The Question That Fuels Me: How Do We Design Change That Calls People In?

I had the privilege of serving as a committee member in Smart Camp 4.0, August 2025 a youth leadership camp that brought together young people under 30—university students and working youth—united by a shared call to action for the liberation of Palestine from Israel Zionist occupation.

The camp emphasized multiple forms of resistance and activism: from social media advocacy and public demonstrations, to powerful oratory by activists, cultural resistance against erasure, and creative networking across digital spaces.

With the theme “Leaders for Liberation: Belong, Be Brave, and Take Action”, I observed a common trait among the participants: bravery. In an interview session, one participant distilled the lesson into just two words, affirming this observation when asked what key lesson he had learned, his simple yet profound response was: “Be brave.”

That answer stayed with me. 

It led me to reflect on a deeper question I’ve been wrestling with: What truly moves people to act with such courage and conviction?

The answer came into sharper focus as I reflected on the Global Sumud Flotilla, at this very moment, en route to Gaza to break the siege and stop and challenge the Israel-made blockade and famine in Gaza. On board are individuals from different nations and backgrounds. Most have never met before. Yet, they are bound together by a single mission—undertaken without incentives, material gain, or guarantees of safety. They leave behind family, comfort, and security, risking everything for a cause.

What invites them? 

What drives them?

The Hidden Driver: Belonging

That driver, I believe, is belonging.

People act when they feel anchored in a community that reflects their values and convictions. Belonging transforms abstract causes into lived commitments. It shifts individuals from passive observers to active participants.

Paulo Freire, in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, wrote: “The oppressed must be their own example in the struggle for their redemption.” Liberation, he argued, is not something given by leaders or external agents—it is born from within the community itself.

This insight explains why belonging is so powerful: it is not passive association, but an active process of recognizing oneself as part of a collective subject with the capacity to act.

So far by now I've learned that to move people toward meaningful change, we must build communities where belonging is real, and where ownership of the cause is shared. When people believe “we belong,” they do more than participate—they lead, they mobilize, and they transform the balance of power.

We must be our own example in the struggle.

This is an invitation for all of us to create our own example of conviction—an act that carries us toward collective redemption and liberation.

Freire reminds us that “No one liberates anyone, nor does anyone liberate himself alone. People liberate themselves in communion.”

Join me - let us create that community.