#thinkactyala Archives

Tales of Imilchil by Youba D, Morocco

Author: By Youba D, Morocco
Published: October 29, 2018
Categories: in Civil Activism, Culture and Heritage, Development, Education, English, Human Rights, Identity, Morocco, Travel
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #Maghreb, #thinkactyala, Amazigh, discovertheregion, Inspiration, MENALeadersforChange, morocco, poverty, tourism, traveling

I am called Youba, a name given to me by my father, who was deeply in love with the Amazigh culture of North Africa. I Discovered the meaning of my name when his fingertips traced the papers of a history book that told the story of the great Amazighi King Youba. A Moroccan, of Tafraout, […]

Childhood Guilt by Orit Ramot, Israel

Author: By Orit Ramot, Israel
Published: August 28, 2018
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, English, Friendship, Human Rights, Identity, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala

I grew up in a small village in Israel, or as we called it a Moshav. A place where everyone knows everyone. On one hand, it was great because we all felt very safe, like living in a bubble. But on the other hand, in such small places anyone who is a bit different, a […]

Riding the Donkey Backwards by Asil Ibrahim-Khalil, Palestine

Author: By Asil Ibrahim-Khalil, Palestine
Published: August 22, 2018
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, Culture and Heritage, Education, English, Human Rights, Identity, Israel-Palestine, Life Style, Palestine, Tolerance, Travel
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala

It was a hot, sunny July day in Phoenix, Arizona. It was amazing seeing the long green cacti on my way to visit ASU, Arizona State University, with a group of eight Birzeit University students. I remember wearing light blue jeans, a beige top, a scarf and, of course, my light sneakers. We were excited […]

The Last Boy by Arik Sharga, Israel

Author: By Arik Sharga, Israel
Published: July 30, 2018
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, Culture and Heritage, English, Friendship, Identity, Israel
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, family, identity, israel, traditions, YaLa Citizen Journalist

I loved my grandpa. He didn’t talk much, but when he did, he was honest and precise. He was as reliable as a human being can be. When I was 5, my parents divorced, and grandpa was like a father for me. In his youth, he survived the siege of Leningrad during World War II, […]

My Brother’s Keeper by Liora V., Israel

Author: By Liora V., Israel
Published: July 15, 2018
Categories: in Development, Education, English, Friendship, Identity, Israel, Life Style
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala

Love is never easy. Love is always complicated. And it is always the ones we love the most who will hurt us the deepest. I don’t know why that is. I just know that a few times in my life I have played with fire and lost big time, or gravely burnt my hands, at […]

Photo-essay | Jordanian Gold by Ibrahem Khatib, Israel\Palestine

Author: By Ibrahem Khatib, Israel\Palestine
Published: July 3, 2018
Categories: in Culture and Heritage, English, Identity, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Palestine, Photo Essays, Travel
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala

This was the first time I planned a proper surprise for someone I love and admire. Her name is Hila, and she is an amazing young woman. We traveled by plane from Tel-Aviv to Eilat, crossed the border to Jordan. At the Jordanian side, we met Yousuf, a handsome young man at the age of […]

Chad by Meriem, Algeria (photo-essay)

Published: July 2, 2018
Categories: in Algeria, Art, Identity, Photo Essays, Travel
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, discovertheregion, yala, YaLa Africa, YaLa Photo Essay, yala young leaders

Recently, I was lucky enough to be a part of the International Slam Festival in Tchad called N’Djam “s’enflamme en Slam’. It was a very unique experience in which I discovered the REAL AFRICA! I am also African, and the clichés about Africa being a poor, 3rd world country was not apparent to me in […]

The Uninvited Guest by Hadass Evron, Israel

Author: By Hadass Evron, Israel
Published: June 5, 2018
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, English, Human Rights, Identity, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #endviolence, #thinkactyala

The problem with anxiety attacks is that they’re always coming at a bad time. They don’t ask you if it’s okay when they come, they don’t knock on your door, they just burst in as an uninvited guest that you have to deal with. My body started shaking in the car as I was on […]

The Birth of my First Dream

Author: By Doa, Gaza, Palestine
Published: June 3, 2018
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, Egypt, English, Human Rights, Israel-Palestine, Palestine
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, storytelling, Travel

I was speechless for more than 10 hours on Thursday, we were disconnected from the internet, and the electricity was shut off. I tried to escape by bothering my brothers to buy some widgets, I went back and forth from sleeping and eating. Life was dead in the city where I live. This same day […]

Beauty in the Old by Aziza, Tunisia (photo-essay)

Published: May 21, 2018
Categories: in Photo Essays, Tunisia
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, discovertheregion

YaLa Poetry | His Eyes by Or Avrahami, Israel

Author: By Or Avrahami, Israel
Published: May 21, 2018
Categories: in English, Friendship, Identity, Israel, Tolerance, YaLa Poetry
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala

His eyes were dark black portraying some kind of calmness and turbulence at the same time. His eyes didn’t tell a thing but if you looked longer than a few seconds, they said everything. I looked at them curiously, trying to understand who is this young man standing in front of me. He looked at […]

The Invincibility of Love by Aya, Palestine, Gaza

Author: By Aya, Palestine, Gaza
Published: May 21, 2018
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, English, Friendship, Human Rights, Identity, Israel-Palestine, Life Style, Palestine, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, gaza, love

I’m afraid. There’s bombing outside, is it the fourth war in Gaza? I hate wars! I used to be brave but not anymore. You know why? Because in the 2014 war a friend of mine suffered a big loss. She has a shocking and tragic story that happened right in front of our eyes. It […]

Yes, it is possible! by Lana, Israel-Palestine

Author: By Lana, Israel-Palestine
Published: May 21, 2018
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, Current Events, Education, English, Human Rights, Identity, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Palestine, Tolerance
Comments: 2 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, peacebuilding, womenwagepeace

Fridays are always intense in the old city of Jerusalem. It is the place and the time when three religions meet. For the Muslims it’s “Yom el-Jumaya”, the holiest day of the week; for the Jews, the holiest day of the week, Shabbat, will start right after sunset; and for the Christians, it’s remembering “Good […]

Anger. The cause. The key by Abd-Allah T., Gaza, Palestine

Author: By Abd-Allah T., Gaza, Palestine
Published: May 21, 2018
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Education, English, Human Rights, Identity, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Palestine, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, peacebuilding

If we took a snapshot of every conflict that has ever happened between people throughout history, ranging from the most brutal to the least violent, it is safe to say that we’ll see one universal theme: anger. I know that seems obvious, however, if we dive deeper and think about it not with the intent […]

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 […]

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 […]

Seasons by Hicham Azair – Tunisia [Photo Essay]

Published: March 6, 2018
Categories: in Culture and Heritage, Photo Essays, Tunisia
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, discovertheregion, landscape, morocco, photography, seasons, yalacampaign

The beauty of this place situated in my hometown “Ribat Elkhir, Morocco”,makes me memorize it in various seasons and compare the scenery. Nothing in this life is stable, everything is relative. As the photos show the same place but not the same view, humans can be changed suddenly, this changes can be observed in the […]

How to create change by Raghda s. Elziyadi – Libya.

Published: February 14, 2018
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, English, Human Rights, Libya
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, civilsociety, education, empowerment, libya, schools, students, yalacampaign, youth

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?” This quote was on brochure […]

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

Published: February 13, 2018
Categories: in English, Identity, Photo Essays
Comments: 0 Comments
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 […]

Tag: #thinkactyala