Saturday, March 15, 2008
We bow out...
Dear interested people!
We bow out. The LEAP-Team of AIESEC in Berlin will not continue its extension efforts to Palestine.
Our team gathered in Berlin, anciously waiting for the decision of the IPM last Tuesday night. At around 12:30am we heard from our OCP Kevin that the global plenary did not vote in favor of Germany's motion to raise the status of the Research Group AIESEC Palestine to Expanding Country.
We would like to thank every one of you who supported us. We are grateful, for buying our t-shirts, donating money or simply raising awareness of the extension initiatives and the Middle East conflict.
Most likely, the extensions to Israel and Palestine will continue very slowly, but we will never forget the unique team experience here in Berlin, the wonderful summer of 2007 with Anas and Rawan in Berlin and our motivated Palestinians.
For the moment, we could not keep our promise to bring an exchange opportunity to the Middle East and give the students there the experience most of us have made. Hopefully there will be other possibilities for the students to develop, maybe there will be possibilities for them that AIESEC couldn't even offer in the first place.
In the end it took courage to ask for a definate decision, yes or no, that's what we asked for. We expected as much courage from the international AIESEC community as AIESEC Germany has given us over the past two years. It seems AIESEC wasn't ready to take a brave stand, as they have taken in South Africa, China, or Afghanistan . A true look at the enriching aspects that Israel and Palestine would have brought to the community was discouraged.
It is so disappointing: AIESEC made the most political decision it could.
Thank you once again, we bow out.
The LEAP-Team!
PS: It is over when it's over - we currently evaluate alternative opportunities to make student and intern exchange with Palestine happen. So stay tuned for further information... ;)
We bow out. The LEAP-Team of AIESEC in Berlin will not continue its extension efforts to Palestine.
Our team gathered in Berlin, anciously waiting for the decision of the IPM last Tuesday night. At around 12:30am we heard from our OCP Kevin that the global plenary did not vote in favor of Germany's motion to raise the status of the Research Group AIESEC Palestine to Expanding Country.
We would like to thank every one of you who supported us. We are grateful, for buying our t-shirts, donating money or simply raising awareness of the extension initiatives and the Middle East conflict.
Most likely, the extensions to Israel and Palestine will continue very slowly, but we will never forget the unique team experience here in Berlin, the wonderful summer of 2007 with Anas and Rawan in Berlin and our motivated Palestinians.
For the moment, we could not keep our promise to bring an exchange opportunity to the Middle East and give the students there the experience most of us have made. Hopefully there will be other possibilities for the students to develop, maybe there will be possibilities for them that AIESEC couldn't even offer in the first place.
In the end it took courage to ask for a definate decision, yes or no, that's what we asked for. We expected as much courage from the international AIESEC community as AIESEC Germany has given us over the past two years. It seems AIESEC wasn't ready to take a brave stand, as they have taken in South Africa, China, or Afghanistan . A true look at the enriching aspects that Israel and Palestine would have brought to the community was discouraged.
It is so disappointing: AIESEC made the most political decision it could.
Thank you once again, we bow out.
The LEAP-Team!
PS: It is over when it's over - we currently evaluate alternative opportunities to make student and intern exchange with Palestine happen. So stay tuned for further information... ;)
