Palestinian teenagers return home after exchange trip around Wales

A group of teenage Palestinians have concluded a two-week visit to Wales after a wide-ranging programme of cultural exchanges, performances, and community events across the country.

The visit formed part of the Beyond the Checkpoints youth project, which enables young Palestinians from across the West Bank and Jerusalem to meet, travel, and share their experiences — something often impossible at home because of the separation wall, military checkpoints, and restricted movement imposed by the Israeli occupation. For many of the teenagers, it was the first time they had met each other.

Managed by the Camden Abu-Dis Friendship Association (CADFA), a UK-based charity promoting awareness of human rights in Palestine, the project organises exchanges that foster long-term connections between Palestinian and British young people while raising awareness of life under occupation.

Football festival

The eight young visitors began their journey in north Wales on 22 September, moving through 13 towns including Machynlleth, Knighton, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Newport, before finishing in Cardiff and London. Along the way, they took part in a football festival, creative workshops, musical performances and school visits.

One highlight was the Falastin Football Fest at Treforest Football Club, attended by Cardiff City player Yousef Salech, who has Palestinian heritage. Local children joined the visitors to play football, make badges, and sample Palestinian food.

In Pontypridd, the group worked with the radical arts SPAF Collective at the town’s museum to create a quilt depicting their journey through Wales — complete with images of valleys, trees, and smiling faces. They also visited Rhondda Heritage Park to learn about Wales’ mining and trade union history.

Music

The visit ended with a packed cultural celebration at Cardiff’s Temple of Peace, sponsored by TUC Cymru, featuring a Welsh-Palestinian evening of music and solidarity.

Cardiff-based oud player Salih Hassan performed alongside Côr Meibion Morlais and the Lewis Merthyr Band, telling the audience, “Yesterday I was reunited with my country, people and community. You brought Palestine to me.”

Liz Holyoak, lead organiser for Rhondda Cynon Taf Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said the experience had been “one of the greatest pleasures of my life.”

CADFA said the programme’s name — Beyond the Checkpoints — remained an aspiration, noting that “checkpoints clamp down everywhere, and the nightmares continue,” but that the bonds forged in Wales would last well beyond the journey.