Program Reviews

My time at the excellence center was very enriching. I learned a lot and formed really valuable connections with the people I met here. I loved my Arabic teacher and she did a really great job of teaching in a way that would most benefit my communication ability during my trip. I’m keeping all of my notes to be able to continue to study Arabic when I return home. Living with a host family was also super beneficial in helping me learn Arabic as I was immersed in the language and was able to hear the things I was taught in class used in a natural setting everyday.
There was a great community within the center and I made connections with other teachers and made lifelong friends with the other volunteers I met here.
There were a number of excellent excursions organized by the center that were enlightening for me and allowed me to meet with leaders on the ground and see how organizations are working to improve life for Palestinians. As a law student it was also very interesting to have multiple meetings with different Palestinian lawyers and have interesting discussions comparing legal proceedings in Palestine and my home country.
The best part of my stay was my wonderful host family, they made me feel right at home and included me in all family activities. The food here was also amazing and I tried so many new dishes that I had never heard of before coming here. It is hard to overstate the hospitalty of Palestinians. Everyone I met was welcoming and happy to share their homes and stories. I had such a wonderful experience and I am already counting down the days until I can return.

Hello, my name is Irene from Spain. I am a graduate in Political Science and presently pursuing my Masters in Human Rights and International Law. This summer, I had the privilege to take the Summer Intensive Arabic course at the Excellence Center (EC) in Palestine.

During my five-week stay, my days typically started with Arabic lessons in the mornings. The lessons were well structured. I had been studying Fusha for four years before, so starting Amyia was a challenge, but here I have been able to communicate within a short period of time. I found the teaching method to be immersive, and I have learned many phrases and idioms that have greatly helped in grasping the nuances of the language. By the end of my course, I was able to converse about many topics in Amyia – a significant improvement from where I began.

Beyond the lessons, the EC organized visits to various places which further enriched my
understanding of the Palestinian culture and history. Being part of these visits allowed me to witness firsthand the socio-political context in which the language evolved.
The Center buzzed with a very positive energy. The staff and teachers were always eager to help, ensuring that I had everything I needed for a comfortable learning experience. The international volunteers and students added to the diversity of the Center, allowing for a rich and multicultural environment.

I visited several cities in Palestine, such as Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jericho, Nablus, Tiberia, Haifa, Yaffa, and Acre. Each place, with its unique history and charm. However, living in Hebron and staying with a host family was the highlight. Their warmth, hospitality, and the day-to-day interactions helped me understand the Palestinian way of life from a grassroots level.

Regarding safety and security, I felt safe throughout my stay. The local people are extremely protective and ensure that visitors feel welcome.

It’s hard to pick favorites from such a wholesome experience. But the food, the people, and their spirit stood out. Palestinian hospitality is so inspiring and heartwarming. Their resilience, amidst all adversities, was truly a lesson for all of us. One of my favorite memories was being invited for lunch by a family whom I met on the way from Jerusalem to Hebron. The day I went to their house, we picked fresh vegetables from their garden and eggs from their chickens. We cooked on their terrace under the vines and talked for hours and ate a delicious fresh meal.

As I look back, my time in Palestine and at the Excellence Center was transformative. The region, often reduced to its political struggles in the media, is so much more. It’s a land of history, culture, hope, and dreams. The Palestinian spirit, their zest for life, and their warm hearts have made a lasting impression on me.

Would I recommend the Excellence Center and this experience to others? Without a doubt. If you’re keen on understanding Palestine beyond the headlines, there’s no better way. Come with an open heart, and you’ll leave with a soul enriched.
While the Centre is doing a commendable job, having more interactive cultural sessions
alongside the Arabic lessons would further enhance the learning experience.

At the Center, I took Arabic classes and taught English to the students.
Some of the activities I did at the Excellence Center were my going on a tour to the
Old City, meeting with various Palestinian families and discussing with them about
their experiences under the occupation, visiting a refugee camp, and accompanying an
all-women’s health clinic to assist expecting mothers at a remote village. I took Arabic courses with Ghaida and the sessions were wonderful. She is a phenomenal teacher, and made our lessons very relevant to what we needed in order to get by in Hebron. She also assisted me with my writing and gave me extra lessons when I asked in order to improve my calligraphy. I believe that the staff at the Center are phenomenal and they addressed my needs and always found various ways to keep me engaged. Breakfast was provided every day and they helped to create a friendly, family atmosphere within the Center. Overall, my experience at the Excellence Center was amazing, and I would definitely
recommend it to everyone. It gave us a true glimpse of a wonderful community and
people and the people wereallowed them to narrate their life story, as opposed to me
imposing anything on them. I quite enjoyed myself and would love to come back and
visit again. I am super grateful for everything.

