Middle East Children's Alliance Annual Report 2015

8/18/2019 Middle East Children's Alliance Annual Report 2015

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MIDDLE EAST CHILDREN’S ALLIANCE

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ANNUAL REPORT


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Dear Friend of MECA,

I am in awe of what the Middle East Children’s Alliance staff and partner organizations on the ground in Palestine and Lebanonhave been able to accomplish over the past year, living and working in, frankly terrible conditions. The 10,000 homes Israeldestroyed in Gaza in the 2014 assault have not been rebuilt, despite promises from international aid agencies, and 100,000people are still displaced. The Israeli blockade of Gaza continues, cutting off fuel for electricity, water, sanitation. and heat.People with dire medical needs can’t leave to get care; students can’t attend universities abroad, families are separated, busi-nesses and farmers can’t get materials in or products out.

In many ways the greatest suffering the people in Gaza, especially children, experience is almost entirely invisible: the trauma,the devastating losses, the isolation, and the terror that bombs could begin falling again at any time. With the support of sev-eral thousand caring people like you, MECA is working to help the children heal and respond to new calls for solidarity. Yourcontributions to MECA provide clean safe drinking water, psychosocial support, medical aid, university scholarships and moreto thousands of children, youth, and families in Gaza.

In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a surge of Israeli state and settler violence that began in the fall of 2015 has claimed

more than nearly 200 Palestinian lives and left thousands more injured. Hundreds of young people, including small children,have been arrested, interrogated, abused and detained by Israeli authorities. Family homes, even whole villages, have beendestroyed. Soldiers and armed settlers are a constant presence. But day in and day out, MECA’s partners provide an escapefrom life under occupation, even just for a short time, giving Palestinian children opportunities to play, learn, create, and telltheir stories to the world.

As the war in Syria enters it’s sixth year, millions of people are risking their lives for the chance to live in safety. They make long,dangerous journeys, often without food or warm clothes, only to be turned away by one country after another. There’s been alot of focus on refugees coming to Europe or the U.S., but the vast majority have settled in neighboring countries. There arenow more than one million refugees from Syria—Syrians and Palestinians—in Lebanon, where MECA is providing food, hygieneproducts, heating fuel, winter clothes, and a new school that addresses the children’s special academic needs.

Every year MECA faces an enormous set of challenges—both old and new—but your support enables us to overcome those chal-lenges for the benet of thousands of children in the Middle East. Please, read on to see how you are making a very signicantdifference in the lives of thousands of Palestinian children and refugees from Syria.

With much appreciation,

Barbara LubinCo-Founder and Director

Letter from the Director

Barbara Lubin


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Projects for ChildrenThe Madaa Silwan Creative Center:Support and Opportunities in Besieged East Jerusalem

Every child in Silwan, East Jerusalem is affectedby the constant presence of violent settlers, Israelipolice and soldiers, the destruction of homes andcommunity buildings, and the frequent nightlyraids and arrests of friends and family members.

In 2015, MECA provided funding for a librarian who leads arts and literacy activities for childrenof all ages, a summer camp, a computer lab, sportsfield renovation, and a community mural.

Above: MECA supported an Art Forces visit to Madaa where U.S. artists created a mural incollaboration with local artists and the Silwan community. Settlers hate the mural that proudlydepicts Palestinian culture and history. Tey have tried several times to get the municipal govern-ment to paint over it. So far, the community has succeeded in protecting it.

CREDI: Art Forces

“Madaa Creative Center it is a lovely place for the kidsto breathe. It gives them a chance to have a life that isnot just settlers and the occupation… to be far awayfrom these things for a little bit… to give them space tolive their childhood.”

—A mother in Silwan

CREDI: Silwanic.net


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Shoruq Organization:Palestinian Refugee Youth Learning

about the Past, Preparing for the Future

“I developed my personality through taking part in Shoruq’s activities. I be-came more open to the society and got introduced to new ways of life. Shoruqopened the door for me to take part in several activities such as debka and hiphop. Shoruq is my second home and my family trusts them because they fulfillour needs.”

—Sireen Khmayis, age 15.

