Culture Archives - YaLa Press

Between Walls and Warnings

Author: A, Jerusalem
Published: February 12, 2026
Categories: in Analysis, Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Culture and Heritage, Current Events, Development, English, Human Rights, Identity, Israel-Palestine, Latest Articles, Palestine, Politics, Tolerance, כללי
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Tags: #thinkactyala, activism, change, coexistence, conflict, Culture, demolition, discovertheregion, east jerusalem, family, hope, Humanity, identity, IsraelPalestine, jerusalem, MENA, palestine, peace, peace activism, peacebuilding, tolerance, traditions, yala young leaders, yalayoungleaders

I was a little kid the first time I saw security forces, police, and municipal workers surrounding our home. I didn’t understand much, but I heard one word repeated over and over: “Illegal.” They said our house was illegal… and that we had to leave. I didn’t understand the language of courts or permits, but […]

When Silence Becomes a Story

Author: Murwarid, Afghanistan
Published: February 3, 2026
Categories: in Afghanistan, Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Countries, Culture and Heritage, Current Events, Democracy, Development, Education, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights, Identity, Latest Articles, Opinion and Analysis, Politics, Tolerance, כללי
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Tags: #thinkactyala, activism, afghanistan, change, conflict, Culture, discovertheregion, education, gender equality, genderequality, hope, Humanity, identity, Inspiration, MENA, religion, Taliban, tolerance, traditions, women, women rights, womenforpeace, yala young leaders, yalayoungleaders, youth

Every morning, I wake up knowing that my life is confined to four walls – but my words refuse to stay inside them. Every day, even before opening my eyes, I can imagine the day ahead. The same ceiling, the same room, the same stress for online education and the same endless dreams. In October […]

The ‘Last Custodian’ of Jewish Cairo

Author: Waseem Abu Mahadi, Cairo
Published: January 26, 2026
Categories: in Civil Activism, Culture and Heritage, Current Events, Development, Education, Egypt, English, Friendship, Human Rights, Identity, Latest Articles, Life Style, Politics, Tolerance, Travel, כללי
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Tags: #thinkactyala, activism, change, coexistence, conflict, Culture, discovertheregion, education, egypt, family, hope, Humanity, identity, Inspiration, israel, love, MENA, peace, peace activism, peacebuilding, religion, traditions, women, womenforpeace, yala young leaders, yalayoungleaders

The man behind the desk hesitated when he reached the line that listed her religion. He looked from her ID back to her face as if the two did not belong to the same person. Magda Haroun recalls the encounter with a tired smile. It happens often. “They look at my ID and they look […]

The Eyes of Beauty Don’t Belong to the World—They Belong to You

Author: T from Palestine
Published: December 7, 2025
Categories: in Analysis, Countries, Culture and Heritage, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Identity, Israel-Palestine, Latest Articles, Life Style, Opinion and Analysis, Palestine, כללי
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, change, Culture, family, gender equality, genderequality, hope, Humanity, identity, Inspiration, IsraelPalestine, MENA, palestine, traditions, women, women rights, womenforpeace, yala young leaders, yalayoungleaders, youth

Have you ever glanced at your reflection and felt like a stranger was staring back—flaws magnified, confidence vanished in an instant? I’ve been there, caught between the safety of a loving childhood and the harsh whispers of adolescence that told me my features weren’t “right.” I used to spend afternoons in my room inventing songs, […]

The Last Tie: Will Morocco’s Artisan Traditions Endure the Modern Era?

