The Aqualung Journey of Understanding: September 2006
With tensions running high in the Middle East following the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah, Encompass embarked on its most ambitious programme to date. Twelve Israelis and twelve Palestinians were recruited to take part in a programme which would explore their personal experiences of the conflict.
The two nervous delegations arrived in London on Sunday 3rd September before travelling to Wales to the Outward Bound® Centre at Aberdovey. The atmosphere was tense. Amongst the group were Israelis who had seen close friends killed by Palestinian suicide bombers and Palestinians whose relatives had been killed by the Israelis or were incarcerated in Israeli jails. It was unsurprising therefore that the Outward Bound® staff were tested to the limits in supporting the groups to engage with each other as individuals. The discussion facilitators too were tested; the discussions in the evening were an opportunity for frank exchanges about how each side viewed the conflict, the pain that it inflicted and their hopes and dreams for the future.
Following the week at Aberdovey where huge strides were made, the group travelled to the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Trust in Warrington for a conference about young people’s responses to violence and conflict. The young people met with young Irish and British people who had personal experience of the conflict. This conference was given particular resonance because the Trust in Warrington was established in the memory of the two boys killed by the IRA bomb in Warrington.
The group then returned to London to a reception held at St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace. The programme, which has been funded by the Aqualung Trust, was a bold and ambitious initiative. Encompass is extremely proud of the work that it is doing in the Middle East. Encompass sees these kinds of projects which put a face to a community that has been dehumanised as crucial in the fight against extremism.
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Sept 06
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Posted Monday September 18, 2006
