Bethlehem Conference April 2006

The Britain - Palestine Twinning Network - "promoting twinning and friendship links"

Report on the Twinning Committee meeting held in Birmingham, United Kingdom - January 20th 2007

All other Conference and meeting reports

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Thanks to all who attended the Twinning with Palestine Committee Meeting held on the 20th January 2007 in Birmingham. Present – reps from twinning groups in Camden, Oxford, SE London, Haringey, Luton, Birmingham, Swindon, Nottingham, Pendle, Brighton, Tower Hamlets

Apologies – reps from twinning groups in Bucks/ Berks, Falkirk, Cheltenham, Exeter, SFoP, Newham, also Muriel from Skipton (looking for a school to twin with) and from a Peterborough church (twinning with a Ramallah church)

A special welcome to the Pendle group – new to us!

1. Feedback from questionnaires

Many thanks to the 17 groups who had sent them in. Of these, we have 2 formal twinning links, 4 PSC groups, 11 twinning groups of which one is a charity. There seem to be about 30 town twinning groups now of various sizes. Noted the growth in the number of groups in the past 2 years (many with the help of the Twinning Network!)

Some groups on list not in contact with us – Kamel to contact Chester and Liverpool groups, Pauline to follow up Bristol group .

Please complete questionnaire if our group hasn’t done one.

Nandita will update and circulate feedback when the new questionnaires arrive

2. Discussion of constitution

Current version (attached) to be used to open bank account; constitution to be main item of AGM in the summer.

Agreed that group membership would be £30, free to newly establishing groups for first year, groups in hardship could ask to pay less if necessary

Agreed meetings are open to all.

Some discussion about whether groups would find it possible to use standing orders as this would help the Twinning Network. Please, people, talk to your groups and formally join.

No joining rate for individuals was set, as there will be discussion of this at the AGM in July

Amendments proposed – to be put in the summer

i – Keep both group membership categories but not individual membership

ii - change it to 2 (not 1) committee members to call an extraordinary general meeting.

3. Subtitle

Following suggestion from Scotland, we found people keen still to keep “building bridges not walls” – but we will also add “promoting twinning and friendship links” to make it clear that our use of “twinning” includes friendship links. So it will be something like…

Britain Palestine Twinning Network

promoting twinning and friendship links

BUILDING BRIDGES NOT WALLS

4. Logo

Handshake is Luton’s! David to take it off the top of the website and put the bridge logo back. We will ask the network in Palestine to launch a competition for a new logo – to be launched at the conference in April and decided on at our summer meeting

5. Fabric patches for the TN banner

These are so we can make a banner that is a patchwork from our different groups So far we have versions made in Britain and Palestine – very different in style – great. Whatever you do needs to be on fabric and 30 cm x 30 cm. Please send them to TWINNING NETWORK, PO BOX 34265 LONDON NW5 2WD by the end of Feb. to be put on the banner for the twinning conference in April.

6. Website –

Thanks to David for his efforts – The website is currently getting 70 visitors a day – more just before one of our events. Note we can post our own events on to it. Each group asked to nominate one person to have authority to do this – Send the name to David please. (Official e-mail for the twinning network is info at twinningwithpalestine.net)

7. Meetings –

Clear from the questionnaires that some groups find it hard to get to many meetings. We agreed that four a year plus a conference is too many. We decided on the following as a usual pattern:

January- meeting

April – visit to Palestine / conference in Palestine

July – meeting

October half term – visit to Palestine

October – poss a week after people return from Palestine – conference in Britain (next one in Birmingham)

Sabrina pointed out that our conference is during Black History Month – we should take that into account in planning.

8. Benefit on 10^th March in London

We might have 3 Palestinian women visitors

Small group to organise – Finola, Sabrina, Pauline, Nandita, David

Iqbal suggested something specially on women prisoners

9. Lessons from last twinning visit

John said it went well, was moving, life-changing – tours organised well, sometimes overran a bit – For Swindon an issue about not meeting the people the expected to in Beit Fajjar - Nice to get a break and go to the Dead Sea – Some discussion about whether there is time or not to build in a break for people in the first 4 days – looks difficult; these tours are bound to be tiring …

10. Next twinning visit

Caroline reported that Palestinian Twinning Network are keen to organise the tours themselves next time, rather than HLT – but we need details in the next few days about the programme. Discussion about the size of the organising job they are undertaking – should we ask them? – they want to do it.