Te state-of-the-art video and audio studio at Sho-ruq Organization in Dheisheh Refugee Camp, Pal-estine serves as an exciting classroom where youngpeople learn technical skills that enable them totell their stories through song, rap, and documen-

taries. Shoruq also has a youth debka (traditionalPalestinian dance) troupe, legal aid and advocacy,and a visual arts program.

op: Shoruq’s young people are learning sophisticatedvideo and interview techniques to create an oral historyof the remaining Nakba survivors—older people who

were expelled from their homes and land when the stateof Israel was created.

CREDI: Shoruq

Left: Shoruq’s traditional Palestinian debka dancetroupe performs dances that tell the stories of life inDheisheh Refugee Camp and the villages the dancers’families were forced to leave. Te music and choreog-raphy are created by young people at Shoruq, wherechildren also learn and then teach the dances.

CREDI: Shoruq

Below: A student in Shoruq’s drawing class captures asmall typical scene in Dheisheh Refugee Camp.

CREDI: Shoruq

Projects for Children


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Let the Children Play & Heal:Psychosocial Support for Children in Gaza

MECA’s long-time psychosocial support program led by two partner

organizations in Gaza, Afaq Jadeeda (“New Horizons”) and “NeverStop Dreaming,” continue to develop ways to address the psychologi-cal needs of large numbers of children through play and creativity. In2015, “Play & Heal” visited sixteen community centers and schools,organizing sports teams, leading games and art, music, and drama ac-tivities. A psychologist identifies children who need special care. TePalestine Writing Workshop, based in the West Bank, provided specialtraining for creative writing teachers via Skype.

MECA Gaza Projects Director Dr. Mona El-Farra joins the children learn-ing to dance. Creative and physical activities are a key part of “Play & Heal”because they teach children to support one another and gently help them

overcome fears.CREDI: Ahmed Sohail


“Education for All”Refugees from Syria

In 2015, MECA helped our partner Al-Jalil Center start a school for 285 refu-gee children who are not attending because they are turned away from over-crowded local schools; the curriculum is so different they can’t catch up; or theirfamilies can’t afford even small school expenses.

“We carried our bodies tired and hungry through the darkness of the

night to the city of Damascus, and from there to the Lebanese border.

Today we are in one room, kitchen and bathroom, all of us, my mother

and father and me and four brothers and sisters. We can’t go to school

because of my father’s inability to pay for school bus transportation.”

—Yamen, age 11

“Education for All” provides morning classes in reading, writing, English, math and computer use, as well as fieldtrips, psychological support, special workshops, and holiday

celebrationsCREDI: Al-Jalil Center


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“Palestinian children need strong bodies because we are first and foremostliving under occupation. When the occupation is combined with poverty, thisis an impossible situation for the children.”

—Um Hasan, Masara Kitchen Founder

Masara Village Kitchen Project

Above: MECA continues to support the mothers andgrandmothers of Masara Village in the West Bank, whorise every day before dawn to prepare healthy food forthe children in the village.

CREDI: MECA

Palestine Writing Workshop:Encouraging Future Readers

and Writers

Above: Storytelling, reading, writing and illustrating

books, getting books to keep. and even publishing theirown, puppet shows, book clubs and school libraries:Te acclaimed Palestine Writing Workshop employs allthese approaches in schools around the city of Nablusto improve children’s literacy and teach them a loveof reading.

CREDI: Palestine Writing Workshop

Summer Camp in Memory of

Beloved Children’s Advocate

Above: In the summer of 2015 MECA supported asummer camp in the West Bank village of Beit Omarin memory of Hashem Khader Abu Maria, shown here

with his daughter. Hashem was killed one year beforeat age 45 when Israeli forces shot him as he stood at ademonstration in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza

who were being killed daily in the Israeli assault. He was beloved by his community, his family and his col-leagues at Defense for Children International-Palestine,a children’s advocacy organization that MECA often

works with.CREDI: DCI-Palestine


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Arab Minority Rights in Israel

Opposite page: #Save_UmAlHiran: MECA supportedan international advocacy campaign led by Adalah Le-gal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel to savea Bedouin village in Southern Israel. Sadly, the IsraeliSupreme Court issued its final decision in May 2015,allowing Israel to carry out its plan to demolish the vil-lage and forcibly displace its residents, for the sole pur-pose of establishing a new Jewish town called ‘Hiran’

over its ruins.CREDI: Adalah


Samira Project: Academic andPsychological Support for Gaza Kids

Above:Te Samira Project addresses the educationaland psychological needs of children with learning dis-abilities and psychological trauma. Te psychologist atSamira talks to a child who’s father was killed in the2014 Israeli assault. “Te teachers and I came up with aplan to help him. A remarkable improvement appearedon Ahed’s behavior and educational achievement. Hehas a love and passion for learning.”

