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WEF Palestine activities registration process is now open!

Dear all,

We are pleased to inform you that the World Education Forum in Palestine (October 28th – 31st) self-organized activities registration process is now open! The deadline for registration of self-organized workshops/activities, expanded activities and cultural activities is August 26th. Below you will find: general information on the WEF-Palestine, as well as more specific information about WEF locations & programming methodology meant to help you fill out the activities registration forms. Please forward this information widely!

Additional information and registration at: http://www.wef-palestine.org/

1. General information on the WEF-Palestine.

a. Introduction

b. WEF locations: a multi-centered forum

2. WEF Program methodology

 The Activities registration forms

 Activity Calendar and Types of Activities

 Self-organized workshops and activities; Expanded activities; Cultural activities

  Thematic Axes, Subthemes and Cross-cutting Themes

 Workshop Logistics

Translation; Audiovisual technicalities; Interlink

 Programming process: next steps

 WEF-Palestine Memory

1. GENERAL INFORMATION on the WEF-Palestine  

A. Introduction

The World Education Forum in Palestine (WEF-Palestine) is part of the World Social Forum (WSF) process, which has triggered several thematic forums. The International Council of the WSF expressed its full support to hold this WEF in Palestine. Over the years, the WSF has become the ‘open space’ for global civil society to network, reflect, debate, formulate proposals, develop new strategies and visions and to plan action. ‘Open space’ means that various organizations and movements can organize activities providing they abide by the WSF Charter of Principles. This event is vitally important in the context of the ongoing occupation of the Palestinian people, the siege of Gaza and persecution of local and international activists. The brutal attack on the Freedom Flotilla was only one amongst many recent events in the escalation of Israeli policies of aggression.

The WEF-Palestine, therefore, offers not only a space for people from all over the world to discuss issues relating to education – your participation in the Forum is a concrete act of solidarity with the Palestinian people and resistance to occupation, apartheid and colonialism.

The WEF activities will be carried out over 4 days, from the 28th to the 31st of October, 2010, and are simultaneously organized in Ramallah, Gaza, Haifa, Jerusalem and Beirut (Lebanon). There will also be a possibility to organize expanded activities in other locations throughout the world at the same time of the Forum. The program will comprise centrally organized conferences (organized by the National Committee with the support of the International Organizing Committee), self-organized workshops and activities, WEF assemblies on Education and on Palestine, expanded activities (activities held by organizations throughout the world during the WEF, in virtual communication with the WEF venues), solidarity marches, trips and cultural events. The activities of the WEF will shed light on pressing social and educational issues and challenges of people struggling for peace and social justice around the world and in Palestine. Over the years, the WSF has become the ‘open space’ for global civil society to network, reflect, debate, formulate proposals, develop new strategies and visions and to plan action. This concept encompasses that various organizations and movements can organize activities providing they abide by the WSF Charter of Principles.

We thereby invite organizations from throughout the globe and Palestine to organize one or more self-organized workshops and activities, expanded and cultural activities, based on the WEF-Palestine thematic axes, in a location of their choice. In order to register an activity, whether a self-organized workshop (at a WEF location), an expanded activity (at a location other than a WEF venue) or a cultural activity, you must fill out the appropriate registration form before August 26th. This process is distinct from individual and organizational registration for participation to the WEF, which will open shortly. Note that even organizations who have registered a self-organized activity will need to register separately and pay fees for their delegates’ participation to the WEF. Below you will find more specific information relating to the activity registration process: important tips on how to fill up the registration form are not to be missed!

B. WEF LOCATIONS: a multi-centered Forum The decision to hold the WEF in Palestine emanated from the interest to share the educational experience from within Palestine struggle and from around the world. Furthermore, the Palestinian call to hold the World Education Forum is a clear indication of the strength and determination of the Palestinian civil society in their struggle against Israeli occupation. The national and international WEF organizers take a stand against the aggressions against the people of Gaza and the ongoing siege on Gaza in particular. Choosing to hold the forum in Palestine brings an array of issues in its wake. One of them, of course, is the accessibility of the event, not only for international participants but also for Palestinians themselves. Due to the blockade on Gaza, the movement of Palestinians between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is forbidden by the Israeli government: Palestinians with a West Bank or Gaza ID can’t travel to Jerusalem or inside the Green Line (Israel). Moreover, Palestinian refugees living outside the Palestinian territories (whether it be in refugee camps in neighboring countries or in the global diaspora) still have no right of return to Palestine: they are forbidden entry onto Palestinian territories as well as inside the Green Line (Israel). Moreover, some access restrictions apply for international participants’ access to specific WEF locations: notably, access to the Gaza strip has been extremely limited by the Israeli government. In order to ensure access to the event for the maximum of international and Palestinian participants, the WEF will therefore be held in 4 different locations: in Ramallah (West Bank), Gaza, Haifa (inside Green line / Israel) and Beirut (Lebanon). A specific program will be set up for activities in East Jerusalem, but the venue is not planning on hosting self-organized activities for now. Information on visas, border regulations and event accessibility for local and international participants are posted on the WEF-Palestine website under its ‘Practical Information’ section.

The WEF-Palestine encourages the organization of expanded activities (self-organized activities taking place throughout the world, and interlinked with WEF-Palestine venues) and the interlinking of activities amongst WEF-Palestine venues.

