In the first week of January 2010 Stichting gate48 will conduct a group tour to Israel and Palestine. The core of group will consist of young members of political parties in the Netherlands, others are students at Dutch universities.

The tour will focus on the grass roots level of the conflict and especially on the struggle against the occupation. During the tour we will meet with representatives of various Israeli NGO’s and individuals who are actively involved in the resistance against the occupation of the Palestinian Territories and who engage in different efforts to end the conflict by non-violent means.

We will visit East Jerusalem to cover the different aspects of Israel’s growing presence in this area and will look at the latest developments in regard to the Jewish settlers in the area. We will also have an extensive look at the Wall that is being built by Israel and the numerous checkpoints. Furthermore, we will tour the city of Hebron, visit the Southern Hebron Hills and meet with its inhabitants.

We believe people returning from a tour such as this one will be better equipped to participate in debates on the conflict due to the knowledge about the situation on the ground that they have gained. They will be thus able to achieve a real change.

We are very happy and grateful that ICCO shares this view with us and that they have been willing to support this tour.

To follow the tour and the experiences of the group, please follow our daily blog at VKblog  or at Facebook .