating and kind, as well as the center putting a great emphasis on the safety of those who stay at the center.

I regularly would go out in the city at night and not have any fear of my safety given how amazing the hospitality and virtue of the Palestinian people was. I would highly recommend anyone who has ever thought about visiting Palestine and the West Bank to definitely consider the center as it was one of the best decisions I have made in my life and made for a fulfilling and eye opening experience

Hi, my name is Marco, I'm 21 years old, I'm an History student at the Florence university in Italy and I'm about to graduate.
My experience in Hebron, in particular at the Palestinian Center, was very very beautiful, we do a lot of things, from visit the local Expo to visit the entire old city with all of this important sites like the Ibrahimi Mosque or the market.
We met a lot of human rights associations and so we met a great amount of beautiful people, workers, students, employee.
We make a lot of friends in Hebron, from the Cultural Symposium to simple shop's owner.
The main tasks that we have in the center is to teach English to other people's and try to learn arabic trough lesson and very good teacher's.
We also went to Aida camp( suburbs of Bethlehem now) and little village called Fawwar (after 1948 used to be a tent camp) in south of Hebron.
There was a very strong but important experience. I recommend to all the people.
I liked a lot the palestinian culture, the food and traditional clothes above all.
I'm felt very safe in Palestine and in Hebron too, when we go around with the people of the center or with the friends that we make, we felt like at home, i think that the major danger came from the occupants,they carry a lot of weapons, they do a lot of control and check so this make me felt unsecure.
I recommend this type of journey, of experience ,at the people from all over the world, here In Palestine and in with the people of Palestinian center too.
Is a very good way to try the palestinian life, culture, way of life.
Is a perfect experience to learn about a far culture(for me that I'm italian) like this.

Being short: people are very friendly (as a very shy person I didn't struggle making new friends), the Center is very good and the internship is good for everything (networking, studying arabic, university...) and the personnell is great (thanks Manar!). Also don't be scared by the safety issue: my internship was during both Kippur and Intifada anniversary but we NEVER felt uncomfortable or at risk. Both soldiers and palestinians are friendly with strangers and Palestine will become a new home!!!

I am a 49 year old trial attorney with over 20 years experience defending the rights of the accused which recently has included people from the Levant including Palestine.
Prior to this program I studied Fusha (MSA) for two years and studied the Egyptian Dialect in Cairo for 2 weeks with some travel to Jordan and Jerusalem.

My program was only for two weeks but I wish it would have been longer. During this brief time, Mohammad Tamimi coordinated trips to Fawwar Refugee Camp, Masafer Yatta, Umm al-Khair, Women’s Studies Center, Palestinian Courts (Hebron and Halhool), Hebron Delegation of the Red Cross and Ibrahimi Mosque.

Breakfast was provided every morning with Um Mohannad making fresh Zaatar bread with falafel and hummus. Mohammad Aburumoooz was an awesome arabic teacher providing daily lessons of the Palestinian Dialect.

Prior to the trip I had questions and Mutaz Tamimi answered them via zoom calls.

On my last day in Hebron, I was having some difficulty finding a taxi in Hebron due to the empty streets during the celebration of Eid al-Adha. Thankfully at the last minute I texted Mohammad Tamimi via Whatsapp and with short notice he was able to have a taxi pick me up at my flat.

In short, I highly recommend this program for their professionalism and knowledge of the community.

Hi. My name is Jack McGrath. I am 28 years old and from Ireland. I am currently a teacher of English and History in Dubai. I participated in "Go Palestine" program for 3 weeks this Summer.
During my time at the "Go Palestine" Centre, I participated in a wide variety of teaching in the West Bank area. These included, teachers that needed extra help in speaking English and students doing Summer camp. Further from this, I also visited many areas around the city. These include, a visit to Hebron villages around the city, to Bethlehem, refugee camps and the Old city of Hebron itself. These trips allowed me to further educate myself of the current political situation as well as gain a greater appreciation for Palestinian history and culture.
During my time at the Centre I studied Arabic from an excellent teacher called Mrs. Shurook. She was incredibly encouraging and supportive. She was able to tailor the lessons to my needs of a student. Were we able to go at my pace due to it being a one on one lesson.
I really enjoyed the environment at the Go Palestine Centre. The staff are all very nice and instantly make you feel pat of the community. I was also able to make strong friendships with many of the other volunteers due to our shared interests in Palestine.