In a Dialogue Workshop Organized by Dou': Youth from Tarqumiyah – Hebron Present Visions and Initiatives to Strengthen Their Role in the National Landscape
Tarqumiyah – Hebron | Saturday, April 19, 2025
As part of its ongoing efforts to empower Palestinian youth and amplify their voices in national and societal affairs, Dou' – The Palestinian Foundation for Dialogue and Development, in partnership with the Youth Community Center, organized a youth dialogue workshop in the town of Tarqumiyah, Hebron Governorate, on Saturday, April 19, 2025. This workshop was part of a broader initiative to create safe spaces for open dialogue, collective reflection, and youth engagement in shaping a more just and representative future.
The workshop, facilitated by Dou’s Chairwoman Yafa Atatra, brought together a group of young men and women from Tarqumiyah and across the Hebron area. Discussions revolved around three key themes: current national challenges, youth aspirations, and the potential roles young people can play in driving change.
Participants unanimously identified the ongoing genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, alongside Israel’s annexation and settlement policies and the fragmentation of the West Bank through military checkpoints and barriers, as critical threats to Palestinian national identity and existence. They also highlighted other interlinked challenges, including the persistence of political division and its corrosive impact on societal cohesion, the shrinking space for political freedoms and youth expression, the erosion of national and political consciousness among youth, the absence of democratic life and elected legislative bodies, the influence of tribalism in weakening political awareness and representation, widespread economic hardship and high youth unemployment, growing nepotism and social injustice, security overreach in universities, and the increasing tendency among youth to consider emigration.
Despite these challenges, the youth articulated clear and determined aspirations. They emphasized the urgent need to end internal division and achieve national unity, to establish a democratic Palestinian state that upholds freedoms and rights, and to reform education in ways that reinforce national identity and cause. They also underscored the right of return for Palestinian refugees, the importance of economic revitalization through investment in agriculture and industry, the pursuit of social justice and civil peace, and the demand for meaningful and equitable youth representation at both local and international levels.
The workshop culminated in the proposal of three grassroots initiatives. The first focused on confronting occupation violations through youth-led actions that document and expose ongoing abuses against Palestinian land and people, including the filing of complaints with relevant international bodies. The second initiative aimed at fostering national awareness and participatory engagement by organizing youth-led awareness workshops and dialogue sessions on civic issues, rights, and responsibilities, coupled with the creation and dissemination of educational content via social media platforms. It also proposed public accountability sessions addressing youth rights, policies, and broader public issues. The third initiative targeted economic empowerment through capacity-building programs in youth entrepreneurship and small-scale enterprises, paving the way for sustainable, locally-driven economic change.
The workshop concluded with a unifying message: Palestinian youth possess a profound capacity for change. To activate this potential, they must be granted safe, enabling spaces and freed from the structural obstacles that continue to hinder their full and meaningful participation in national life.