ACT Alliance

Young people from opposites of a huge political divide came together in Austria.

Diakonie Auslandshilfe held a youth camp In Austria’s Rechnitz/Burgenland with participants from Israel and Palestine, as well as Hungary and Austria.

The camp brought together teenagers from Israel and Palestine to get to know each other and to talk about their perspectives to live together peacefully. The Austrian and Hungarian young people joined them to learn more about the human perspective of the Middle East conflict.

However, it was not without its difficulties. During the camp, the situation in the Middle East worsened again. A dispute between the Israeli and Palestinian participants started. One of the participants, a 17-year-old boy, wrote a moving letter:

"The situation is just ridiculous: It seems that both sides are living in a society full of fanatics. We peace activists should continue and should struggle hard against those who are hurting our brothers and sisters in humanity. If they are killing the hope in the hearts of many, we must plant new seeds of hope in the hearts of many.

“Today, we should all be committed and devoted to end the cycle of violence. I pray for every human being in pain due to the cruelty of his brother in humanity. I also pray for those who are terrorizing civilians everywhere, may they find the right way.

“Dear beloved friends, with all the sorrow that I have today seeing children in Gaza and Sderot in pain, I tell you: don't let anyone blow that candle of hope in your heart, keep it on. It will help you find your way out of this sadness and it will always give you light to see the right way in life."

Despite the upset, the camp achieved its purpose. Afterwards, the Israeli and Palestinian teenagers stayed in contact with each other.  Even though they were not able to meet each other personally again, they were able to continue their discussion by email and Facebook.