Concern that people get on with booking, for our sake as organisers and also because air prices are going up.

Before travel, there will be a meeting for people going on getting in etc.

Everyone go back to their twinning groups and tell people about the visit quickly!

Caroline put message on email list

Nandita liaise with twinning network in Palestine and ask them for details rapidly

Ask Pal visitors in March to encourage people to go

Important to ensure that it is possible for people to join the individual day outings and conference and have somewhere to stay in Ramallah if they have been on one of the tours before and don’t want to do the whole thing this time.

What do we do if people don’t get in? Talk to Pal organisers and see if it will be OK to get their money back. We think it will be possible.

Can we get guidance for people turned back on the bridge? Can anyone help?

11. Last twinning conference – November, London

90 people including 15 Palestinians on a very very rainy day. People thought it overall a good conference - but there is still a financial deficit – we have to go on trying to raise the money to cover this.

For next time, INTERPRETERS is an important issue.

12. Next conference – Thurs. 5^th April, Ramallah

Brainstormed ideas

Each group to pls email summary of activity in past 12 months in about mid-March – to go on wall at conference. Agreed examples of what works would be useful. (Nandita will remind in mid-March)

This conference, in Palestine, is for Palestinian groups to share good practice, e.g. on setting up twinnings - and they will have their own agendas - Our role is to put some points and listen

Things that we would be interested in included;

· Role of money raising

· 40^th anniversary year of occupation

· Have a specific women’s part of the conference

· Possible part on environment??

· We need our twinning partners to have popular committees that are non-party political

People to email more conference themes

13. Sending money to Palestine –

need to be fully accountable, with receipts, photos of the work done, reports etc. to be sure how money is spent. In current situation hard and lengthy for Palestinian partners to get own organisations registered with Palestinian Authority. While we wait for that, idea of asking partners to have 3 different people from different groups and families to set up a joint account.

14. Charitable status

CADFA (Camden Abu Dis) is pleased to have charitable status and can only see pros and no cons. It means we can not be party-political but we don’t want to be. It doesn’t limit us – it helps us. Happy to send our constitution to groups interested in looking at it.

15. Posting things to Palestine

– to Jerusalem/ Israel possible but to Palestine slow, risk, unreliable. Tower Hamlets are looking at Aramex as a courier. Birmingham wondering about sending a lot of things by ship. Haringay want to send some computers; some advised sending money instead so that the can be bought in Palestine.

16. School links

Not enough time for this – next time put to top of agenda. Looked v briefly at links from education links groups/ particular schools/ teaching materials/ email penpals (do they work?)/ teacher exchanges

News of NUT group for teachers cross Britain. Pauline to take back to this group that teachers should look for their local twinning group who will help with relevant material about a particular place

** Remember for next time: Put practical twinning issues at top of the agenda, start with school links issues

Consider having someone from school twinning somewhere else, e.g. Pakistan, come to next meeting

17. Presentations etc.

Seamus asked people to share. Note if people put material on own website, these linked to Twinning website, will be available.

18. Subgroups

A number of groups are now setting up special themed subgroups. Nandita suggested that for our next conference here, perhaps this (and what works for each) could be the theme.

19. Student twinning.

We had no student rep here and no time. Concern that we stay in touch with the student twinning groups –the number is growing - and that they manage to spread to the different universities in Palestine (not only BZU!)

20. Increasing problems entering Palestine.

People write to M.P.'s here about this – Caroline to do a model letter.

21. Cairo conference

Caroline reported that she and Dave will go and talk about twinning

20. A big thank you

to Kamel’s mother for lovely food at lunchtime; and thanks to everyone who came for a very positive meeting.

We look forward to seeing you on 10^th March at The International Womens Day Fundraising event.