Author: K from Morocco
Published: October 16, 2025
Categories: in Art, Culture and Heritage, English, Identity, Life Style, Morocco
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Tags: #thinkactyala, Culture, education, identity, Inspiration, MENA, morocco, traditions, women, yala young leaders, yalayoungleaders, youth

The afternoon sun filtered through the courtyard of my friend Amina’s home in Fes, creating geometric shapes on the stunning handmade rugs adorning the walls. Each rug was a work of art created stitch by stitch, telling tales of Berber ancestors with saffron-dyed wool and indigo patterns. Amina’s father, Abdelkarim, was seated with us, his […]

Opinion | Arabic in Israel, by Adi Gura

Author: By Adi Gura, Israel
Published: February 1, 2021
Categories: in Arabic, Education, Friendship, Identity, Israel, Life Style, Opinion and Analysis
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: Arabic, Culture, Friendship, israel, Relationship, Society

On the 23rd of March of 2011, a terror attack occurred in Jerusalem on the 74-bus line. I was reminded of this event when I opened my old diary and randomly stopped at the page that mentioned it. When I continued reading, I noticed that the tone of my writing was so emotional, I could […]

Magnificence of Sidi Bou by Meriem Somai, Tunisia

Author: by Meriem Somai, Tunisia
Published: July 7, 2018
Categories: in Art, English, Identity, Photo Essays, Tunisia
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: colors, Culture, discovertheregion, history, Inspiration, Travel, tunisia, YaLa Photo Essay

I would like to share with you my favorite pictures that I took with my phone. They reflect the oriental taste of the Middle Eastern and Northern African countries. After coming back from the United States, I started looking at my country, Tunisia, from a different perspective. I am proud that Tunisia is rich regarding […]

The history of Nabeul City, by Wassim Najjar – Tunisa [Photo Essay]

Published: February 13, 2018
Categories: in English, Identity, Photo Essays
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Tags: #thinkactyala, belonging, Culture, discovertheregion, history, monument, nabeul, tunisia, yalacampaign

I have chosen to show you the most famous and symbolic monuments of my city. These pictures represent our past, the roots of Nabeul. The gate arc which was the door of the city, the pottery jar with the gigantic tree planted in it, and the giant orange plate. For us,these monuments were there from […]

Photo Essay | Synagogues, by Andrew Pico, Israel

Author: By Andrew Pico, Israel
Published: February 5, 2018
Categories: in English, Identity, Israel, Photo Essays, Religion, Tolerance, Travel
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, Culture, decoration, diaspora, discovertheregion, disovertheregion, synagogues, tradition, yalacampaign

I noticed recently how modest synagogues usually are. They hardly ever have much decoration, and if they do it’s just a small picture here and there. The most elaborately decorated item is the cabinet where the Torah scrolls are stored, and even that is very simple. I noticed the difference more when I went into […]

Tunisia, my home by Siwar Terboubi, Tunisia – Photo Essay –

Published: January 22, 2018
Categories: in Identity
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Tags: #thinkactyala, arab, community, country, couscous, Culture, discovertheregion, Food, MENA, muslim, NorthAfrica, pride, region, Stereotypes, tradion, tradition, tunisia, Tunisian, tunisiantraditions

Here you will find pictures of Tunisia and some of its traditions. What can I possibly tell you about the country I’m proud to call HOME? Most of us dress like in Europe, we do, however, have a lot of beautiful traditional clothes that we wear on special occasions. We have, what I can judge […]

Beyond Our Differences by Rahma Henchiri from Tunisia

Published: January 3, 2018
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Education, Identity
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, Culture, greece, iraq, Kurdistan, peacebuilding, refugees, tunisia, yazidi, yazidiculture, yazidis

Before I started working at Skaramagas refugee camp in Athens, I did not know what to expect from the children. Ever since I can remember, I have been hearing about the Yazidi-Arab tension; and thus, being an Arab myself, I was worried that my hopes of becoming the girls’ older sister would eventually turn to […]

Literature in Danger by Rima, Libya

Published: December 27, 2017
Categories: in Art, Identity, Libya, Tolerance
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Tags: #thinkactyala, bookclub, books, censorship, Culture, freedmofspeech, freedom, freedomofexpression, learning, libya, litterature, students, universtity, yalacampaign, youth

In 2013 a group of young students and I, at the University of Tripoli, created a book club. At first it was an initiative by the student union and another active team working at the university: the LES team. None of us knew anything about the each other, only the fact that we loved reading. […]

FOOD by Avery Robinson, Israel – Photo Essay-

Published: December 26, 2017
Categories: in English, Photo Essays
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, Culture, discovertheregion, Food, israel, MENA, MiddleEast, mufletas, palestine, streetfood, yalacampaign