I had a great time here at the EC Halle. I really wanted to improve the colloquial arabic language that I already knew. And I did. It is not always easy to find courses of levantine arabic, but I found it here and I do not regret. I got a very good teacher using very inventive and diversified tools in all of his lessons. The level as well was very good and adapted to me and I did a lot of progresses. This all in a very nice atmosphere during the classes and at the Center in general. I recommend it for sure for anyone wanting to learn good and well. The city too is not too big and not too small, we could go out easily to get together with the other students, and we could meet many arabic speakers on the streets to speak to them and practice what we had learned during the lessons.

My name is Jaskiran and I’m from the UK. I’m a second year law student. My time at the Excellence Centre was extraordinary and I am so grateful to have been able to experience this beautiful country and its kind-hearted, fierce, passionate people. My activities at the Excellence Centre during the work week (Sunday to Thursday) included Arabic lessons from 9am-12pm on most days and then there would be a trip to go on or I would meet with my programme-specific mentor, who was a local Palestinian lawyer. The Centre organises most of your visits and educational trips during the week and then you are free on Fridays and Saturdays to find your own things to do or see. I met with my programme’s mentor the morning after I arrived in Palestine and visited the Independent Commission for Human Rights and received a very informative talk from the Head of the Commission. I then began my Arabic lessons the next day, and my teacher, Ghaida, is the most eloquently spoken and charismatic person. She made our lessons so enjoyable and ensured that conversation and communication in Arabic was the priority. And two weeks later, someone complimented my ability to converse in Arabic - even though I know I have a very long way to go to be fluent - and I thought of my teacher and peers who made this possible. Ghaida inspired in me an excitement and hope that I can take my Arabic studies further, and as a lover of languages and the rich historical, social and emotional understanding that you learn by learning a language, I could not have had a better experience learning Arabic at the Centre. On my programme, I also met with a lawyer for the Sharia courts and found out more about the origins and sources of the modern Palestinian legal system. I also had the privilege of sitting in on Mamon’s Human Rights presentation and his ability to turn a few PowerPoint slides into an academic debate and environment of intellectual creation meant that we not only learned the history of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and how it came to be, as well as the devastating human rights violations that this has inflicted on the Palestinians, but also heard each other’s reasons to be here and what we thought was the solution to such suffering.There is certainly no better way to understand the occupation than by being here, and learning about the law and history from not only highly educated teachers and mentors here at the Centre but also people who have stayed kind-hearted and extraordinarily willing to help and educate at no personal gain for them. But there is also no better way to experience the beautiful culture and people here either. My host family became like my second family here and I have never experienced such warmth and kindness from complete strangers than with my host family. And also with the people here that I didn’t get to know personally - Palestinians are so willing to help you out, feed you and make sure you’re comfortable, and everyone always has kawaha brewing on the stove, ready to serve any guests or friendly strangers they come across. I stayed in a room in my host family’s home, with my friend Elise, and they made us feel such a part of their home that I will remember their love and kindness for the rest of my life. My absolute favourite part of staying here in Hebron was the home-cooked meals and delicious food you will find in every shop and family’s home here. What is the best way to experience Palestinian cuisine you ask? Definitely at someone’s home, eaten together from the same plates. During my time here, I also visited Jerusalem and Bethlehem multiple times, and also Battir, a small village on the outskirts of Bethlehem where one of our host brother’s is a manager at Neev View restaurant with stunning views. I also visited the Farwaa Refugee Camp, which is a necessary part of your understanding of the collateral damage that the occupation has caused. Some other things I did on the programme was visiting a local school and meeting with someone from the Ministry of Education, seeing the illegal border walls that separate Bethlehem (and the West Bank) and Jerusalem and doing an internship with our law mentor.
One of my favourite parts of the experience with the Centre was having breakfast with all the participants every morning, catching up about our days and discussing what’s next and just feeling truly part of a community here. I had plenty of time after my Arabic lessons and trips for the day to go to a local cafe and write up my notes and choose whatever I wanted to do for the evening. As long as you are respectful and willing to become a student and listen and learn from the people and their experiences you will feel more than safe in Palestine. I actually felt safer in Palestine than I did during my visits to Jerusalem, because I knew that I was part of a family and community here in Hebron.

The excellence center was a great way to spend the last month of summer, and I’m very thankful for all the people I’ve been able to meet and experiences I’ve been able to have during my stay in Halle. My time with the excellence center has been a good one, but of course like any study abroad experience there were pros and cons.
I participated in the internship in Germany program, in order to learn German, teach English, and learn about the refugee community in Halle. A few days before arrival, I was put into a group chat with my roommate and given information about my accommodation. The accommodation itself was fine, but the details regarding it were somewhat skewed. Firstly, the apartment was pretty dirty (mold, food stains, etc). Secondly, I was sleeping on a mattress on the floor as my roommate and I shared what was meant to be a 1-person, 1-bedroom apartment (she had a bed next to my mattress). Thirdly, because of point 2, I do think the centers accommodation is overpriced. I would recommend trying to find your own accommodation, as rent is (incredibly) cheap in Halle. I do think we had one of the better arrangements in comparison to some other students with host families, however.
If you come during one of the busier periods, chances are you won’t be spending much time in your room anyways. The highlight of my time at the center is without a doubt the people I have had the opportunity of meeting here. Halle is a university town, so it’s a good environment for students. It is also well located, and during my month here I was able to spend weekends in Frankfurt, Berlin, and take day trips to Leipzig and Thale. During the day, if I had breaks between lessons I would head to the botanical garden (free for students), Ziegelwiese park, or local cafe/library/etc, so there are plenty of places to visit nearby if you get tired of the center at any point (it can get a bit busy sometimes so these spots are nice to take advantage of).

