Middle East Children’s Alliance STEEN W TO RC CT PESO ee eee COL cae Last fall Sahar Abbasi, deputy director of the Madaa Silwan Cre- ative Center, traveled to the U.S. for the first time for a speaking tour, organized by MECA. She visited eight cities, along with the photo exhibit “ROOM NO. 4.” Madaa is MECA’s partner in the Silwan area of East Jerusalem. We have helped them build a playing field, buy a small building, hire a librarian and a social worker, and provide recreation for children and youth, Sahar is deeply dedicated to improving life for children and women, Her work with children who are arrested and their fami- lies, her interviews, and research are the basis for “ROOM NO. 4,” an exhibit of staged photos and real testimonies illustrating the experiences of Palestinian children who have been arrested. Life in occupied East Jerusalemis very hard because of encroach- ing settlers and the Israeli government's plan to “Judaize” the whole city. “Administrative demolitions” leave families home- less; violent attacks by Israeli settlers are common; and people are often arrested, beaten and tortured by Israeli authorities, ‘A Human Rights Watch report states, “Israeli security forces have used unnecessary force to arrest or detain Palestinian children, Se- curity forces have choked children, thrown stun grenades at them, beaten them in custody, threat- ened and interrogated them without the presence of parents or lawyers, and failed to let their parents know their whereabouts.” At the time Sahar left for the U.S., Palestinians were being subjected to greater Israeli violence and repression than usual, Open acid Se Lira eee Seta Ne aoe etre ET ‘CREDIT: Adi Khalifa photographed by Ashraf Dowani which is still going on now. (See page 4). Sahar spoke about how much she worried about her teenage son back home and about ‘one of his friends, an outstanding student headed for medical school, who had been shot and killed by Israeli police just a few weeks earlier. During a recent interview with The Progressive magazine, Sahar said: There are different reasons why children are picked up. It can be {for throwing stones, gathering information or simply to intimidate ‘other family members. Israeli security knows the impact of tar- geting children. Keep in mind that seventy percent of PalestinianLetter from the Diactor by Barbara Lubin Co-Founder and Executive Director Dear Friend of MECA, ‘As most of you know, water issues have been a special concern of mine and the Middle East Children’s Alliance for a number of years. Through our Maia Project we have built and installed water purification systems at schools throughout Gaza so thousands of children—and their families—can have clean water to drink. Drinking clean water; | can't imagine anything more ba- sic. Which is why | was so profoundly shocked and angry when | heard about what had happened to the drinking water in Flint, Michigan. In case you missed this story: In 2014, the unelected “Emergency Manager” appointed by the Michigan Governor decided to save money by switching the city’s water from the Detroit system (which comes from Lake Michigan) to a system supplied by the Flint River. To save even more money, the river water wasn't treated to prevent the aging lead pipes from cor- roding and leaching lead into the water. The levels of lead-one of the most deadly neurotoxins on the planet-soon starting showing up in children’s blood at three times the usual level. The damage to the children’s health and developmentis severe. And perma- nent. The eyes of the mothers in Flint who learned they were giving their children poisoned water are the same eyes of the Palestinian mothers in Gaza I've looked into so many times. Making matters worse, the Michigan state government denied there was a problem for years. State officials per- sonally attacked anyone who tried to raise the alarm. www.shoppalestine.org =. Proceeds from the sale of these items support our programs in Palestine |ALESTINE 2 MECA NEWS ‘CREDIT: Ahmed Sohail Which meant the poisoning went on for more than a year after the government was alerted. This is the Unit ed States. In 2016. And it makes me hope that some- body will be putting water purification systems in Flint’s schools. It also reminds me of something Martin Luther King, Jr. once said. That the bombs we were dropping in Viet Nam were exploding in our own cities. If we can’t even trust our own government to make sure our water isn't poi- soned, how can we expect them to pressure Israel to stop stealing water from the Palestinians and leaving them wa- ter that is putrid and toxic? Throughout this newsletter, on our website, and in the emails we send out, you can see how busy we've been this past year and how the need is greater than ever. Of course, we could not have done any of it without your generous support and | am so grateful for everything you have enabled us to do. | wish | could promise that 2016 would be the year that we finally brought peace with jus- tice for Palestine and Palestinians and that we would be able to safely bring home all the refugees—victims of the violence, not the perpetrators—from Lebanon and Syria. Since that seems unlikely we're going to continue doing as much as we can to relieve the suffering of as many chil- dren as we can. | hope you'll continue to be there with us. With many thanks, bubnrfamilies in East Jerusalem live below the poverty line, Pales- tinian children are released from custody often only after their Parents pay a huge fine. Who ean afford it? Sometimes I don't know if my children will come home alive or nat. Kids are being killed on the spat by Israeli security as crimi- nals. This can't last. It is getting worse and worse. The Israeli government [is] blaming the Palestinians for everything and feeding the violence ROOM NO. 4 is an inaus intsrogation rom inthe Russian Compound—the main Isracli police office in Jerusa- Jem—where