2. WEF Program Methodology

 The Activities Registration Forms

Organizations wishing to present an activity, whether a self-organized workshop (at a WEF location), an expanded activity (at a location other than a WEF venue) or a cultural activity, should simply fill up the appropriate activity registration form before August 26th. The three forms are available online.

In order to register an activity, your organization will first be asked to create a user account on the website, and should follow the instructions thereon. While registering an activity within the WEF program is free, organization delegates’ participation in the forum is not: more information on participation fees and the participation registration form will be posted online shortly. Organizations who wish to present more than one activity should fill up one form for each activity, using the same user account.

Please note that you can begin filling up the activity registration forms even if you have not finalized every aspect of your activity (location, speakers, etc). Simply register your activity as draft: you will be able to modify your form throughout the summer by using your user account. The final version of your activity description must be submitted online before August 26th. Please note that you might face navigation problems if you have Internet Explorer (especially version 7 or less). We therefore advise you to install Mozilla Firefox or Safari for Mac computers.

 Activity Calendar and Types of Activities

The WEF-Palestine will take place over four days, from the 28th-31st of October, 2010. The first day will feature solidarity marches as well as opening events in every WEF-Palestine location. The second and third days will be organized as such: in the morning WEF-organized panel conferences, organized by National and International Committee members around WEF themes, followed by two sessions of self-organized workshops : one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Expanded activities will take place during the 4 days of the Forum. Cultural events will be taking place at night. The last day will be dedicated to two WEF Assemblies: one assembly on the WEF theme of Education, and one on Palestinian issues and solidarity with the Palestinian struggles. The final day will end with closing cultural and political events in every location: speeches, marches and festivals. Note that specific self-organized activities will be taking place throughout the

Forum for children and youth, in order to ensure easy participation for parents and care-givers, as well as an enriching Forum experience for all generations.

All activities should abide by the WSF Charter of Principles.

Self-organized workshops and activities are to be run by Palestinian and other local and International organizations, in logistical coordination with the National Committee of the World Education Forum in Palestine. These activities should be guided by the thematic axes proposed by the WEF, touching on particular issues included in these themes, and can be organized in any type of format (conferences, plenaries, debates, joint workshops, discussions, campaign planning, etc), including that of an activity for children and youth. They are to be coordinated by one organization, but can of course involve multiple organizations working collaboratively, thereby taking the form of a joint workshop. The activity and workshop organizers are fully responsible for the preparation, organization and eventual holding of the activity at the Forum, while the National Committee of the WEF-Palestine will take care of logistical planning (room reservation, translation and audio-visual support, if needed), to the best of its ability. Note that any logistical autonomy on the part of self-organized activities organizers (translation, technical material) will be more than welcome!

Expanded activities: Organizations who wish to can autonomously organize activities in other locations throughout the globe during the WEF, which would be included in the WEF program and could be put into virtual communication (interlinking) with other WEF locations and participants. These expanded activities can be organized all over the globe, offering a form of participation to groups and persons who aren’t able to come to the event, and offering an interesting avenue in light of the Israeli mobility restrictions on Palestinians. Such activities should be registered through filling out the Expanded Activities Registration form Cultural activities: Artists, groups and organizations can propose self-organized cultural activities for the WEF-Palestine. They will mostly be programmed to take place every night of the Forum, in every WEF location, but some will also take place during the day (for example, for film projections and expositions): the WEF team will arrange bringing together the various cultural activity propositions into various spaces and events (shows, exhibitions, etc). Cultural activities can be of a wide variety of types: films and documentaries, music, dance, theatre, visual arts exhibition (photography, painting, graffiti, sculpture), etc. They should be registered through filling out the Cultural Activities Registration form.

 Thematic Axes, Subthemes and Cross-cutting themes

The thematic Axes proposed for the WEF-Palestine are the following: 1. Education, arts, culture and identity. 2. Education as a tool for human and mind liberation 3. Ideologies in education 4. Traditional and popular education 5. Education, Environment and Nature 6. Education for peace and equality

The Program Sub-committee of the WEF-Palestine has also prepared an expansive list of subthemes, both general and specifically Palestine-related, as well as cross-cutting themes, to guide reflection and inspire organizations wishing to set up self-organized activities in their preparation. These cross-cutting and subthemes can be consulted on the WEF-Palestine website by following this link.

 Activity Logistics – translation, audiovisuals and interlink.

Translation For evident practical reasons, we highly recommend that languages used by speakers and facilitators in the self-organized workshops and activities be Arabic or English. The WEF team will provide resources and help with translation for self-organized activities to the best of its ability, but we encourage organizers to arrange their own translation if needed and possible.

Audio-visual technicalities Audio-visual material will also be made available (projector/screen, internet communication) to the best of local logistical capability, and the need for such assistance should be indicated by organizations in the registration forms under the designated rubric. We encourage all able organizations to bring their own material if possible (laptops, etc).

Interlink between venues

The WEF-Palestine National Committee is also working on setting up an Interlink system between the various WEF-Palestine locations, by which workshops situated in one venue may communicate with workshops and/or persons situated in other venues: for example, by viewing the activity on a screen and sending comments to its participants through chat, or even in a direct communication format through video-conference. Self-organized activities and workshops as well as expanded activities can request an interlink with another activity or venue in their respective registration forms.