Dundee-Nablus Twinning Association

Dundee–Nablus

Twinning Association

رابطة توأمة نابلس دندي

News

Trees for Palestine 2022

Planting an olive tree

Planting olive trees

In collaboration with FONSA, we are raising £5,000 to plant 1,000 olive trees in and around Nablus. This is in response to continuing destruction of trees and loss of livelihood for Palestinians.

Olive trees are not a relic, they live and provide oil and olives for their owners. Many trees have been cut down by settlers who also take land. Growing olive trees sends a message and provides practical support.

Said the dove to the olive tree

Woman in green sunlit forest

Film and discussion

Everyone enjoyed this short film which expresses love for Palestine in a twelve-minute video that charters the diaspora in Scotland. Amira Al Shanti’s spoken word performance accompanies striking backdrops, original composition with heartrending eloquence and realism.

Hands-Up Project

Nick Bilbrough

Nick Bilbrough and others

Nick developed the idea of connecting Palestinians to the world through creative writing and activities. It was so good that they won a prestigious prize just before they spoke to us.

Convener's Report 2021

Report header

Virtual links with Nablus

Our Convener, Mary McGregor, reports on our recent activities and praises Ernie Ross MP who died recently. She notes that Covid restrictions have strengthened our virtual links with Nablus.

40^th Anniversary

Letter

Recognising the state of Palestine

Dundee City Council has passed a motion to recognise the state of Palestine. This marks the 40^th anniversary of our twinning with Nablus.

The Saltire flew in Nablus as a gesture of appreciation.

Dundee Women's Festival 2021

Anan Attereh is the Deputy Governor of Nablus Governorate. She will speak to us on "Overcoming Challenges: Women Entrepreneurs in Nablus, Palestine".

Tuesday 9^th March 2021 6:00pm-7:30pm

Monthly Meetings

Moving online with zoom

Our usual monthly meetings are cancelled because of Covid-19. Instead, we are inviting speakers to join us by zoom. We can invite people directly from Nablus and this is working very well

To know about forthcoming speakers and registration details please subscribe to our mailing list (using the box on the right hand side of this page).

Notes on joining our zoom calls

40^th Anniversary Donations

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Supporting Nablus

Coronavirus caused cancellation of our Festival of Nablus 2020 so we looked for other ways to mark the important 40^th Anniversary of twinning between Dundee and Nablus.

Nablus is badly hit by Coronavirus so we have contributed £2,000 split between five projects.

Celebrating Forty Years of Twinning

Three politicians on a rostrum

between Dundee and Nablus

An historic and trend-setting link between our two cities was forged in 1980 when Dundee and Nablus agreed to form a twinning relationship.

Other cities have followed but Dundee was the first. The Dundee-Nablus Twinning Association (DNTA) continues to strengthen and develop links between the cities.

Six Day War testimonies from Nablus

It is 50 years since the Six Day War of 1967, the invasion of Nablus and the start of an occupation which continues to this day.

The invasion was a terrifying experience for the people of Nablus. We asked six people to recall their memories of that time - they make very moving and compelling testimonies.

Our booklet with these testimonies is now available online

Read our booklet here (or as a PDF)

Older news

You can also read about some of our Older news and events

Some of the included items:

Stitching Palestine
Education under occupation
Trekking Palestine
Naila and the Uprising

About DNTA

Welcome to the Dundee-Nablus Twinning Association

We encourage friendship and understanding between the people of Nablus and the people of Dundee.

We welcome members who share our objectives. So for enquiries, to leave comments about the website, or to join the Association, please email our secretary, Mike Whitehead: secretary@dundee-nablus.org.uk

Current projects

Planting trees in 2022

We are planting 1,000 olive trees in and around Nablus to help the villages and farmers to maintain their traditional income and food source. More details here.

Celebrating 40 years

It was in 1980 when Dundee District Council (as it was then) took the historic decision to twin with Nablus. We planned a great programme of activities and visitors from Nablus as a celebration of this link between our two cities.

The main Festival of Nablus was due to take place in Dundee between 30^th May and 12^th June 2020. Unfortunately (as described elsewhere) Coronavirus called a halt to this and forced us to cancel. Instead, we supported Coronavirus relief measures in Nablus and helped with other projects there.

Schools twinning

Children in traditional Palestinian dresses

As part of the studies of Global Citizenship, pupils in Dundee are making contact with pupils in Nablus. They will be able to discuss their lives in their different cities, their favourite activities and their hopes.

Child Trauma Recovery - Nablus

Our project is training school counsellors in Nablus to deliver effective relief for trauma. They will be using the acclaimed manual on complex grief and trauma developed by the Children and War Foundation of Norway. Training will be delivered by Dr Ian Barron of the University of Dundee through the Palestinian Centre for Applied Research in Education (CARE). We are appealing for funding for this project.

DNTA Films

Our films about the people of Nablus shows the city and lets you hear about their lives in their own words. Making this film celebrated 33 years of twinning between Dundee and Nablus.