
Dina G.: „It is inspiring to see how these women continue to engage in socio-political activities together“, 2020
(Text: Dina G.) The past few months were very troubling and intense on the socio-political level in Israel. Covid 19 had not only affected the public health and financial situation but also vastly highlighted the inequality between different groups...

Jelena S.: „In these times the strength of YU-Peace became particularly visible“, 2020
Jelena Stulic is a long-standing member of YU-Peace and co-founder of LINK, our partner organization in Sombor. In the beginning of September she spoke with Katharina Ochsendorf about the current situation and the work of YU-Peace under Corona conditions....

Vlasta Markovic (Bosnia-Herzegovina): A trip to Sombor in times of Corona, 2020
The members of the Youth United in Peace Network stay in close contact through their Facebook groups and other social networks throughout the Corona period. Again and again they plan to meet each other also in real life, but...

Tara B.* (Palestine): „I don’t care if I will spend my whole life trying to make this change“, 2019
Tara B.*: The seminar was one of the greatest experiences for me – I’m not exaggerating – the seminar was very important for me. I was discussing it with my coordinator the other day: I think before the...

Almina S. (Bosnia-Herzegovina): „Everything we do motivates us to do even more“, 2019
Almina Šehić is a member of YU-Peace and coordinator of the Youth Center in Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje, the local partner organization of Vacation From War. In 2019, the “camp”, the organization of which rotates annually between the five partner cities...

Sonja A. (Serbia/Bosnia-Herzegovina): „My small world suddenly amplified“, 2019
This is the third time I have started this letter and as they say, the third time is supposed to bring good luck. I would like to thank you very much because you gave me the opportunity to be...

Hena T. (Bosnia-Herzegovina): „I have found a way to fight for a better tomorrow“, 2019
Hena Trutovic is the daughter of our regional coordinator Alma Dzinic-Trutovic. She has been participating in the encounters ever since she was three years old. She was always enthusiastic about helping everywhere: delivering messages, getting things out of the...

David R.* (Israel): „There is no ‚humane‘ way of invading a families‘ home at 3 a.m.“
David R.* is 33 years old and grew up in the fourth generation in a Kibbutz near Haifa. He describes his family’s political stance as humanist-liberal-left and went to demonstrations with his parents as a child. Peace and equality...

Yitzchak M. (Israel): „Everybody talks about peace, but noone speaks of empathy“, 2019
Yitzchak M. wrote this text two weeks after the Allgenders-seminar and published it on Facebook. He explicitly asked us to publish the it under his real name. Exactly one month ago today, I flew off to Cologne in Germany...

Noah A.* (Israel) and Ahlam D.* (Palestine): “My hair is not immodest”, 2019
In the “Open Space”, participants of the dialogue seminars themselves have the chance to organize workshops on topics that are important to them. Ahlam D. * and Noah A. *, a Palestinian and an Israeli participant, jointly organized a...

Marja Q. (Gaza Strip): „Everyone was shocked that this is a real situation“, 2019
Attempts to invite participants from the Gaza Strip to the seminars have regularly failed in the history of the project: People were not given a travel permit or were too afraid of repression. In 2019, for the first time...

Uros A. (Croatia): „To my country“, 2018
Uros Antic took part in the Peace Camp in Split 2018 and is involved in our partner organization in Vukovar and at YU-Peace. Outraged by the nationalist propaganda on the occasion of the annual commemoration day for Croatian fighters...

Yoav R.*: A theatrical gleaning of experiences from an existential journey, 2018
It was at the climax of our Israeli-Palestinian seminar: in the heart of the debates, the disagreements, the long nights of conversation, the long days of inhaling and exhaling. The evening before that moment, Alma Dzinic-Trutovic gave a lecture...

Maja from Croatia (2017)
I came to Basko Polje without a lot of expectations. I thought I would meet people who do not share my interests and my taste in music, and there would be food I don’t like. Oh man, was I...

Dina Jurcic, Serbia (2016)
A network and its faces “I’ll never forget that experience in my life”: this is the comment we most often hear from participants in our encounters. It always makes us happy to see how often this comes true. In...

Under the shadow of the Jasmin tree – Ahmed* from Palestine shares his reflections on the seminar, 2010
Under the shadow of the jasmine tree** My name is Ahmed* (name changed), I am 26 years old and I am currently doing my internship as a physician in a Palestinian hospital. My life so far has been full...