S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

Dear Friends and Supporters,

It’s a little difficult to write about MECA’s accomplishments for 2009, when it was such a devastating year for the children of Palestine. More than 300 children were killed in the December-January attacks on Gaza. Tens of thou-sands of children were injured, many now have permanent disabilities with little chance of getting the prostheses, rehabilitation services and medical care they will need. Israel’s use of DIME weapons and white phosphorous on the civilian population of Gaza is nearly certain to cause a major cancer epidemic in the coming years. Meanwhile, so many children are still home-less and deprived of food, clean water, health care and education because of Israel’s siege. Thousands witnessed firsthand the deaths of parents, siblings, and friends. Essentially every child in Gaza is traumatized.

While the magnitude of the devastation in Gaza is enormous, the Middle East Children’s Alliance was able to make a difference in the lives of thousands of children and their families, as we have for nearly twenty-two years—thanks to the out pouring of support from so many long-time supporters, along with new people whose concern and outrage lead them to MECA last year. We received more than 1,000 contributions during Israel’s three-week war on the people of Gaza, a third from first-time donors. A group of Bay Area poets organized a reading that raised $4,000, while groups in Chicago, Honolulu,

Kentucky, Oregon, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and elsewhere put on benefits for MECA that raised thousands of dollars for emergency aid to Gaza. Samia Ahmad and the Precious Heritage of Palestine in Florida found MECA through a Facebook friend and organized a concert that raised $21,000. This generous outpouring enabled us to send emergency aid and support ongoing programs for children and families in Gaza.

While Gaza was the main focus of our attention and our work, the Occupa-tion of the West Bank ground on as usual with killing, imprisonment, land theft, unrestrained settler violence, and the constant disruption of education, health care and all aspects of daily life. MECA’s work there went on as well, supporting multiple children’s, youth and women’s programs throughout the West Bank.

As you read this report, I hope you’ll share with us a sense of satisfaction in knowing that, together, we made a difference in the lives of so many people who were—and still are—struggling every day just to survive.

In Solidarity,Barbara, Deborah, Josie, Penny, Sophia, and Ziad

MECA Staff, Berkeley, California

ABOVE: MECA Director Barbara Lubin purchased and delivered a mobile intensive care unit with funds from Firedoll Foundation, Lee & Gund Fund, and individual MECA supporters. Credit: Sharon Wallace

LEFT: Kids at “Let the Children Play & Heal,” psycho-social support program run by MECA partner Afaq Jadeeda Association. Credit: Barbara Lubin

2009 Year in Review

2 MECA NEWS

Children drinking water cleaned by one of the purification and desalinization units MECA provided. Credit: Afaq Jadeeda Association

ABOVE: Young dancer from Dheisheh Refugee Camp. Credit: Josie Shields-StromsnessBELOW RIGHT: Palestinian children at Ein El-Hilweh Refugee Camp in Lebanon eagerly await the completion of their new playground. Credit: ANERABELOW CENTER: Kids at the exhibit of art created by children in the “Let the Children Play & Heal” psycho-social support program in Gaza. Credit: Dan Muller

In 2007 and 2008, MECA provided funds for the instal-lation of water purifi-cation units and fau-cets in Bureij Boys School and Nuseirat Girls School in central Gaza, in response to a special request from the schoolchildren. In September 2009, MECA launched the Maia Project, a long-term initiative to ad-dress one of the most harmful features of the Israeli Occupa-tion and the blockade of Gaza: The systematic deprivation of clean, safe drinking water. Since its founding in 1948, Israel has appropriated water and water sources for Jewish citizens inside Israel and, later, for illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel prohibits Palestinians from getting the mate-rials, fuel, and permits they need to maintain and expand Pal-estinian water systems; military attacks predictably—and often deliberately—destroy wells, water tanks, pipes, treatment plants, and sewage systems. In Gaza, especially, the water quality is un-safe and the quantity is inadequate. Our partner, Afaq Jadeeda Association coordinates the Maia Project installations in Gaza. The initial response to the Maia Project has been very encourag-ing, and, by the end of 2009, MECA provided funds for clean drinking water systems in two kindergartens and three large elementary and middle schools in Gaza. MECA’s goal is to provide the funds for fifteen more units this year.

