English Archives - Page 10 of 35

Alexandria’s Martyr Heroines by Samaa Ibrahem, Egypt

Author: By Samaa Ibrahem, Egypt
Published: April 25, 2018
Categories: in Civil Activism, Culture and Heritage, Education, Egypt, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, genderequality

The inspiring account of two women who defied the gravity of patriarchy draped in the robe of “Religion”. Alexandria city, the land of magic and knowledge, buried two female treasures who fought the curse of patriarchy with the sword of religion. Both of them sacrificed their lives for the sake of their beliefs. They chose […]

Of Trees and Walls by Ela Lipaz, Israel

Author: By Ela Lipaz, Israel
Published: April 24, 2018
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, English, Human Rights, Identity, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Life Style, Palestine, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #endviolence, olivetrees, peace encounter

I was 26 years old, and I’ve never met the Palestinians who lived only 5 minutes away from my neighbourhood. I stood at this beautiful observation point in Jerusalem and looked upon the Palestinian villages near Bethlehem. My entire life I was living here, but I’ve never visited them. Next to me were standing a […]

The Value of Imagination by Sara Haddou Amar, Morocco

Author: By Sara Haddou Amar, Morocco
Published: April 22, 2018
Categories: in Culture and Heritage, Education, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Identity, Life Style, Morocco
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: Imagination

Since my childhood education was a necessity in our family, the very reason to live. We should study hard, be the best and have good grades. Money was not an issue when it came to books or extra-classes, especially classes related to science and mathematics. I have never questioned this “Program” we lived in, it […]

Timing is Everything by Atef Amri, Tunisia

Author: By Atef Amri,
Published: April 11, 2018
Categories: in Culture and Heritage, Development, Education, English, Identity, Life Style, Tunisia
Comments: 0 Comments

Reading other people’s stories, I realize how hard it is to have grown up in war zones, conflict areas, and to have gone through major losses. As for me, I did not grow up in a conflict zone and did not see loved ones die at my sight, but I still believe that my life […]

She, Breaking Free by Zineb, Tunisia

Author: By Zineb, Tunisia
Published: April 10, 2018
Categories: in Civil Activism, Development, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights, Identity, Tunisia
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: Feminism, gender equality

Her room, again, portrayed an obscure cavern of darkness which was not new to her. A vintage dress, from an era that goes way back, was the only separation between her skin and the creeping midnight chill. In her usual sleeplessness, she was drunk on silence. For hours, it had seeped into her pores, dowsing […]

Thanks for Waking me Up by Zafer Sabbah, Palestine

Author: By Zafer Sabbah, Palestine
Published: March 29, 2018
Categories: in Culture and Heritage, Education, English, Friendship, Palestine
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: identity, storytelling

It was the summer, and I had spent the night studying for my last math exam the next morning. It was a very hard time. I was very stressed and a strange, ominous feeling surrounding me. I was a student in the ninth grade, which is also called the third preparatory class. That year, there […]

My First Christmas by Tamar Schechtman, Israel

Author: By Tamar Schechtman, Israel
Published: March 28, 2018
Categories: in Culture and Heritage, Education, English, Friendship, Hebrew, Identity, Israel, Tolerance, Travel
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: christmas, home, learning, life, religion, Travel

I was born and raised in a quiet little town by the sea, far from borders and conflict and also far from cultural diversity. Other than a short exchange program in Germany during high school, I never actually met anyone who wasn’t Jewish. I knew nothing else. Though I was supposedly privileged, I felt deprived […]

The Caterpillar Effect by Zineb, Morocco

Author: By Zineb, Morocco
Published: March 26, 2018
Categories: in English, Gender and LGBTQ, Identity, Morocco, Religion
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala

I wake up every day to the sound of Azhan (prayer’s call), I get up and wash myself in order to pray and make mom happy. I lie to her, I lie to myself and I lie to everyone around me but why? Because I really want to fit in. I want to be this […]

My Indian Guru by Adam, Israel

Author: By Adam, Israel
Published: March 22, 2018
Categories: in Culture and Heritage, English, Identity, Israel, Travel
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #crossculturalXchange, #thinkactyala, India

Jorge, an excitable, lanky teenager from Venezuela, volunteered in a slum on the outskirts of Delhi, India. Sometimes he would come with his friends to stay at our hostel in the city. Before his final weekend, he wanted to visit an acquaintance he had made. He told me about an ascetic at a temple in […]

Ahead Towards Tomorrow by Samaa, Egypt

Author: By Samaa, Egypt
Published: March 21, 2018
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Culture and Heritage, Education, Egypt, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights, Identity
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: Feminism, Inspiration, school

Some winds come at unexpected moments, blinding your vision with disturbing dust. You can hear the destructive sounds but you are in the middle of nowhere. With eyes opened it seems EVERYTHING HAS COLLAPSED! After my high school graduation in Alexandria City, I was so excited with the idea of going to university. I kept […]

