Peace & Reconciliation Summer Camp

Bringing together a new generation of Israeli and Palestinian youth

For more than 20 years, the PCFF’s Summer Camp has brought together Israeli and Palestinian teenagers from families who have lost loved ones to the conflict. Over eight intensive days, young people aged 14–18 live, learn, talk, and spend time together—meeting peers from the other side and getting to know the people, stories, and experiences behind the conflict that has shaped their lives.

Since 2024, in the wake of the war and the difficult reality on the ground, the Summer Camp has been held abroad. Away from the reality that usually keeps them apart, the teenagers take part in dialogue, creative activities, trips, outdoor activities, and shared daily life.

At the heart of the camp is the dialogue process. In small groups, participants share their personal stories of loss, explore key issues related to the conflict through their own experiences, and listen to perspectives and narratives that may be very different from those they are familiar with. Simultaneous interpretation allows each participant to speak freely in their own language and listen directly to one another.

The dialogue continues in different forms throughout the camp. Creative workshops incorporating photography allow participants to explore identity, culture, pain, fear, and their hopes for the future. Trips and outdoor activities provide opportunities for friendships and trust to develop beyond the dialogue room, while evening activities expose participants to one another’s cultures, traditions, histories, and everyday lives.

The camp is led by a binational team of Palestinian and Israeli facilitators and counselors. Young adults from the Forum’s Young Ambassadors for Peace (YAP) program also serve as counselors, accompanying the teenagers throughout the experience and passing on to the next generation the experience they themselves have gained through Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.

The process does not necessarily end when the camp is over. A group of approximately 20 participants—ten Palestinians and ten Israelis—is selected to take part in the Summer Camp Follow-Up Program, through which they continue to meet throughout the year. The program enables them to maintain the relationships formed at camp, continue the dialogue, and gain knowledge and tools that help them sustain what they experienced after returning to their communities.