Making Life Better for Children and YouthMECA has partnerships with sev-eral grassroots organizations in Pal-estine that address children’s basic needs and offer them opportunities to play, learn and envision a bet-ter future. MECA also works with the US organization Playgrounds for Palestine to build playgrounds in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria. In 2009, playgrounds were constructed in Ein El-Hilweh, Lebanon and Neirab Refugee Camp, Syria.

Emergency Aid to GazaIn January 2009 Director Barbara Lubin and Gaza Projects Di-rector Dr. Mona El-Farra flew to Cairo during the brutal Israeli attacks to meet a four-ton shipment of medicine and medical supplies coming from Europe that MECA had arranged months before. This in-kind shipment, valued at $1.6 million, was deliv-ered to the Palestine Red Crescent Society of the Gaza Strip who then distributed it to local hospitals and clinics. While in Cairo Barbara and Mona purchased and delivered more than seven tons of powdered milk, fortified children’s cereal, a mobile intensive care unit, wheelchairs, and surgical instruments—as well as a full truckload of art and school supplies. During the bombardment and invasion, MECA sent funds to our partner or-ganization, Afaq Jadeeda Association to buy and distribute food, blankets, and plastic sheets to cover broken windows.

In June, MECA organized a group in the Bay Area to raise funds for the Viva Palestina-US, a convoy led by British MP George Galloway to bring aid and worldwide attention to the siege of Gaza. MECA and the Viva Palestina Bay Area Committee raised $75,000 for vehicles and medical aid. Barbara and long-time volunteer Dan Muller traveled to Gaza in July 2009 with the convoy and visited MECA projects in Gaza.

ABOVE: Barbara receives MECA’s four-tons medical shipment in Cairo that was delivered to the Red Crescent Society of the Gaza Strip and distributed to hospitals and clinics. Credit: Sharon Wallace

MECA NEWS 3

In February 2009 MECA held an event with Iraqi feminist Nadje Al-Ali, who spoke about her book “What Kind of Liberation? Women and the Occupation of Iraq”

Education and ActionMECA works to build greater understanding of the lives of children in the Middle East and to inspire people to action through a variety of educational and cultural activities.

In 2009 MECA:

• Held events with Palestinian author, commentator and activ-ist Ali Abunimah, Iraqi feminist scholar Nadje Al-Ali, activists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, UK Parliament member and founder of Viva Palestina George Galloway, journalists Leila Al-Arian and Chris Hedges, and Noam Chomsky • Organized speaking tours for Director Barbara Lubin and As-sociate Director Ziad Abbas, with engagements at schools, uni-versities, community organizations, and conferences in dozens of US cities• Gave interviews to the media about the situation for children in the Middle East, and particularly in Gaza• Maintained a blog of staff writing from Palestine and helped publish articles by MECA volunteers and participants in MECA partner programs in Gaza• Helped organize protests and donated T-shirts and banners for a San Francisco demonstration calling for an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza • Made donations to the Arab Film Fes-tival and Golden Thread Produc-tions to bring film and theatre from and about the Middle East to the US public• Supported conferences on the US role in Palestine, and on strategies for holding Israel ac-countable for war crimes • Sent one staff mem-ber and one volunteer to participate in Viva Palestina-US in July and two staff members to participate in the Gaza Freedom March in December 2009• Provided funds to Break the Silence Mural Project for a col-laborative mural in Olympia, Washington connecting US and Palestinian artists and organizations.

2009 Year in Review

MECA provided funds to Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisheh Refugee Camp for a wide range of programs for children, wom-en and youth, including:• Transportation, rental fees for fields and gyms, upgrading equipment, and stipends for trainers for two football (soccer), one volleyball team, and three basketball teams; uniforms and warm-up suits for one of the boys’ football teams• Renovation of the income-generating guesthouse, and jars of olives and honey for sale• Recreational activities and competitions for children during the Eid holidays• Development of a new show for the youth dance troupe that performs regularly in Palestine, other Middle East countries, and Europe, including, recording music, stipends for a choreogra-pher and scriptwriter, costumes, and electronic equipment • Website hosting and development, English teachers, and a sum-mer camp for youth from five Palestinian community centers in the West Bank

Right after the January 2009 Israeli assault on Gaza, Afaq Jadeeda Association launched “Let the Children Play & Heal” to help children and families cope with the psychological af-termath of the war on Gaza. Throughout the year, MECA has provided support for this extraordinary program that has reached tens of thousands of children. Staff and trained volunteers work with children in schools and community centers. Dancing, sing-ing, art, drama and story-telling activities give children opportu-nities to express themselves and get support from other children and adults. A psychologist is on hand to identify and refer chil-dren for counseling. Mothers get training on how to help their children and extended family cope with trauma; and pamphlets with advice for parents are distributed throughout Gaza.

