2014-2-19, the Youth Advocacy Group (Bian) of the Bayt Al Hikma Institute launched the National Youth Initiative to launch the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas to an advanced stage and to achieve steps on the ground.
Sabreen Daghmush, a member of the “Youth Statement” team, said during the press conference at the institute’s headquarters that their initiative would not only be confined to the Gaza Strip but would be implemented in the West Bank as well. “Youth committees will be formed in the West Bank, through cooperation with civil society organizations, to educate youth about the dangers of division,” she said. She pointed out that the statement will be implemented in the coming days “a number of activities to pressure the decision-makers and end the Palestinian division.” “The Palestinian factions must prepare the atmosphere for reconciliation, such as the immediate release of all political prisoners in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and refrain from the policy of exclusivity in decisions that affect the supreme national interests,” she said. It called on the Palestinian leadership “not to accept any regional or international pressure aimed at perpetuating the division and disrupting Palestinian-Palestinian reconciliation.”
The youth team member Osama Hamdan said that the initiative is aimed at moving the reconciliation efforts at this time when the Palestinian issue is going through serious turns and to accelerate its steps on the ground. “The Palestinian youth must have an active role in the reconciliation issue, and therefore we will endeavor with every effort to change the difficult reality of the Gaza Strip,” Hamdan said in a speech during the announcement of the initiative at Beit al-Hikma in central Gaza City. He stressed that they will communicate with all Palestinian leaders and national factions working to deliver the voice of youth and the success of all the activities and steps that lead to ending the division. He called on the leaders of all factions to take practical measures to create a climate of reconciliation. “We must take steps on the ground, through the release of all political detainees in the West Bank and Gaza, and allow freedoms and re-cut their salaries, and accelerate community reconciliation.”
In turn, the youth team member Mustapha Hamdi said that the division must end immediately after its continuation has become purely Israeli interest, accusing those who encourage division to betray the Palestinian people. “Ending the division is not only for political reasons, but for economic, social, cultural and cultural reasons, in addition to preserving Palestinian identity, national fabric and geographical cohesion,” he said.
“The aim of the reunification is not a political but a cultural goal because Gaza has been devastated in various aspects of its cultural, scientific and artistic life. It is also facing environmental, economic and social problems due to the siege, closure and isolation from the world.”
