Call for Submissions: The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is pleased to announce the “My Life Under Blockade Essay Contest.
My Life Under Blockade Essay Contest – Gaza 2018
Call for Submissions: The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is pleased to announce the “My Life Under Blockade Essay Contest. AFSC invites Palestinian young people (ages 18-24) currently residing in the Gaza Strip to submit a personal narrative essay (min. 800 – max. 1000 words). The goal of the contest is to encourage students in Gaza to reflect and write about how the blockade has affected their lives as young people and as students. A jury will select three winners who will be announced on November 15, 2018.
The winners will receive Kindle tablets as prizes.
We encourage writers to reflect on how the blockade of Gaza impacts their lives.
> How do you cope with the daily experiences of electricity cuts, unemployment, shortages of healthcare and clean water, while living in Gaza in 2018?
> What sustains your desire to study and have a future?
> What are the challenges that you face in pursuit of an education?
Award
- Kindle Tablets to the top three winners
Eligibility
- The contest is open to Palestinian nationals currently living/residing in the Gaza Strip.
- Age range (18-24)
Requirements
- Essays can be no more than 1,000 words but must be a minimum of 800 words.
- Essays must be the original work of the writers and not previously published.
- Essays must be submitted in English.
- Essays must be written in personal narrative style.
- Essays must be MS Word processed in 12-point Times New Roman fonts, and double-spaced.
- Writers must include last and first name on top of the essay above title of the essay.
- Writer should submit the best method for reaching them (email address, phone number)
Submission
- Participants must submit their essays online via this form http://bit.ly/GazaEssay
- DEADLINE to submit essay is November 7, 2018 (11:59 PM Jerusalem Time)
About AFSC and Gaza Unlocked
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Quaker Organization which includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace, and humanitarian service. For decades, AFSC advocated for Palestinian rights in many areas, including working to end the blockade on Gaza. In its eleventh year, the blockade on the Gaza Strip continues to affect almost all aspects of life there. The blockade has affected the economy, healthcare, and infringed on Palestinians’ access to their basic rights and necessities.
Although the blockade is a form of collective punishment that is illegal under international law, the international community remains unable to end the blockade. The discourse on the situation in the Gaza Strip and on the issue of the blockade in particular is full of misconceptions and false information. AFSC has worked for years to confront such misconceptions and affirmed its commitment to the notion that nothing justifies such brutal and choking form of collective punishment.
In 2016 the American Friends Service Committee launched “Gaza Unlocked” a website and campaign to end the blockade of Gaza. Gaza Unlocked highlights the stories of how Palestinians in Gaza are affected by the blockade and offers ways to engage in education and advocacy.
