world education forum

• The Taybeh Beer Festival in early October was a great day trip to a small Christian village near Ramallah.

EXPANDED/INTERLINK REPORT

Political Climate
The political climate of the Palestine World Education Forum was the inspiration for a decentralized event. Because Palestinians have been displaced all over the world, a truly Palestinian forum event needed to be held in multiple locaitons. Therefore, workshops and conferences were scheduled in dozens of cities in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Palestine 1948 territory, and Lebanon.

The World Education Forum follows the model of the World Social Forum to provide the conditions necessary for a movement of movements. Within Palestine, the thematic topic of education is important in many ways, however the forum itself addresses all issues within the context of its occupation.

Sometimes there is no water on Tuesday. In Ramallah, like the rest of the West Bank occupied territory of Palestine, Israel gives us only one day of water per week on Wednesdays. During this one day, excess is stored in black tanks on the roofs of businesses and homes to conserve it for use throughout the rest of the week. Mostly, we're fine. But sometimes we don't have water to flush the toilet, shower, or clean. Like in every place, I am drinking the tap water in Palestine. I'm not in danger of getting sick, but the plastic black tanks give the water a strange taste.

The second day of International Council meetings for the World Social Forum showed the breadth with which the social forum process has become a movement. Organizers from all over the world are meeting in Montreal, Quebec this week to discuss upcoming WSF events in 2010 and 2011. Twenty-four thematic and regional forums are scheduled for 2010.