Century-old Palestinian Scout movement makes comeback

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Scout movement in Palestine has made a strong comeback in the Arab and international arenas, with the Palestinian Scout Association (PSA) joining the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). A Palestinian Scout team of eight members participated in the first Palestinian-Polish Scout Camp in Poland on July 10, which was part of a cooperation and twinning agreement signed by the PSA and the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association. Moreover, another Palestinian Scout delegation took part in the Arab Scouts meeting in Morocco, which kicked off July 13.

The Palestinian Higher Council for Youth and Sports organized a national week of Palestinian Scouting. The event, which took place across all Palestinian provinces June 19-26, was attended by Atef Abdul-Majeed, the secretary-general of the Arab Scout Organization and director of WOSM’s Arab region. On June 21, a ceremony was held in Ramallah to honor all those who helped Palestine restore its membership to WOSM. This recognition was previously withdrawn in 1948 in the aftermath of the Palestinian Nakba.

Palestine has managed, through the PSA, to earn full membership to the WOSM on Feb. 27. This happened after a three-month online vote in which 162 countries took part, allowing the PSA to be unanimously accepted back into the WOSM after Palestine had been absent for 68 years.

The PSA’s return to the international Scout movement was hailed by Palestinian officials. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, on June 25 and June 23, respectively, received WOSM regional director Abdul-Majeed and a delegation from the Jordanian and Tunisian Scout associations, whereupon Abbas thanked them for supporting Palestine on the international scene and granted Abdul-Majeed a Palestinian diplomatic passport.