We need to talk about Palestine

Our first Conversation Circle of 2020, 'We need to talk about Palestine', (19 Feb 2020) focussed on two perspectives from the region: Fatin Al Tamimi, the chairperson of the  Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign , and Patricia Owens, who recently returned from three months with the  Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).  

Fatin is a Palestinian/Irish citizen, living in Ireland since 1988. Her main goal is to raise awareness and work on ending oppression, inhumanity and injustice in the world and strive for peace in Palestine. Fatin believes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement, is one of the most effective ways to promote Palestinian rights and achieve justice.   

Patricia has worked in the area of education for a number of years.  In August 2019 Patricia volunteered in Yanoun, a small rural village in the North of the West Bank for three months with the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). As an EAPPI volunteer, she provided a protective presence and monitored human rights abuses.   

The event opened with a presentation from Patricia on her three months as an ‘EA’ (Ecumenical Accompanier). She reminded us that the Occupied Palestinian Territories are roughly the same size geographically as Co. Galway with a population which is 25 times the size of Co. Galway. She shared her experience of Yanoun which is a very vulnerable community of an small and ageing population is close proximity to new Israeli settlements and outposts. In Israeli law, outposts are distinguished from settlements authorized by the Israeli government. This distinction between illegal outposts and “legal” settlements is not endorsed by international law, which considers both a violation. There has been an international presence of EAPPI in Yanoun since 2002. Patricia volunteered accompanying farmers and shepherds who were grazing their flocks on their own land outside the village, and were often approached aggressively by Israeli settlers who wanted to push them back into the village. 

Fatin shared her work with the IPSC, who are not aligned with any political party. It aims to promote awareness of Palestine as a human rights and justice issue, as well as celebrating Palestinian culture and showing solidarity with Palestinian refugees all over the world.  The IPSC is also promoting the  Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement  which is a civil society action since 2005.  The Occupied Territories Bill * is another way to support justice for Palestine and it is currently passing through the Houses of the Oireachtas. 

The conversation focused on the importance of an international connection with Palestine, and the hope this can give people living in Palestine. The situation can often appear to be hopeless and people living in Gaza and the West Bank demonstrate huge resilience in the face of occupation. The EAPPI programme provides for ‘principled impartiality’ to uphold human rights and international law. Another example provided was of the EA team accompanying Palestinian children to school where they must pass Israeli soldiers and trying to maintain calm in a tense atmosphere.  

As Development Educators, we are urged to keep Palestine on our agenda as a global justice issue. We have an important role to play in raising awareness of the lived realities of people in Palestine and the affect on their access to education and employment. Showing solidarity with Palestinians can happen through school-twinning initiatives, volunteering in Palestine, raising the issue with our elected representatives and considering the BDS movement within our own organisational procurement policies and personal lives as consumers. 

*Trócaire has a guide of FAQ on the Bill here:  https://www.trocaire.org/news/what-you-need-know-about-occupied-territories-bill   

October 8, 2025
We are looking for a consultant to design an interactive data visualisation tool for our Theory of Impact for Global Citizenship Education in Ireland. The consultant will lead the design or tailoring of off-the-shelf survey software and analytics software to our needs, in collaboration with IDEA staff. Please submit a tender including a description of stages in the development process, number of days, expected fee, and experience of relevant personnel for the work to be carried out to anya@ideaonline.ie . The deadline for application is Wednesday, 29 October, 5.00pm. Read the full terms of reference here.
October 6, 2025
After three remarkable years with IDEA, we are sad to share that Anya Sparynska is moving abroad to begin a new adventure. During her time with us, Anya made an indelible mark - first by shaping a pioneering programme role, and later by guiding us in a capacity development role that strengthened our impact across Ireland’s development education sector. From designing and implementing innovative initiatives to building partnerships and capacity across our member organisations, Anya has left IDEA stronger, more connected, and more ambitious for the future. “I am sad to leave at such a pivotal time in IDEA: we are faced with unspeakable horror, as the need for justice and accountability grows ever more urgent. I have seen, however, our members and staff respond with creativity, humanity and dedication to these challenging times and find inspiration in it, even at this darkest hour. A desire to be close to my family and the pressure of the housing crisis have driven me to Brussels, but I know I will be back as Ireland - it’s passionate, brave and kind people - now feels like home. I will be sure to follow IDEA and our members’ work closely in the coming year and hope to stay in touch! “Working at IDEA has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Seeing ideas and passion turn into real impact and change has been incredibly fulfilling - I’ll carry those lessons, and the very special friendships made along the way with me always.”
September 26, 2025
Date: Tuesday, 04 November, from 3.30–4.30pm Location: Online via Zoom IDEA is thrilled to invite members to the online launch of our new “Theory of Impact for Global Citizenship Education” on Tuesday, 04 November, from 3.30–4.30pm, Online via Zoom. During this session, we will present the model, share insights into the process behind its development, and explore how it will be used to strengthen impact across the sector. We will also introduce a new tool in progress, an interactive data visualisation map designed to showcase our collective impact as a network. For many years, IDEA and its members have been grappling with the concept of impact in Development Education/Global Citizenship Education (hereinafter ‘GCE’). As GCE practitioners, tracking impact helps us to identify how, where and with whom our work is creating positive change, as well as investigating areas in which our impact could be stronger. Furthermore, we can also benefit from examining the collective impact of GCE carried out by the wide-ranging work of IDEA members, and from exploring how these impacts contribute to the major social changes to which the GCE community aspires. Driven therefore by the need to understand how projects and programmes are collectively “making a difference” in IDEA we looked at models that could help us visualise and capture GCE “impact networks”. We formulated our vision of impact and then a theory of how we expect this desired impact to be achieved to allow us to map our activities and collect data to corroborate that theory. This Theory of Impact model is how we hope to illustrate this complex GCE impact network. Building on work done by IDEA over many years including building sectoral capacity in using Results Frameworks for GCE, our Quality & Impact working group, engagement with Irish Aid on their Performance Measurement Framework (PMF), and the successful roll-out of a Code of Good Practice for DE/GCE, this Theory of Impact represent the next stage of our effort to ‘develop a consistent approach to measuring impact among the sector’. We are therefore thrilled to invite you to the presentation of our ‘Theory of Impact for GCE’. At this online presentation, we will tell you about the process that led to the creation of this model, how it will be used and what we hope it could bring to the sector. We will also touch on a new tool being developed based on the model, which should allow the creation of an interactive data visualisation map of our collective impact as a network. Join us as we launch into this exciting new phase of our Impact Measurement work. Join us as we begin this exciting new phase of our Impact Measurement work. Register below!