Project background
The Parents Circle - The Families Forum , is an NGO based in Jerusalem which seeks to solve the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians through dialogue and mutual understanding. The group believes reconciliation is the only way to reach true co-existence and peace in the Middle East.
In November-December 2006 PhotoVoice co-director Anna Blackman and PhotoVoice facilitator Saeed Farouky travelled to Jerusalem to train local project staff and prepare for the launch of the project.
The Side by Side project was introduced to 14 young people in January 2007 at a 3 day workshop. Throughout the next eight months the young people documented their lives using digital cameras and met together for four further workshops. In between workshops the young people involved had access to computers and digital cameras, and were visited in their home areas by local facilitators who provided additional guidance and support. Participants posted their work on an interactive website designed for the project, and were able to view and comment on the work of others.
The interactive website and the work created by the young people will form an important dialogue between teenagers caught on both sides of the conflict and will become a channel through which the young people can voice their losses, frustrations and differences but also, it is hoped, find common ground and friendship.
At the end of the year a selection of the work created by the young people will be made public through a travelling exhibition, a booklet and potentially through making the website open to public audiences for interactive feedback. All these initiatives will aim to further awareness of the issues affecting the lives of young Israelis and Palestinians and to further dialogue and understanding between Israeli and Palestinian audiences.