In 2009, MECA also provided funds for:• Hospital expenses for children being treated by a team of Aus-tralian volunteer surgeons at Al-Awda Hospital, Gaza City

• Media equipment for youth training, and puppets for the chil-dren’s program at Al-Assria Children’s Library in Jabalia Refu-gee Camp, Gaza

• Educational activities at Rawdat El-Zuhur Elementary School in East Jerusalem

• A new bus for Afaq Jadeeda’s kindergarten, Gaza

Children arrive at Afaq Jadeeda’s summer camp, July 2009.Credit: Danny Muller

4 MECA NEWS

Ziad Abbas at an Israeli national park overlooking the area from which his family was expelled in 1948Credit: Deborah Agre

Ziad Abbas joins MECA Staff in

2009

The Middle East Children’s Alliance is thrilled that our long-time colleague from Palestine, Ziad Abbas, joined the MECA staff in Berkeley as Associate Director in 2009. Ziad is a journal-ist and co-founder of the Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisheh Refugee Camp, Palestine. He has worked on many documentary films about the Middle East and has a Masters in Social Justice and International Relations from the School of International Training in Vermont. Ziad was born and raised in Dheisheh Refugee Camp in the West Bank, after his parents were expelled from their original villages of Zakariya and Jerash during the Nakba in 1948. He often says, “I was born in a refugee camp and I am struggling not to die in a refugee camp.”

Ziad represents MECA in a wide variety of settings, including in local and national anti-war and Palestine rights coalitions, to US and international funders, and in the Arab-American and Arab immigrant communities. He regularly gives presentations at universities, schools and to community groups around the country about Palestinian refugees, political prisoners, youth en-gagement, media and MECA’s work. He organizes and provides trainings for groups traveling to Palestine, such as the 2009 in-digenous youth delegation, and for volunteers placed at our part-ner organizations in Palestine. Ziad plays a key role in develop-ing new areas of work and partnerships with community groups in Palestine and communicating with them about the progress of projects MECA supports.

Since he came to the US, Ziad has become a strong and eloquent advocate for Palestinian rights in a new cultural context—skill-fully using humor and personal experiences to bridge cultural and language gaps. He says, “I face some difficulties raising aware-ness about Palestine among peo-ple in the US. Many people don’t know what is going on because the mass media is biased. I count a lot on the new generations who are aware of the ways to get the correct information. And when I speak to people--especially young people—they want to know. They want to understand what is hap

pening in Palestine and the Middle East and they can easily make the connections between marginalized people in different coun-tries.”

Ziad has a keen ability to draw parallels between international human rights and social justice issues here in the US--making connections to organizations and individuals working on issues such as criminal justice, Hurricane Katrina displacement, immi-grants’ and indigenous rights. Ziad has an unwavering commit-ment to making sure people can advocate on their own behalf, and to helping them gain the tools to do so. He actively encour-ages and supports the leadership of women, youth, and refu-gees—challenging those who attempt to designate themselves as spokespeople for others.

When asked about living in the US, Ziad responded, smiling, “First of all, I love being able to drive around in my car any-where, anytime without checkpoints, soldiers, or permits. It’s

University ScholarshipsIn addition to supporting pre-schools, kindergartens, libraries and other educational programs in Palestine, MECA provides financial assistance to Palestinian university students. Our schol-arship funds enable talented and ambitious high school gradu-ates to obtain degrees, and the skills to make important contri-butions to their communities and their country.

In 2009 MECA provided full or partial scholarships for 100 stu-dents at eleven universities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip through the Elly Jaensch Memo-

rial Scholarship Fund and the Tree of Life Scholarship Fund. We also provided scholarships for two students studying at universi-ties in the United States through the Ramzy Halaby Education Fund. Now that all five students in the US have graduated, con-

tributions to this Fund will also go to students in Palestine.

