Peaceplayers International Middle East (2017)

Israel
2017-2020

In brief

PEACEPLAYERS INTERNATIONAL Middle East uses the game of basketball to bridge divides, change perceptions and develop leaders among Palestinian and Israeli children and youth. The participants benefit from year-round basketball programmes, conflict resolution and leadership activities for children and youth ages 6-20, as well as capacity building for young adults, in Israel and the West Bank.

Problem to be tackled

The challenges are:

  • Segregation perpetuates negative perceptions and fear,
  • socio-economic disparity reinforces the Palestinian and Israeli divide and
  • lack of opportunities for females to develop as athletes, leaders and peace-makers.

Local partner

PeacePlayers International – Middle East, based in Tel Aviv, with the objective to develop mutual trust and cross-community cooperation between Arab and Jewish young people, key people and their communities, cultivating grassroots and wider community support for a just and lasting peace.

Beneficiaries

The project targets children and youth who come from disadvantaged, conservative and religious communities in Jerusalem, Central and Northern Israel, as well as the West Bank, including Hebron, Ramallah and Bethlehem. The mass appeal of sports helps to attract and engage a diverse array of participants, including communities typically resistant to peacebuilding programmes. Included beneficiaries have mainly a disadvantaged socio-economic background from families in poverty.

SOL’s contribution

Between the years 2017 and 2020, The SOL Foundation assists to provide opportunities for positive interaction and trust-building, to provide extracurricular activities for disadvantaged youth and resistant populations and to create opportunities for females, equipping them with leadership skills and self-confidence.

Project partner

PeacePlayers International is a non-profit organisation, it uses sports and the values of sportsmanship to bridge divides and to develop leaders in conflict and post-conflict communities.

PeacePlayers International

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