ESC RESOLVE: Volunteering 4 Peace is a volunteering placement project with the aim of supporting the continued development & sustainment of the RESOLVE: Network, a youth-led peace network offering young people from the UK (& in other countries) to volunteer on the network, supporting their personal & professional development and developing the local network in … Continued
Asfar has launched its first Turing Scheme International Traineeship programme. The International Traineeship is a 3-month work-based traineeship programme funded by the Turing Scheme focused on Management skills for Learners from the United Kingdom. Asfar has 7 fully funded International Traineeships available, to the following countries: Georgia Azerbaijan France Italy Israel Bosnia-Herzegovina Hungary To learn … Continued
The day after it was announced the Trump administration would be recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the Jewish Museum in Berlin unveiled their ‘Welcome to Jerusalem’ exhibition[1]. Noted by historian Simon Sebag Montefoire as the only city to exist twice, on earth and in heaven, it is the city’s religious significance which the exhibition seeks … Continued
Welcome to Asfar’s December 2017 edition of our international e-Journal. This edition focuses on a range of thought-provoking topics, as always, including Qatar and the current situation in the Gulf, the Palestinian diaspora, conflict resolution in Israel and Palestine, Turkey-EU relations, and the issue of child marriage in the Caucasus. The Qatar Conundrum by Rich … Continued
Nestled on a hilltop overlooking the West Bank city of Nablus is the small, and seemingly nondescript, village of Kiryat Luza. Just a 10 minute car ride from the Palestinian city below, you would be hard pressed to pin-point any identifiable differences that would set this particular village apart from its local environs. Upon closer … Continued
Steven Aiello, Director of the Debate for Peace program, gave this speech at the EP-med-PATRIR (European Platform for Middle East Dialogue) “Israel-Palestine, moving towards needs-based solutions” conference. In 2011, I was studying conflict resolution in a graduate program at the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel. The most lasting lessons I learned that year came not from … Continued
In May and June, Asfar was involved in two Erasmus+ youth exchange in Azerbaijan and Morocco, as part of our Sport 4 Change programme stream, which aims to mobilise sport for development to promote skills, encourage cultural engagement among people of different backgrounds and conflict resolution. Participants from Morocco, UK, Israel and Azerbaijan spent a … Continued
The name Arthur Balfour means little to some and everything to others. To those of us who traipsed past his statue on our way to the launch of the Balfour Apology Campaign one Tuesday evening in October, he was as similarly unrecognisable as the various faces that adorn the walls of the Houses of … Continued
November 2016 As part of a key policy-making round table, Asfar’s CEO, Sheniz Tan, visited the House of Lords’ International Relations Committee to promote young peoples’ views on the future of the UK’s Foreign policy towards the Middle East. Our CEO was particularly asked to provide guidance on Turkey, how young Turkish people engage in … Continued
Asfar’s latest e-Journal for November 2016 is now online. Led by young people, Asfar’s unique e-Journal offers insightful glimpses into the Middle East, North Africa and the Caucasus. This issue, the first by our new senior editor Joe Worthington, includes a range of articles on the First World War, Black Bedouin Tribes, the Israel-Jordan gas deal, experiences … Continued
Welcome to the November 2016 issue of Asfar’s e-journal! This is my first issue since taking on the senior editor role, and what I have tried to achieve in this edition is a combination of thought-provoking, timely, and interesting articles produced by our loyal writers and editors – who I would like to thank for … Continued
It’s been the largest social movement in Jordan since the Arab Spring, with thousands of Jordanians taking to the streets and campaigning against the contentious Israel-Jordan gas deal. Since the beginning of October, central Amman, Jordan, has been flooded with demonstrators following Friday prayer at the Grand Husseini mosque, as chants of “no to gas … Continued
Traditionally associated with the original nomadic peoples of Arabia, for many the Bedouins epitomise all that it means to be a “true Arab”. The simple tents mirroring the silhouettes of sand dunes, strung in shades of coffee and terracotta and rust. Men with their heads wrapped lavishly in cloth, riding on horseback against the raging … Continued
Published by Asfar in London, UK - ISSN 2055-7957 (Online)