2009 Year in Review

Ramzy Halaby Education Fund scholar-ship recipients Keyan Dawoud at her graduation from San Francisco State University and Ahmed Al-Ghrouz graduating from University of New Mexico

Credit: S. Smith Patrick

Ziad Abbas, continued on page 6

MECA NEWS 5

Josie Shields-Stromsness, MECA Program Director

I have often spent weeks, or even months, at a time in Palestine but 2009 was my first year of really living there. People often ask me what my life is like but I can rarely find an adequate response. I think through my last few days and find life can be mundane there. I spend much of my days on a computer and could really be anywhere in the world. But then there are days or moments when something happens that is so absurd and upset-ting that it could only be Palestine.

Life in occupied Palestine meant meeting families in Jerusalem who had been thrown out of their homes by Israeli settlers, pass-ing through three military checkpoints just to reach the nearest movie theater, and constantly fearing for the safety of family members and friends. But there is another, equally powerful side of life here, and that is the strength of community that I saw and was welcomed into as I sat around tables of 10, 20 and even 30 people, danced all night at weddings, and laughed constantly and defiantly.

My home is just across the street from Dheisheh Refugee Camp in the Bethlehem District. It is seven miles away from Jerusa-lem, less than the full length of the Bay Bridge, a distance that thousands of people cross daily. But for Palestinians living in the West Bank it is an almost uncrossable divide. Each person needs a permit from Israeli military authorities. If a permit is granted then one needs to pass through a highly militarized checkpoint with hand scans and a series of metal detectors, remote con-trolled gates, and x-ray machines for purses, shoes, etc. When I lived near the Bethlehem-Jerusalem checkpoint in the beginning

The remains of a home in Beit Jibreen, the original village of one of the children on our trip. Credit: Mohammed Alqassas

“I had the opportunity to help out with a summer camp for Palestinian refugee children whose families are from 40 different villages in what is now Israel.” Credit: Mohammed Alqassas

of the year I would wake up at 3am to the sound of heavy traffic as Palestinians from all over the southern West Bank lined up to go to work in Jerusalem. I never knew seven miles could be such a long commute.

My US passport lets me circumvent these obstacles and for me going to Jerusalem was just a matter of a 20-minute bus ride. Many times during the year I delivered visa applications and let-ters from friends and MECA partners who are not allowed to reach this part of Palestine. It was always a sensitive trip because so many people would have loved the opportunity to walk the streets of the Old City in Jerusalem again, to go to dinner at a relative or friend’s home, or to buy fresh bread from a bakery near Damascus Gate. I could deliver papers and bring back this bread but I could not give them these experiences that the Israeli occupation had taken away.

In the summer I had the opportunity to use my privilege to help out with a summer camp for Palestinian refugee children whose families are from 40 different villages in what is now Israel. At 7am the children piled into the back of the bus while I sat in the front seat with my blonde hair down and a big smile ready for the Israeli soldiers who had the power to let us pass or to send us back. Months later I don’t know if I have found the words for this moment. I felt at once gross for flaunting my white skin and blonde hair and playing into a deeply racist, colonial mentality and also excited to be able to ease the trip for these children who had never seen their lands.

The five-day camp was full of emotion for me and even more so for the children. Each day we hiked through woods planted by the Jewish National Fund to cover up the remains of some of their villages. We also drove into Israeli towns built on top of

My Year in Palestine, continued on page 6

Ziad Abbas, continued on page 6

6 MECA NEWS

Hearing about the death of Howard Zinn a few weeks ago, I thought about my friendship with him over the years, and his relationship with the world. He will be remembered by all of us in so many ways.

Howard Zinn taught a whole generation of young people how to rethink how we look at and understand the history of our coun-try with his book, “A Peoples History of the United States,” which

is now standard reading in many high schools and colleges across the country.

When the Middle East Children’s Alliance was under investiga-tion by the government for two years, it was Howard I would call late into the night for guidance and friendship. When How-ard was not there I would talk sometimes for hours to Roz, his

Ziad Abbas, continued from page 4

amazing to me. And I love taking a shower every day because for the first time in my life there is always water coming out of the faucet.” About working for Palestinian rights in the US, he says, “People here are very busy all the time. You have to fight for their attention. It takes something very big and horrible--like last year’s war on Gaza--to make people take a stand. And then you have to get them to see that there is a war on the people of Palestine every day and they’re paying for it with their taxes. People in this country don’t have the things they need because this money is going to wars and occupation.” He added, “We in MECA are like a bridge. People can come to us to learn what is going on in Palestine and even go there and see the situation. And then we help them to see the connections with their own lives and to do solidarity work in a much deeper, stronger way.”

