BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinian youth living in five countries in the Diaspora arrived in Palestine on Monday to embark on a tour designed to connect them to their homeland.

The delegation of 41 Palestinians, living in the US, Australia, Canada, France and the UK, crossed into the West Bank from Jordan to begin a two-week "Explore & Live Palestine" trip organized by the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation.

The 'Know Your Heritage' program, inaugurated in 2011 with a group of Palestinian American visitors, aims to connect Palestinians abroad to their roots.

In 2012, the delegates come from families who left Haifa, Jericho, Hebron, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Birzeit, Gaza, Ramallah, and 20 other towns and villages in historic Palestine, HCEF said.

The organization's president Rateb Rabie said: "This mosaic of young faces represents the diversity of the Palestinian nation spread across the globe."

"Their shared dream of homecoming is an enduring testament of this same nation's cohesion and unity, across borders, oceans, religious and political divides, and across generations."

The Palestinian diaspora is spread across the world, with significant population centers in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Chile, Egypt, Europe and the United States.

BADIL resource center estimates that 70 percent of the worldwide Palestinian population of around 10 million people are refugees.