My German lessons were another highlight of my time here. I’d been to Germany before to visit relatives, and therefore had a very basic (emphasis on very) understanding of the language, but hadn’t studied German in a classroom setting before, so I was unfamiliar with writing/grammar/etc. I was lucky enough to have 1-1 help from Muaz, meaning the classes were attuned to my specific level. I do feel like I've made a lot of progress because of this and have covered enough ground to continue self studying German at home. The lessons themselves are engaging and flexible to your own needs/schedule (and take place not only in the center, but during tours across Halle, to Leipzig, etc). One thing to note, however, is that online it states that you get x hours of lessons per week, but technically each “hour” is equal to one 45 minute lesson. I paid for 6 hours of German lessons a week rather than the typical 3, assuming that meant 24 hours total for my 4 weeks here. However, since each hour is 45 minutes, it actually comes out to 18 full hours total. I just wanted to mention this as I think it’s helpful to know when planning your lessons!
A major benefit that might not be applicable to quite as many people is that, if you are studying both German and Arabic (like me), this is the perfect place for you. You have to take initiative in practicing the languages (which I admit I wasn’t too good at), but when you do, there’s plenty of opportunity to practice your skills at both languages. Since most of the people at the center are students are from the UK or US, it can be easy to fall into the habit of only using English (like I did) so I’d recommend that, if you come to the center, try to be more purposeful in regularly practicing your language(s)!
As for the internship aspect, I met with Rafat once as a sort of introductory lesson. Muaz also held a lesson, and helped translate for me during the two interviews I conducted. You can do more interviews if you choose, but the main thing is if you do this program you have to show initiative in making sure all aspects are completed in the way that you’d prefer. Overall, I learned a lot and am thankful for the people I met during my time in Halle!

I had a great time here at the EC Halle. I really wanted to improve the colloquial arabic language that I already knew. And I did. It is not always easy to find courses of levantine arabic, but I found it here and I do not regret. I got a very good teacher using very inventive and diversified tools in all of his lessons. The level as well was very good and adapted to me and I did a lot of progresses. This all in a very nice atmosphere during the classes and at the Center in general. I recommend it for sure for anyone wanting to learn good and well. The city too is not too big and not too small, we could go out easily to get together with the other students, and we could meet many arabic speakers on the streets to speak to them and practice what we had learned during the lessons.

This was my second trip to the Excellence Centre, the first being my 2 week visit to the Excellence centre in Palestine, and it was so good I decided to come back and spend 4 weeks in Halle on the colloquial Arabic course. Our teacher Muaz was amazing, and my speaking and listening Arabic improved immensely. The centre is like a family environment, where everyone is friendly and supportive and you feel really well looked after. I will definitely plan a return trip to continue my Arabic studies with this wonderful group and organisation.

Overall it was a great program, Palestine is a wonderful country, and all the workers at the center were incredibly nice and professional. I felt that Palestine was safer than the United States.
All of the Palestinian workers at the center were incredibly kind and professional, I enjoyed
working and spending time with every single one of them. I also really liked all of my students;
they were all very smart and respectful; they were a pleasure to teach.
My favorite experience was staying with my student’s family in Dura.
Palestine will always be near to my heart, and I hope one day the Jews will be defeated and
Palestine will be free.
Overall I had a great experience and I would recommend the excellence center to people I know

The Excellence Centre has been an incredible and enriching experience for me and I have learnt so much. Palestinians are the most warm and welcoming people you will ever meet and I feel lucky to have made so many friends here.

The center regularly hosted dinners for the students where we could try famous local dishes such as Makluba. If you have the time, make sure to attend these because it is always delicious!!

As part of my course, I got the unique opportunity to visit a diverse range of places all over Palestine. Additionally, one of the great things about the center is the flexibility. If you show an interest in a particular area, they are more than happy to accommodate you on various trips even if they are for a different program. As such, I feel like I received an even richer, inter-disciplinary understanding of Palestine.

As part of the program, I also learnt Levantine Arabic. My teachers were absolutely incredible and I wish to say a huge thank you to them because I have learnt more than I thought was possible in such a short time. I hope to continue my learning when I get back to the UK.

As a woman, I was cautious travelling to the Middle East by myself. However, I have felt so safe in the West Bank. Everyone is also so nice and if you are lost or have problems finding a certain location, locals will often go above and beyond to help you.

Palestine now has a permanent place in my heart and I hope I can return someday soon!