By Debate for Peace staff Hala and Sharehan

The Asfar- Resolve Network Conference 

This three day well organized conference brought together lots of participants from different parts of the world to better understand injustices and conflicts globally and come up with realistic solutions.

This year’s Resolve conference was held in Bosnia-Herzegovina; a place which has experienced many conflicts, yet is full of interesting people. From the minute we arrived at the conference location we were welcomed by energetic participants and volunteers who we really enjoyed our time with!

The first day, the topic was about youth in peacebuilding which in fact we really related to– since our main goal is to focus on youth groups all over the world to be aspiring peacebuilders and activists. In addition to the opening panel and workshops, as volunteers in this conference, listening and seeing all the participants for the first time brought us lots of new ideas and hope. 

That first day we had some inspiring guest speakers, one of them that really caught our attention was a woman who spoke about her experience working with youth in Afghanistan, which shifted the gears of our minds. Because the obstacles she had to overcome in order to make change in the world especially in such a “dangerous” zone made us realize that no matter what we face at the end we can achieve one of our goals, which is being the change and making what is so called impossible possible.

Another one of the speakers was a representative of the Post-Conflict Research Center in Bosnia, who opened our eyes to using the method of educating kids from a young age in schools about peacebuilding and how to speak up rather than staying silent, which is an ingenious idea that we can also apply here in Israel.  

Although we learned a lot that day, we also had fun playing a simulation game called MORE. Since we had the opportunity of playing roles that were assigned to us and really feeling the pressure of making decisions that may determine the results of the simulation game. After an interesting day we had the opportunity to discover the old town of Sarajevo, with the amazing participants and volunteers from five continents.

The second day started with us decorating the conference room, as us girls and volunteers always do. We had the honor of hearing Jo Berry’s story about how she managed to hear the enemy’s story and the motivation of the man who had murdered her father and how that decision to meet and listen changed her whole reality. During her talk she said “Perhaps more than anything I’ve realised that no matter which side of the conflict you’re on, had we all lived each other’s lives, we could all have done what the other did”. When Jo finished her story, she talked to the audience individually. After hearing everyone’s perspective Jo was interested in Debate For Peace members Hala’s perspective on the story . So Jo decided to give Hala a book signed by her, which Hala was so surprised and thankful about. Because during Jo’s talk Hala picked up the methods of forgiveness that Jo mentioned and used to forgive the soldier who killed her father. 

During that day we snuck out during our lunch break to visit the synagogue, however we are glad that we did. Seeing the faces of our new friends approaching the synagogue, many for the first time in a synagogue, and them taking pictures of the place was amazing, because then we realized no matter what your background or ethnicity is, everyone has a soft spot when it comes to accepting and admiring new things that comes their way.

When we came back to the conference room, we learned how to really write a heartfelt well structured paragraph, that we really did the old style with a couple of tears, pens and paper.

That night after our bellies were full of authentic Bosnian food we had the chance to get to know each other on a deeper level, by playing a card game called “Empathy Box” that was facilitated by Steven, which actually had some of us participants in tears by the end of the night. 

The third and last day of the conference started with laughter and joyful tears that were shed while playing simulation games to highlight the complexity in peacebuilding. Then to continue with our topic we heard from an inspiring speaker with a complex yet real story of coming from an unrecognized village. Our own Sharehan Alwakiliy had the opportunity to share her story: where she came from, and how she had the courage to speak up and overcome many obstacles. 

After that amazing session we played more simulation games led by Steven, and the twist was that people who participated and very much enjoyed the games got an Israeli chocolate as a reward. Unfortunately the conference time passed quickly, and before we knew it was time to say goodbye to all of our new friends. Even though we had only known them for three days it felt like an eternity now? 

Another interesting thing we did post conference was to experience every religion in one day, highlighting the beauty of Sarajevo, the Jerusalem of Europe. First we heard the adhan call to prayer, so we decided to head to the masjid to pray since some of us are Muslim. Afterwards we were invited to Friday nights prayers and Qiddush in the synagogue which was really interesting and new to all of us. On our way back to the old town we heard the bells of the church ringing so we decided to follow the sound and visit the church. People practice their religion in many different ways yet at the end we belong to one human race which for those of us in peacebuilding is a really huge reminder that at the end of the day we are one, no matter our differences.    

With deep appreciation to the Asfar team, all of the partner organizations, and the wonderful participants, volunteers, and locals of Sarajevo who helped us have such an amazing experience!