West Bank: Building bridges through dialogue

Last year, Saja Jawad's family fled the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank. They took no belongings as they tried to rebuild their daily lives — a situation she now describes as temporary and unstable.

"We share barely 100 square meters with 11 relatives," said Saja, pictured above, whose father was killed during an Israeli military operation three years ago. Nearly all of Jenin refugee camp's 20,000 residents have been displaced over the past months, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The experience ultimately pushed her to study law and volunteer with civil society organizations — a way to better understand civil rights and liberties, and to learn how to contribute to early‑warning committees.

Saja now dedicates her time to supporting displaced families and, in her words, "the most vulnerable cases." 

Hayat Khader Hamdan was born and raised in a village in eastern Bethlehem. Two decades ago, Israel built a "separation barrier" between her village and a neighboring village. It was a shift that Hayat said "deeply affected our movement and our social connections."

"Families became divided," she continued, "and daily life became much more complicated. Plans often change depending on the security and political situation. At the same time, people try to remain resilient and stay connected to their land and community as much as possible."

This challenging reality ultimately shaped her career path toward media and communications.

"I wanted to tell the stories of my community and document how these restrictions affect people's lives," she said.

Coming together over "bread and salt'

Neither woman expects that she can bring an end to war, or even contribute to that, where they live. They are neither politicians nor diplomats. But they have learned how skillful dialogue can solve problems in their everyday lives and in their work.

The two women are part of DW Akademie’s three-year project "Khobz wa Melh" (Bread and Salt): Getting Together to Talk,” which is funded by the European Union Peacebuilding Initiative (EUPI). The project’s aim is to decrease social conflicts in the Palestinian territories while increasing peaceful dialogue, and to build cohesion in the cities of Hebron, Tulkarem, Jenin and Qalqilya as well as in East Jerusalem. Both bread and salt have deep cultural meanings in the Middle East, symbolizing connection, a common history and memory.

In January, Hayat and Saja met during a three-day DW Akademie Train the Trainer (TTT) workshop in Ramallah that focused on skillful communication and peaceful dialogue methods. When the training format was suddenly changed from in-person to online due to security concerns, the women realized that this, in fact, was a learning experience: how to stay calm and resilient when situations change quickly, and how to communicate effectively and peacefully with those around you. 

"When Palestinians are asked about 'conflict,' they often understand it in the context of war or military incursions," said Saja, "however, at the local level, there are daily conflicts caused by psychological pressure, overcrowding, displacement and limited resources."

"It was a Plan B moment for them," said Jamal Saad, DW Akademie's local project coordinator in the Palestinian territories. Heike Thee, program director Middle East at DW Akademie added: "These sudden changes are unfortunately unavoidable in highly volatile contexts. Nevertheless, we are aware of the need of our project beneficiaries to meet in person and get out of their daily routines that are often very difficult. The trainees will soon get a chance to meet each other to exchange ideas, training experiences and to network." 

Shared needs rather than blame

Hayat describes everyday life in the West Bank as being like a laboratory for putting skillful dialogue into practice, a form of non-violent defense. Since obtaining TTT certifications in Participatory Video and Solutions Journalism from the Media Development Center at Birzeit University, she has gone on to hold in-person trainings in the Bethlehem area and conduct online trainings for media students in Gaza. 

"Because of checkpoints and repeated road closures," she said, "short distances can turn into long and difficult trips. Sometimes we are forced to use rough, unpaved alternative roads just to reach our workplaces or take our children to school. So, life is not very stable. Plans often change depending on the security and political situation." 

As a result of this instability and having to leave Jenin, Saja lost her job as a project coordinator for several civil society organizations and is now volunteering.

"It's all so precarious," she said. "And yet I still deeply believe in civil society work, on focusing on shared needs rather than blame," she added. "I still believe that turning pain into community action is a form of resilience." 

The project "Bread and Salt: Getting together to talk" is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It is implemented by DW Akademie and the Palestinian organizationTaawon for Conflict Resolution.