A Blind Date with My Wife by Shadi, Palestine

Author: Shadi, Palestine
Published: March 20, 2018
Categories: in Culture and Heritage, English, Friendship, Life Style, Palestine
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: love, lovestory

In Palestinian society, if you can’t find a girl to marry, you can ask your mother or sister to help you find a wife. One day, in 2010, I was working for a company in Ramallah as a call centre agent, when my phone began to ring repeatedly – it was my mother. I thought […]

Welcome to America by Ibrahem Khatib, Israel\Palestine

Published: March 14, 2018
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Education, English, Identity, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Lebanon, Palestine, Travel
Comments: 0 Comments

It was the summer of 2006 and the war just broke out between Hezbollah and the Israeli Forces. I was very lucky because that summer I was accepted to “YES”, a youth exchange program. I was expecting to go to the US for my senior year of high school and I was thrilled that I […]

Neighbors on vacation by Chaitze – Israel

Published: March 6, 2018
Categories: in English, Human Rights
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: Friendship, israel, paletsine, sinai, Travel

Rivka and I had planned a vacation to Sinai (Egypt), but, the day before we were scheduled to leave, the Israeli government closed the Sinai borders due to a threat they had received. So, there went our vacation. There went our plans, and there went our money. I was sulking in my misery and self-pity […]

Fighting for my rights by E. – Palestine

Published: March 6, 2018
Categories: in English, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights, Identity
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: family, genderequality, palestine, Society, woman, women, women rights, womensrights

I want to talk about my story. A story of struggle of every girl who grows older and didn’t find marriage. I was the only girl in my family, surrounded by my brothers so I had to suffer a lot and fight for my rights. I couldn’t speak up because I was raised in a […]

Freedom

Author: Yosra Béjaoui, Tunisia
Published: March 6, 2018
Categories: in Civil Activism, English, Human Rights, Identity, Tunisia
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: demonstrating, demonstration, freedom, freedomofspeech, future, gaza, police, revolution, tunisia, youth

I don’t remember the exact day but it was on January 2009. It was a very normal and peaceful day in Tunisia but unfortunately it wasn’t the case in another place of the world (2300 kilometers away to be exact). It was the Israel-Gaza war. The Gaza strip was hit by airstrikes, unfortunately, bombs don’t […]

Where Else Can We Go? By Mariam Al-Dhubhani – Yemen

Published: March 6, 2018
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, Current Events, Education, English, Human Rights, Yemen
Comments: 0 Comments

On April 20, 2015, one of the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes hit the Faj Attan neighborhood in Sana’a, Yemen, the hardest. It was the wake-up call for me that this was not going to end anytime soon. The state of denial that we were living in for about six months of the crisis and division among […]

Meeting my other by Shelly Dotan, Israel

Published: March 6, 2018
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, English, Human Rights, Identity
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: arabisraeli, busride, fear, israel, IsraelPalestine, otherside, palestine, Stereotypes, Travel, trip, vietnam, youth

When I was 22, I traveled to South-East Asia for almost 6 months. It’s very common for young Israelis to travel to remote places of the globe after finishing their army service. As the army is mandatory in Israel, many of us feel the urge to look for some kind of freedom after two or […]

From Bad Encounters to Good Encounters by Omer, Yemen

Published: March 6, 2018
Categories: in Culture and Heritage, Education, English, Human Rights, Identity, Yemen
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: europe, fear, islamophobia, muslim, peacebuilding, racism, roommates, Stereotypes, understanding, yalacampaign, yemen, youth

This story is from the experience I had when I went to Germany for a one week academic program at Bremen University about four years ago. I had two roommates in my hotel room and we were all from different regions and different social and religious backgrounds. One was from Romania and the other was […]

Refugee Pride by Houcem, Tunisia

Published: March 6, 2018
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, English, Human Rights, Identity
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: canada, future, gay, germany, homophobia, LGBTQ, Refugee, syria, war, youth

Omar is a 32 years old male refugee from Kobbaijep- Syria. He moved to Canada a year ago under the asylum program. His story started 9 years ago when he started his bachelor degree in music at the University of Damascus. His first year was “hell” as he described it. People didn’t like the way […]

What to do when your town is on fire? by Nadezha, Israel

Published: March 6, 2018
Categories: in Civil Activism, English, Human Rights
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: 2016, civicactivism, fire, help, helping, Humanity, israel, solidarity

My story is based on the events of November 2016, when a wave of fires (both wildfires and urban fires) began in Israel from the south as the Dead Sea area to Nahariya. The largest fire occurred in Haifa, where 527 apartments were destroyed completely 77 buildings, leaving 1,600 people homeless. 75,000 residents, about a […]

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