If young people are left alone, they can make friends so easily with those their parents are putting down.
Israeli, Palestinian teens open back channel via Facebook
For the past several months, a few dozen young Israelis and Palestinians from the Gaza Strip have been communicating with each other directly, in English. They tell each other about their lives, exchange experiences and, of course, they argue about their situation.
Summary⎙ Print What started as verbal hostilities between Israeli and Gazan teenagers turned into meaningful online dialogue when mutual accusations gave way to curiosity about each other's lives.
Author Shlomi EldarPosted May 17, 2016
TranslatorDanny Wool
As far as the young people from Gaza are concerned, they are taking no small risk. Hamas not only opposes any manifestations of normalization with Israelis, it could well decide that this kind of forbidden communication is a form of collaboration with the enemy.
The first contacts were initiated by the young people from Gaza, using Facebook as their intermediary. Some of them posted statements denigrating their Israeli peers and protesting their silence over the blockade that the government has imposed on Gaza. According to the young Gazans, the siege prevents them from leading a normal life and pursuing their studies outside Gaza. The Israelis responded with claims of their own, but in a short time, their mutual recriminations became fascinating conversations aboutlife in Gaza, life in Israel, dreams, aspirations and ideas to resolve the conflict. It took very little time for young people on both sides of the border to discover that they have quite a few common interests, including music, sports and even fashion.
Read more: Israeli, Palestinian teens open back channel via Facebook - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
For the past several months, a few dozen young Israelis and Palestinians from the Gaza Strip have been communicating with each other directly, in English. They tell each other about their lives, exchange experiences and, of course, they argue about their situation.
Summary⎙ Print What started as verbal hostilities between Israeli and Gazan teenagers turned into meaningful online dialogue when mutual accusations gave way to curiosity about each other's lives.
Author Shlomi EldarPosted May 17, 2016
TranslatorDanny Wool
As far as the young people from Gaza are concerned, they are taking no small risk. Hamas not only opposes any manifestations of normalization with Israelis, it could well decide that this kind of forbidden communication is a form of collaboration with the enemy.
The first contacts were initiated by the young people from Gaza, using Facebook as their intermediary. Some of them posted statements denigrating their Israeli peers and protesting their silence over the blockade that the government has imposed on Gaza. According to the young Gazans, the siege prevents them from leading a normal life and pursuing their studies outside Gaza. The Israelis responded with claims of their own, but in a short time, their mutual recriminations became fascinating conversations aboutlife in Gaza, life in Israel, dreams, aspirations and ideas to resolve the conflict. It took very little time for young people on both sides of the border to discover that they have quite a few common interests, including music, sports and even fashion.
Read more: Israeli, Palestinian teens open back channel via Facebook - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
Israeli, Palestinian teens open back channel via Facebook
For the past several months, a few dozen young Israelis and Palestinians from the Gaza Strip have been communicating with each other directly, in English. They tell each other about their lives, exchange experiences and, of course, they argue about their situation.
Summary⎙ Print What started as verbal hostilities between Israeli and Gazan teenagers turned into meaningful online dialogue when mutual accusations gave way to curiosity about each other's lives.
Author Shlomi EldarPosted May 17, 2016
TranslatorDanny Wool
As far as the young people from Gaza are concerned, they are taking no small risk. Hamas not only opposes any manifestations of normalization with Israelis, it could well decide that this kind of forbidden communication is a form of collaboration with the enemy.
The first contacts were initiated by the young people from Gaza, using Facebook as their intermediary. Some of them posted statements denigrating their Israeli peers and protesting their silence over the blockade that the government has imposed on Gaza. According to the young Gazans, the siege prevents them from leading a normal life and pursuing their studies outside Gaza. The Israelis responded with claims of their own, but in a short time, their mutual recriminations became fascinating conversations aboutlife in Gaza, life in Israel, dreams, aspirations and ideas to resolve the conflict. It took very little time for young people on both sides of the border to discover that they have quite a few common interests, including music, sports and even fashion.
Read more: Israeli, Palestinian teens open back channel via Facebook - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
For the past several months, a few dozen young Israelis and Palestinians from the Gaza Strip have been communicating with each other directly, in English. They tell each other about their lives, exchange experiences and, of course, they argue about their situation.
Summary⎙ Print What started as verbal hostilities between Israeli and Gazan teenagers turned into meaningful online dialogue when mutual accusations gave way to curiosity about each other's lives.
Author Shlomi EldarPosted May 17, 2016
TranslatorDanny Wool
As far as the young people from Gaza are concerned, they are taking no small risk. Hamas not only opposes any manifestations of normalization with Israelis, it could well decide that this kind of forbidden communication is a form of collaboration with the enemy.
The first contacts were initiated by the young people from Gaza, using Facebook as their intermediary. Some of them posted statements denigrating their Israeli peers and protesting their silence over the blockade that the government has imposed on Gaza. According to the young Gazans, the siege prevents them from leading a normal life and pursuing their studies outside Gaza. The Israelis responded with claims of their own, but in a short time, their mutual recriminations became fascinating conversations aboutlife in Gaza, life in Israel, dreams, aspirations and ideas to resolve the conflict. It took very little time for young people on both sides of the border to discover that they have quite a few common interests, including music, sports and even fashion.
Read more: Israeli, Palestinian teens open back channel via Facebook - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
