annabelle - ffipp bordaeaux 2018-2019
Hi mates ! I’m Annabelle and I was FFIPP Bordeaux’s VP from September 2018 on to September 2019, following my participation in FFIPP’s summer program 2018 edition. With our President, Laura, we organized several events with the idea that we should spread information about the conflict and our experience there. Throughout the year, we held monthly reading workshops and edited a collaborative newsletter. We also organized two debates, one with Professor René Otayek and one as part of FFIPP Europe’s Speaking Tour, with Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions and Rania Madi of BADIL.
Historically, Bordeaux’s chapter has been tied to the Political Sciences Institute (IEP/ ScPo) but one of our goals during that year was to open our activities to a more diverse range of people, whether they were students or not.
To tackle this issue, we initiated a partnership with a local organisation called « Le boulevard des potes », located in Bordeaux’s popular neighbourhood, Saint-Michel. With the help of volunteers, we created an exhibition based on photographs we took in Israël and OPT, and put it into perspective via international laws’ articles, maps, explanations on historical events. To engage people, several exercices were made to restitue knowledge throughout the exhibition.
Most people say it is difficult for them to have an opinion on the conflict, arguing on religious or ethnical ground. We wanted to show that law, history and geography, as well as politics are what mainly fuels this conflict nowadays, making it accessible to everyone who’s interested in it.