Palestinian children are interrogated. The ROOM NO. 4 photography campaign illustrates the reality the children face when arrested and detained, and is based on children’s test- monies collected by Madaa Silwan Creative Center. The photos are by Ashraf Dowani, a Palestinian photographer from Jerusalem. Ashraf credits a child from Silwan who said, “The first thing you see when you go to Room Number 4 are hands beating your face,” with giving him the artistic inspira- tion for these photos. The idea was to use unknown hands in the frame, a black background, and dramatic lighting to “create the perfect mood for the viewer to feel the fear and loneliness of the children when they go to Room Number 4.” ‘This child was arrested on his way home from school under the pretext of throwing stones in February 2015. Photo by Majd Ghaith of the Wadi Hi web Information Center, Silwan, East Jerusalem. Visit wwwsilwanic.net To bring ROOM NO. 4 to your communi contact Josie at josie@MECA forPeace. Ce ees OO OSE STRPalestinian Youth Strugaling for their Rights seat Staff ‘The actions ofthe new Palestinian generation living under Israeli ‘occupation are shocking the world. Naturally, the media focuses on the random knife attacks against Israeli settlers. But there have also been dozens of demonstrations and hundreds of acts of civil disobedience by Palestinians in the last several months. This activism triggered a new wave of Israeli state repression and violence. At the same time, it’s exposing the corruption of the Palestinian Authority and weakness of political leaders ‘This new Palestinian generation was bor after the First Intifada in 1987 and barely experienced the Second Intifada in 2000. hey grew up under the conditions of the “Oslo Agreement,” which was supposed to give Palestinians “autonomy” and end the occupation. Instead, it established the Palestinian Authority, with its sham negotiations and its cooperation with Israel. The brutal Israeli occupation became even more entrenched. Chil- 4éren and youth watched as Israeli settlements swallowed up their land, as friends and family members were imprisoned and killed, as soldiers invaded their neighborhoods and refugee camps. Sahar Abbasi, deputy director of the Madaa Silwan Creative Center, MECA’s partner in East Jerusalem (See front page), de- seribes the reality there: “Children walk every morning on their way to school, passing houses confiscated by Israeli settlers and protected by the Israeli occupation army. Most of the time, the Israeli soldiers harass them and search their school bags.” Maya Abu Al Hayat, director of the Palestine Writing Workshop adds, “The violence is in our streets. Even if we keep our chil- dren at home, they still can see through the window, hear the shooting, and smell the tear gas.” Intellectuals and politicians discuss whether what is going in Palestine is @ new “intifada” (popular uprising) or not. But the Palestinian youth don’t care what they will call it. They con- tinue to take action in the streets of Palestinian cities, villages, and camps. Collective punishment by Israel fuels more anger and more action. Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed dozens of young Palestinians including unarmed protesters, young men with knives who could have been disarmed, and others doing nothing at all. The friends of Palestinian victim are usually ar- rested and held for weeks or months. The family’s home is often demolished. 4 MECA NEWS Dozens of Palestinian students in Nablus take a part ina march in Pree eee ae The youth ate not following established leaders Social media is the main tool for communication and planning protests. Online, they can express their thoughts against the Istaeli occupation and show their desire for freedom, even if it costs them time in Is- racli jails. In November, Israeli police arrested Anas Khateeb, a Palestinian teenager, for Facebook posts and held him for more than a month Haidar Eid, an independent political commentator from the Gaza Strip wrote about this new generation of activists in an Electronic Intifada article called “Palestine de-Osloized”: This is a generation that is telling us that they are opposed to all ‘forms of collaboration with the occupier. This is a generation that has seen nothing from Oslo but defeat and humiliation, and they are throwing it off. They are saying—and we should hear them—that coexistence based on colonization and apartheid is no coexistence at all. Itis slavery and they will no longer accept it. Palestine’s youth are saying: we want all our rights and will ac- cept nothing less. The Palestinian people have been struggling against the Israeli colonial occupation for 68 years and we have not given up our political rights. The Nakba generation focused on surviving and keeping the Palestinian cause alive. All the generations that came after focused on developing the struggle to achieve our political rights.“PEOPLE, HERE; AR DO NOT HA Report from Gaza by Safaa El Derawi More than a year after the Israeli aggression on the Gaza strip in 2014, the situation here continues to get worse. The Israeli siege destroys any chance of living a decent life, the houses are still damaged and the feelings of pain, loss, and sorrow are still there in the depth of our hearts. Gaza’s wounds are still open and will not heal very soon. Gaza is just like heaven, people do not have to work.” This is the sad joke I hear every day. Unemployment has reached 64% and everyone’s greatest concem is providing food for their children, They believe that they will never live an ordinary life. “People here are living because they do not have the choice to die,” an old man concluded. Gaza has become the world’s biggest prison, People are sitting, waiting, waiting for nothing. Half of the people in one recent survey said they want to leave, However, this remains a dream because of the continuous closure of Rafah Crossing Border to Egypt, and