CREDI: Ahmed Sohail

The Freedom Theatre:Generating Cultural Resistance

Left: “Math Exam,” the Freedom Teatre’s first playfor children that is entirely created in-house, is based

on accounts by children in Jenin Refugee Camp. TisPalestinian theatre and cultural center in Jenin RefugeeCamp stages professional theatre productions, holdsamateur drama workshops and runs a three-year educa-tional program in acting. MECA is very grateful to theFriends of the Freedom Teatre who do a remarkable

job of fundraising for this project.CREDI: Te Freedom Teatre

Children Learn to

Care for their Land

and their History

Left: Te Mashjar Juthour park andenvironmental education organiza-tion launched a new project in 2015,

with MECA’s help, for children from

refugee camps around Ramallah (WestBank.). Groups of children attendcamps and workshops where they learnabout their land, their rights and theirhistory through activities such as hikes,interactive games, park clean-up, gath-ering family stories, and understandingthe traditional uses of native plants.

CREDI: Mashjar Juthour


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Humanitarian Aid • MECA sent $1,229,182 in aid• Medical supplies, food vouchers, winter

coats, and more• Elevator and medical equipment

for Al-Awda Hospital, Gaza• 100 emergency water tanks

Emergency Water Below: Te Israeli assault of 2014 damaged or destroyedGaza’a water systems. In 2015, MECA provided watertanks to 100 families, and delivered water, along withhygiene kits and community education about the dan-gers of contaminated water and how to avoid water-borne illnesses.

CREDI: MECA

Families in GazaRight: More than a year after the horrific Israeli assaulton Gaza in the summer of 2014, the infrastructureis in shambles and thousands of families are living indamaged homes or flimsy trailers, with little protectionfrom wind, rain and cold. Volunteers covered hundredsof homes with plastic sheets that MECA provided.

CREDI: MECA

Refugees from Syria

Left: Winter gets very cold in Lebanon, especiallyfor refugees from Syria living in public buildings andmakeshift shelters. Troughout 2015, MECA enabledour partner the Al-Jalil Center in Lebanon to providevouchers for food and hygiene products to be used atlocal stores. During the winter months MECA provid-ed heating fuel for 1,500 families and warm clothes for600 children.

CREDI: Al-Jalil Center


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The Maia Project:

Bring Clean Water to

the Children in Palestine

Maia Project to date:

• 71 water purification and desalination units

• 39 at UN schools for refugees, 32 community preschools/ kindergartens

• Providing clean, safe drinking water for 73,045children in Gaza

• 1 unit at the Red Crescent Society for theGaza Strip for staff and patients

Maia Units Installed in 2015 School Name # Students Dedication

Sindibad Kindergarten 450 A gift of Henry Bortman and Dwayne Schanz San Francisco, Californi a, USA

Atfal Khan Younis 161 A Gift from the Peace and Justice Action Leagueof Spokane, Washington

Al-Shuka Preparatory Girls School 1187 In Memory of Rachel Corrie and in Honor ofthe Corrie Family

Mughraka Primary Co-Ed School 1400 A gift from Watts Street Baptist Church andfriends to the children of Gaza

Women’s Union Kindergarten 150 A gift from Watts Street Baptist Church andfriends to the children of Gaza

Sanabel Kindergarten 260 With love from 14 Friends of Palestine in California.

Ajial Kindergarten 80 With love from ConnectHer Austin to the beautiful

children of GazaKhuzaa Co-ed Elementary School 1200 From New Mexicans to the Palestinians of

Khuza’a: TadamonMECA is a member of the Emergency, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (EWASH) group.

www.EWASH.org

260 children atSanabel Kindergarten

in a refugee campin central Gaza haveclean, safe water todrink every day.

