Palestinian Childhoods

DATE: Friday 8 and Saturday 9 March
VENUE: Clore Management Centre, Birkbeck, University of London

Co-organised by the UK Palestinian Mental Health Network and the Centre for Researching and Embedding Human Rights, Birkbeck University

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CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Friday 8 March 2019

6pm. Welcomes Professor Bruna Seu, Birkbeck University and Teresa Bailey, UK-Palestine Mental Health Network

6.15pm. Film: Surviving Childhood. Compiled / edited by Charlotte Burck and Christiane van Duuren

7pm. Reflections: Professor Lynne Segal

7.15pm Break

7.30pm. Panel Discussion: Personal experiences of childhood in occupied Palestine from 1948 until the present. Participants include Professor Ghada Karmi, Shahd Abusalama. Chaired by Mohammed Mukhaimer

End: 9pm

Saturday 9 March 2019

9am. Registration and Coffee

9.30am. Introductions: Professor Bruna Seu, Birkbeck University, Dr Martin Kemp, UK Palestine Mental Health Network

9.50am. Opening Address: Victoria Brittain. Journalist, Author and Human Rights Activist. Co-founder of Action for Palestinian Children. Author of Shadow Lives; the forgotten women of the war on terror

10.15am. Keynote address: Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kervorkian.  ‘Gun to Body’: Childhood, Colonialism and the Israeli Military Occupation  

11am. Coffee break

11.30am. Keynote address: Doctor Samah Jabr. The Children of Palestine: Struggle and Survival under Occupation   

12.15pm. Panel discussion. Chaired by Bruna Seu. Professor Jacqueline Rose, Birkbeck University, Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kervorkian, Dr Samah Jabr

1.15-2.15pm. Lunch break

2.15pm-3.45pm Parallel Workshops

  • Workshop 1 Trauma, Grief and Resilience: the work of the Palestine Trauma Centre in Gaza. Presenters: Dr. Mohamed Altawil, Gesine Miller and David Harrold
  • Workshop 2 Supporting Children’s Resilience through their political Participation  Presenters : Riad Arar, Defence for Children International, Hebron. Reem Adnan Yaghi and Miran Zahran, ‘Child researchers’ from Jericho and Ramallah and representatives on the Children’s Parliament. Chaired by Teresa Bailey
  • Workshop 3 “They Came at Midnight”: Childrens’ Responses to Political Violence and its Aftermath.” Presenter Zeina Amro. Chaired by Gwyn Daniel
  • Workshop 4 Marwan Diab, Gaza Community Mental Health Centre (tbc)

4.15pm Panel:  Children and Young People in Palestine and Beyond: building solidarity and sustaining connections. Chaired by Mohammed Mukhaimer. Reem Adnan Yaghi, Meran Zahran and a skyped contribution from Palestine. Responses from young people in the UK.

5.15pm Concluding remarks

5.30pm Conference closes