The Willy Brandt Centre, Jerusalem (WBC) is a centre intended to allow encounters between German, Israeli and Palestinian Youth.

Foundation

The vision for founding the WBC was developed in an agreement signed between the German

Jusos Working Group of Young Socialists in the SPD (german: Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Jungsozialistinnen und Jungsozialisten in der SPD, Jusos) is a volunteer youth organization of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). As of 2021, there are over ...

, the Palestinian Shabeebat Fateh, and the Israeli Young Guard of the Labor Party in 1996. The three youth organisations agreed in this document to found a centre in Jerusalem. This centre should enable equal encounters between German, Israeli, and Palestinian youth and

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

s. Following three years of intense work in Jerusalem and in spite of the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...

, the vision became reality in October 2003. Since then, a team consisting of ten young Germans, Palestinians and Israelis takes part in the work of the WBC. The Willy Brandt Center is located in Jerusalem on the Green Line in

Abu Tor Abu Tor, also Abu Thor or ath-Thori, ( ar, أبو طور or الثوري, he, אבו תור; lit. Arabic meaning "Father of the Bull"; In Hebrew also called גבעת חנניה (Giv'at Hanania), lit. "Hananiah's hill") is a mixed Jewish and Arab ...

/Al Thouri.

History

After month of preparation and hours of negotiations between the Israeli, the Palestinian and the German delegation, the breaking moment arrived on in

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...

: The Jusos (German Young Socialists), the youth organization of the

Israeli Labor party The Israeli Labor Party ( he, מִפְלֶגֶת הָעֲבוֹדָה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית, ), commonly known as HaAvoda ( he, הָעֲבוֹדָה, , The Labor), is a social democratic and Zionist political party in Israel. The pa ...

(Mishmeret Tse’irah), and the Palestinian Fateh Youth (Shabibet Fateh) signed the article of agreement on the foundation of the Willy-Brandt-Center (WBC). Purpose of the contract was the creation of a center for encounter and communication on the border between

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

and

West Jerusalem West Jerusalem or Western Jerusalem (, ; , ) refers to the section of Jerusalem that was controlled by Israel at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. As the city was divided by the Green Line (Israel's erstwhile border, established by t ...

. The opening ceremony for the Willy Brandt-Center for encounter and communication took part on the 11th anniversary of the death of

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

. The WBC is situated in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Abu Tor / Al Thouri exactly on the Green Line – the former "no-man's-land" that was separating the Jordanian East Jerusalem from the Israeli West Jerusalem.

Aims

The German

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

s are the Support Association of the Willy Brandt Center and the forum Civil Peace Service, on whose idea the aims of the Center are based. The aims are: *To strengthen trust and solidarity between young political activists. Together with them it aims to develop active forms of coexistence based on social and political justice. *To support the development of sustainable communication that is both intercultural and non-violent. *To develop an understanding for different historical narratives and realities the three sides live in and refer to.

Current projects

As a centre for encounters and communication the centre hosts three main projects at the moment: *The trilateral project with activists of party

youth organization The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for Minor (law), minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted othe ...

s which signed the agreement in 1996, including the Young Meretz. All organizations are members of IUSY, the

International Union of Socialist Youth The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) is an international organization, founded in 1907, whose activities include publications, support of member organizations and the organization of meetings. It was formed as the youth wing of the S ...

. *The joint bilateral project of the regional member organizations of the IFM-SEI, the International Falcon Movement – Socialist Education International. *Events open for the public, such as Red Lounges, Political Cafés, Exhibitions, Workshops and Seminars taking place on a regular basis in the WBC

Association

The Willy Brandt Center Jerusalem Association ''(Willy-Brandt-Zentrum e.V.)'' is an independent ''Non-Governmental-Organization'' and a non-profit incorporated society. It was founded in 1997 to put into reality the project that was established one year before. The Willy Brandt Center Association is based in Berlin and responsible body of the WBC in Jerusalem. As member organization of the forum ZFD the Willy Brandt Center Association as well as the WBC in Jerusalem are receiving financial aid for their projects from the German Federal Ministry for Cooperation and Development. Main tasks of the Willy Brandt Center Association is lobby work for the project in Germany, the application for financial support of projects, to serve as a communication platform and to arrange contacts between European, Israeli, and Palestinian partners and institutions. Additionally, the WBC supports educational journeys and trips of delegations.

External links

Official website (in German)Official website (in English)WBC Facebook page
{{Authority control Fatah Israeli Labor Party Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process Social Democratic Party of Germany Willy Brandt Youth organizations based in Israel