CREDI: Ahmed Sohail


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Palestinian University

Scholarships2015-16 Academic Year:

• 166 scholarships

• 10 Palestinian universities

• Most scholarships from the Elly Jaensch Memorial Scholarship Fund

• Additional Scholarships provided by: SacramentoToBethlehem, ConnectHer,

Daniele & Christoph Berglar Foundation, and MECA supporters who make contributions

to the Ramzy Halaby Education Fund and the Helen Thomas Memorial Scholarship

“I grew up in a poor family of nine people, with-out any source of income. I couldn’t follow mydream to become a doctor because of the expen-sive cost of studying medicine in Gaza. With theMECA scholarship, I know that now I can ac-complish the dream I always had.”

“I was very excellent at school and I always hadthe dream of being a successful doctor. I reallyappreciate MECA’s role in helping the Palestin-

ian women to step forward in their promisinglives.”

Rana Abu Jalala is studying medicineat Al-Azhar University in Gaza.

“My dream wasto study surveyingengineering sincemy childhood. My

father is one of the first students in Palestine who studied it. I used to work with him, whichmade me like it very much. Tis study is verylimited in Palestine and we, as Palestinians, are

in great need.”“My long term educational goal is to improvemyself and continue my higher education(Master & PhD) to help develop such a fieldthroughout Palestinian universities and to letother students, especially women, study it.”

Ali Zaza is from Jenin and studyingat Palestine Polytechnic University.

“I love nursing and I need to be more helpful.I need this specialty to help people. And if Ihave one single wish I’ll do all my best and ev-

erything in my power to be a reason for a childto laugh or an old man to smile or to help a woman to dance. I will not give up my love ofhelping people.”

Maya Odeh, from Silwan,East Jerusalem, is studying nursingat Makassed Hospital.


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Women’s Income

Generating Projects

Craftspeople and

Collectives

Right: MECA purchases items for

the annual bazaar and online storeShopPalestinese.org from women’scollectives, social service organiza-tions, and others who are support-ing their families and communities,

while keeping their craft traditionsalive.

Te women of Samoa Village in thesouthern West Bank make beautifulhand-woven rugs from wool they

gather, spin, dye, and weave, as theirfamilies have done for generations.

Sanad, Women’s Cleaning Supplies Business

“Sixty women learned these new skills and started working in their homes and

producing cleaning supplies for their own use and also to sell to the local market.

This helps the women and their families to have some income to support their

children during this very difficult l ife under siege.”

—Layla Al-Zubaydy, Project Director

Gaza Sewing Project

Below: Women in Gaza need work and families in Gazaneed school uniforms and other clothes at reasonableprices. MECA’s long-time Gaza partner organization

Afaq Jadeeda initiated a sewing project, where womenreceive training to make and sell their products. WithMECA Director Barbara Lubin.


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Teaching Palestine

In 2015, as in every other year, MECA organized pub-lic events with leading scholars, activists and artists,gave presentations to dozens of high school and col-lege classes, and spoke to the local and national media.Our “each Palestine” project with Rethinking Schoolsand middle school teacher Samia Shoman continued tolead conference and independent workshops and pro-

vide resources and support for teachers who are work-ing to bring Palestinian history into their classrooms.

New Mexico Students Attend “FieldSchool” in Palestine

Below: MECA led a special delegation called “FieldSchool” for students at the University of New Mexico

who spent ten days witnessing the impact of the IsraeliOccupation first hand while “Palestinian rappers, art-ists, bus drivers, farmers, activists, and refugees became

our ‘professors’” as one student remarked.

“Ayman lives in one of the tent camps in the JordanValley. His community doesn’t have access to running

water, and Palestinians there have been barred fromdigging wells since 1967. Every 3 days they have tospend 150 shekels to refill this tank. Te water in thesummer gets so hot it boils, and the saltiness of it isdetrimental to their crops and animals.”

