A week-long series of events will build on Sheffield’s new friendship agreement with the Palestinian city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank concluded with a migrant solidarity event at the City of Sanctuary.

Three activists were invited to Sheffield for a speaking tour that included meetings with elected officials at Town Hall, visits to community groups including Mums United and interfaith initiatives. 

Amjad Refaie, a refugee services committee member at the New Askar camp, said: “I am very happy to be among all the people who really give us the energy and the power to continue our struggle”.

This was echoed by Tareq Draidi, who works at the An-Najah National University in Nablus, who said: “we were told, if you go to the North, you will meet so many warm people…I can feel your feelings about supporting Palestine”. 

Mr Refaie also spoke of the bittersweet emotions aroused by the visit, by noting his sadness of being “in the country that gave our land to another people…[instead] now I must be in Jaffa”, referencing the Balfour Declaration of 1917.

He also recalled the interruption of his own youth, after he was first incarcerated at just 15-years-old. 

“I started my life inside the jail. I was arrested on the 28th of May 1986, I will never forget this day.” 

Mr Refaie highlighted the deteriorating situation back home and suggested that “the price of stopping in Gaza was the West Bank” about the ongoing ceasefire in the Strip, as violence escalates in other parts of the Occupied Territories. 

Seham Hasanain, one of the visitors who accompanied Mr Refaie to Sheffield, spoke about the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). 

The organisation, which was set up in 1949, runs schools and healthcare services in the Occupied Territories and Palestinian refugee camps in neighbouring states, and she warned about the impact on “unemployment and poverty” if they were prevented from operating. 

The Israeli parliament, Knesset, passed a motion last October to render UNRWA’s work illegal. 

Earlier this week, Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem attempted to shut an UNRWA training centre with “tear gas and sound bombs” being used, according to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.

Ms Hasanain explained the work being done by the social centre she works at in the New Askar camp, and how it collaborates with “feminist and disabled organisations”. 

During a discussion with Sheffield city councillors on Friday, she said that creative outlets like “art, painting and drawing” were also made available to young people. 

Councillor Dawn Dale, who is Chair of the Education, Children and Families Policy Committee, spoke of the importance of safeguarding play for children, especially within conflict zones. 

She also expressed surprise at a scheme mentioned by Ms Hasanain, which allows for support tools like crutches to be reused rather than thrown away after single use.

About the logistics of moving around Nablus, Mr Refaie said: “It takes two and a half hours to get from one part of the city” due to checkpoints and gates cordoning off certain districts in recent months. 

Previously, the same journey would take closer to “ten minutes”. 

The SNTA’s Julie Pearn spoke of the need for “financial donations and promises towards an emergency clinic being established in New Askar refugee camp” in order to circumvent the need to cross checkpoints to receive urgent medical care. 

Earlier in the week, the Bishop of Sheffield’s advisor on interfaith and public affairs, Reverend Huw Thomas, hosted a dinner event where Mr Refaie and Ms Hasanain shared their experiences with Christian, Jewish and Muslim members of the local community. 

Dr Pearn added that: “The people of Sheffield have extended warm and generous welcome to our Palestinian guests, who in turn have powerfully presented the terrifying and absolutely unacceptable circumstances they live in under the brutal illegal Israeli occupation. 

“At the same time, they have constantly demonstrated their humanity and humour. Firm and enduring friendships have been made.”

The visitors also met with the Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Cllr Jayne Dunn, in addition to the leaders of the three main political parties represented in the council.