I see a lot of food photography these days, and most of it, including my own, is of unblemished dishes. The ripest fruits, the most succulents heirloom vegetables, perfectly glazed and dusted sweets, etcetera etcetera. But what about the food we actually eat? What does that look like? We savor the uneaten perfection, but rarely […]

What’s in a name? by Hen Gur-Harye, Israel

Published: December 17, 2017
Categories: in Education, English, Identity
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: beauty, chen, childhood, Culture, family, Hebrew, hen, identity, Immigration, israel, israeli, meaning, memory, name, Travel, yalacampaign

What’s in a name? Well actually, a lot of things. Your culture, your family’s history, your parents’ secrets. You are born with a label that defines you. A few letters bunched together that represent something more complex than just a definition – they represent you, a living, breathing human being. I personally have had a […]

Falafel is the new Chocolat, Rahma Henchiri, Tunisia

Published: December 11, 2017
Categories: in Civil Activism, English, Human Rights, Identity
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #crossculturalXchange, #thinkactyala, #yalacampaign #peacebuilding, community, Culture, exchange, falafel, Food, greece, hope, Humanity, refugeecamp, refugees, volunteering

When I first tried Falafel at Skaramagas refugee camp in Greece, I couldn’t eat anything else for the following couple of months. Falafel was the common language between the camp communities and the social workers from different countries. When I first tried it, excuse my ignorance, it totally skipped my mind that it was made […]

Peaceful Jerusalem by Aliza Davids, Israel – PHOTO ESSAY

Published: December 11, 2017
Categories: in English, Photo Essays, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: Culture, holycity, israel, IsraelPalestine, jerusalem, palestine, peace

Jerusalem is the most calm and the most tense place all at once. It’s also my favorite city to photograph. Tomorrow, May 24th, marks fifty years since the reunification of Jerusalem which was once split and partially controlled by Jordan. For the Jews this was a very significant event because they were finally able to […]

The Weird Tradition by Salman Ayash, Yemen

Published: November 20, 2017
Categories: in Identity, Photo Essays, Travel, Yemen
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, celebrations, Culture, discovertheregion, Eid, Eidaladha, photography, Villagelife, yalacampaign, yemen

Like many of my friends and relatives, I cannot celebrate Eid Al-Adha (the Islamic festival of sacrifice) away from my birthplace, a small mountainous village in Ibb governorate, Yemen. There, the Eid has a different feel as many traditional games and activities are undertaken by the villagers during Eid days. Giving one example, is our […]

Beautiful Egypt by Omar Shaalan, Egypt

Published: October 9, 2017
Categories: in Egypt, English, Photo Essays
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, beauty, Culture, discovertheregion, egypt, photography, tourism, Travel, yalacampaign

Everyone had heard about tourism destinations in Egypt, but not everyone knows that a city in Egypt called Luxor contains 1/3 rd of the world’s monuments. There are also so many touristic destination that can easily compete with the best beaches in the world. You may not even believe the things there are in Egypt. […]

The feeling of guilt by Khadija Amahal, Morocco

Published: August 30, 2017
Categories: in English, Human Rights, Identity, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #crossculturalexchange, #thinkactyala, algeria, Culture, fear, morocco, racism, Stereotypes, Travel, yalacampaign

When I was a child, I had a dream to go to France. I was simply in love with the country’s culture, food, and architecture, due to my direct contact with family members and friends who lived there. That’s why I was determined to work hard at school, and right after obtaining my baccalaureate degree, […]

The ‘Old City’ of Nablus by ASEEL S. SALMAN [Photo Essay]

Published: July 5, 2017
Categories: in English, Latest Articles, Media, Photo Essays
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #eupeacebuildinginitiative, #thinkactyala, architecture, Culture, discovertheregion, history, naplus, oldcity, palestine, photography, yalacampaign

PALESTINE — The most beautiful place in Nablus is the Old City. Not only does the old city have a great historical legacy, but it has a special taste that cannot be replicated.

Tag: Culture