My Year in Palestine, continued from page 5

more of their villages and found Palestinian houses, mosques, and graveyards tucked in between new townhouses. The chil-dren were made to feel unwelcome visitors on their own lands. Together they dreamed and talked through what it would be like one day when they got back what was rightfully theirs.

My year ended with the Gaza Freedom March. I met Barbara and 1400 other activists from around the world in Cairo. We had mo-ments of extreme frustration at not being able to break the siege of Gaza and also moments of extreme hope as we demonstrated for Palestinian rights and cheered the Cairo Declaration, which laid out a framework for international solidarity with Palestine against Israeli apartheid. For a full year I tried to get from the West Bank to Gaza. I could make local phone calls to our Project Director in Gaza, and to youth and staff at our partner centers, but Israel prevented us from meeting in person throughout the year. Now, Egypt, supporting the siege from the south, was keep-ing me out again—along with the other international activists, and an unknown number of Palestinians trying to return home.

beloved wife. Both of them made themselves available to me during that difficult period.

Howard came to the Bay Area many times to help raise much needed money to help the children of Palestine. His last visit was in 2006 when MECA produced a reading of “Voices of a Peoples History of the United States” with Howard, his long-time close friend Alice Walker, Mos Def and other talented artists.

Howard Zinn was an activist, a teacher, a filmmaker, a writer, a man with a great sense of humor but most of all Howard made all of us think. He made us see that through understanding the history of slavery, poverty, and the struggle for civil rights in this country, we were better equipped to stand up and fight for justice here at home and in the rest of the world. Howard Zinn made us all better people and we will miss him terribly.

On his last day of teaching at Boston University, Howard Zinn ended class 30 minutes early so he could join a picket line in support of an on-campus nurses’ strike, and urged the 500 stu-dents attending his lecture to come along. A hundred did.

“What matters most is not who is sitting in the White House, but who is sitting in—and who is marching outside the White House, pushing for change.” — Howard Zinn

My year in Palestine was an opportunity to watch, to learn, and sometimes even to contribute. It was a pleasure to see so much of MECA’s work first-hand and to begin developing new and stronger relationships on many levels.

Howard ZinnAugust 24, 1922 - January 27, 2010By Barbara Lubin, MECA Director

ABOVE: 1994 event poster. Howard Zinn was one of MECA’s earliest supporters, coming to the Bay Area four times from 1992 to 2006 to do fundraising events.

MECA NEWS 7

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www.mecaforpeace.org

Dennis Brutus in 2003 Credit: Matthew Bradley

Dennis Brutus, November 28, 1924 –December 26, 2009 was a world-renowned poet, a South African leader in the Anti-Apartheid movement, and an ex-political prisoner. He led the successful fight to get South Africa banned from the Olympics in 1970. Dennis spoke often of the parallels he saw between Is-rael’s system of oppression and South Africa’s former regime. He was a good friend and astute advisor to MECA. When the “Palestinian Call for Boycott Divestment and Sanctions Against Israel” was issued in 2005, Dennis came out from Pittsburgh, PA where he was teaching, to meet with Bay Area activists at the MECA office. From him we learned many of the strategies and lessons of the South African anti-apartheid movement and ways to apply that history in our Palestine solidarity work. As Patrick Bond wrote in the Monthly Re-view, “The memory of Dennis Brutus will remain everywhere

there is struggle against injustice. Uniquely courageous, consistent and principled, Brutus bridged the global and local, politics and culture, class and race, the old and the young…”

[Exile] by Dennis Brutus

Exile, exileYou are a bitter wordI eat you with my breadI drink you with my teaYou are the bitter word That makes the world bitter to me

The stars look downThey see the worldThey see a place Where I cannot be

Exile, exileYou are a bitter wordI eat you with my breadI drink you with my teaExile, exileYou make the start bitter to me

Published in “We Begin Here: Poems for Palestine and Lebanon” edited by Kamal Boullata and Kathy Engel.

Remembering Dennis Brutus

11 0 1 8 t h . S t. B e r ke l ey, C a 9 4 7 1 0

author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse, and Electronic Intifada co-founder

speaking on

“How We Can Complete the Gaza Freedom March”

author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse, and Electronic Intifada co-founder

speaking on

“How We Can Complete the Gaza Freedom March”

Ali Abunimah was among the 1,400 activists from around the world who gathered in Cairo last month for the Gaza Freedom March.

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