—ess Wolterstorff, Field School Student

CREDI:ess Wolterstorff

2015 MECA EventsPublic Education

January. Osha Neumann Book Party:Doodling on the itanic: Te Making of Art ina World on the Brink

February. Film and Panel Discussion: Reel

Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People

July. Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Te Future ofPalestine, interviewed by Stanford professorsKhalil Barhoum & David Palumbo-Liu

October. Vijay Prashad under keffiyehumbrella with Ziad Abbas, MECA staff

October & November. ROOMNO.4 and Sahar Abbasi: Israeli

Arrests of Palestinian Children inSilwan, East Jerusalem eight-cityU.S. speaking tour

November. MECA, ArabResource & Organizing Center(AROC), Art Forces, and thePalestinian American Coalition,hosted Wishah’s San Franciscoperformance

December. Kate Raphael with, Murder Under the Bridge: APalestine Mystery


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Friends Raising Funds14 Friends of Palestine,

multiple events and campaigns, CaliforniaMr. Mediha Ahmetovic,

online fundraising campaign for scholarshipsCor Cochion Caerdydd (Cardiff Reds Choir), WalesCharity Concert, Students from Guelph, Ontario, Canada“Challah for Gaza, ”WILPF Tucson and the Tucson Raging Grannies, Arizona

Constanza Jewelry, online crowd-funding campaignCorvallis-Albany Palestine Solidarity Dinner

and Poetry Reading with WILPF, OregonFriends of Khuza’a, New Mexico,

multiple events and campaignsNorman Finkelstein/Byline online crowd-funding campaign“GAZA: Spoken Songs for the Silent” Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Canada

Joining Hands Cooking Classes, Oakland“Let the Children Play & Heal” benet, University of TorontoMaia Project Fundraiser, San Mateo, CaliforniaMicah Bazant Design, sale of artist’s prints“Musical Response to Gaza,” Brooklyn“Out of the Rubble” Benet for Gaza Children,

University of ChicagoPalestine/Israel Working Group of Nevada County, CaliforniaPalestinian Heritage Group Embroidery Sale, SeattleRedspokes “Big Ride for Palestine,” UKSyracuse Peace Council Gaza Benet Dinner, New YorkTemescal Trio Chamber Music Concert, San FranciscoTree of Life Concert with David Morgan, Portland, Oregon

“We Hear You,” Norman Finkelstein and Byline, online crowd-funding campaign

Many, Many ThanksLeft: Joining Hands, group of women in the Bay Area, have beenfinding joyful, creative ways to support MECA for many years.Tey started the Annual Palestinian Crafts Bazaar and in 2015began offering a series of cooking classes to support the womenin Masara village, who are cooking for school children every day.

Above: MECA Director of Gaza Projects Dr. Mona El-Farra (center) was in the UK for the 450-mile, nine-day Big Ride for Palestine. More than 200 participantsraised $80,000 for MECA’s work in Gaza and brought

Palestine news and solidarity to towns from Edinburghto London.

Remember the Future!

with a Planned Gift to the Middle EastChildren’s AllianceMore information atwww.mecaforpeace.org/bequestsFor further assistance, please contact Deborah Agreat [email protected]/510 548-0542.MECA also welcomes: Employee giving, employermatching gifts, car donations, gifts of stock, and giftsof time (volunteers).Donate by phone, mail or onlineat www.mecaforpeace.org/donate.

Individual donors

In-Kind Medical Supplies

Benets & Fundraisers

Bequests

Sales of Palestinian Crafts

Foundation Grants

Children’s Circle (monthly doors)

Events and Delegations


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1101 8th street • Berkeley, CA 94710 phone 510-548-0542 fax [email protected] • www.mecaforpeace.org

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A Project of Middle East Children’s AllianceExtra-Virgin Olive Oil from the West Bank, Stunning Scarves & Shawls,Palestinian Embroidery, Olive Oil Soap and Palestinian Dead SeaProducts, Hand-woven Rugs, Painted Ceramics from Jerusalem andHebron, Olive Wood Products from Bethlehem, Cookbooks and

Kitchenware, Hand-crafted Jewelry, Books, Calendars, Children’s Toysand Clothing from Gaza, Fine Art Prints

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Middle East Children's Alliance Annual Report 2015