there is no way to get permission to leave through Isracl. Thousands of students missed their academic year, thou- sands of patients are dying slowly, and thousands of families are waiting to be united again, am the only one of my friends who was lucky enough to find a {job after graduation from the university, Many people send their male children to the university instead of female children be- cause there are more opportunities for men with degrees to find jobs and earn money. A parent of a female student who receives a MECA scholarship asked if one of his sons could take her place. But we insisted on helping the young woman complete her studies. My job working with MECA provides me with the opportunity Een Water Engineer can Project Assistant to visit all areas of the Gaza Strip. ‘Those visits, from the north of NM ‘ous psychological impact on me. T see people's real and miser- able lives. I see the pain in their eyes, their broken hearts, and their hopelessness about the future. Their highest ambitions have become a small amount of money, a food parcel, and eight hours of electricity cach day. Gaza to the south, have had a seri- According to the U.N., about 96,000 families lost their houses during the last Israeli aggression on Gaza. Those families suffer from the rain and floods in winter. Many live in small, cramped trailers now. They do not feel warm and they cannot prevent rain from entering the house. Sometimes, they literally sink into the ground. And children suffer from the negative psychological ef- fects of war. Once they hear the sound of thunder, they start hid- ing, screaming and crying. Many families in Gaza need urgent help and MECA provides ‘as much as we can, MECA distributes warm clothes and plastic sheets to cover the holes in houses. MECA has installed 71 water purification units in schools and kindergartens, “Let the Children Play and Heal” is the MECA project that touches my heart the most. It addresses the psychological effects of war on children, I know how much the children are suffering, and how much they need caring adults and creative activities to bring the smile back on their lips ‘We love life and our children deserve to live. ‘winter in Gaza is very hard for children ‘CREDIT: Juliane Kravik eReAbove: Joxs Sth Anniversary screenprint poster done in 1993 Right: a fundraising print done for MECAs 25th anniversary CREDIT: MECA MECA and Alliance Graphies are so proud to announce that our Art Director Jos Sances was awarded the 2015 “Art is a Ham- ‘mer Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Center for the Study of Political Graphics. It’s a fitting honor for Jos who has devoted his entire life to using art as an instrument for peace and justice. “Besides being an amazing artist, Jos’s commitment to Palestine and Palestinians has been unwavering and made it possible for us to do so much of the work that we do—and to look so fabulous doing it,” said MECA Executive Director Barbara Lubin, For more than 25 years, Jos has designed almost everything for the Middle East Children’s Alliance: T-shirts, aprons, annual re- ports, event invitations, banners, website, mailings, posters and so much more, Jos is also the co-founder and art director of Alli- ance Graphics, a union screenprint, embroidery and promotional products shop owned by MECA. “For our ‘A Child’s View from Gaza’ art exhibit Jos literally ere- ated the large scale art pieces, mounted them and hung them— creating a gallery from an empty storefront—in a matter of days. Something you would expect to take several weeks or more to do.” Barbara said, ‘Over the last forty or so years, Jos has designed and printed post- ers for hundreds of organizations, events, musicians and film- makers; creating posters commemorating events, demonstra- tions, rallies and concerts. Iis screen-printed portraits of people like Noam Chomsky, Edward Said, Rachel Corrie and Waldo Salt are sought after by collectors and activists alike. Several ‘years ago the Library of Congress purchased his entire collection of work as a major acquisition. Ie is a regular illustrator and designer for many union publications, ‘The Fakhoury Family in Hebron, Palestine has been mak- ing pottery for generations. In fact, the name Fakhoury even means “potter” in Arabic, MECA staff and delegation members have been visiting and buying from their small shop for more than a decade—for personal use and to sell at our annual crafts bazaar and online. An enormous amount of high quality work is produced in the midst of aggres- sive Isracli settler expansion supported by a huge military presence that is a constant threat to the family, the work- ers, and their very existence. They are forced to bring in all their supplics including clay using hand trucks and wagons, since there is an Israeli military checkpoint on the road in front of the Fakhoury Family Pottery Shop. Last summer, when Lucia Ippolito was visiting Palestine as part ofa small MECA mural group, she was humbled by Mr. Fakhoury’s determination to keep his family’s home and workshop. “He told me about a Jewish Australian who offered him $7 million to purchase his home, He said that he could never face his father in heaven if he sold it.” USS. sales are extremely important to the Fakhoury family. Purchase of pottery and other items from MECA directly benefit Palestinian artisans and help strengthen their com- munities, Holding on to the family craft, shop, and home, Some of the Fakhoury family’s wares CREDIT: MECA See more at www-ShopPalestine.orgCongratulations to the Girls of Shorua! Shorug (“Sunrise”) Organization, MECA’s Palestinian partner in Dheisheh Refugee Camp is one of 20 organizations in 19 coun- tries to receive the very first “With and For Girls awards in November 2015. Shorug was recognized for its work to promote and defend the rights of refugees and stateless people, particu- larly young women and girls. “We wanted a new beginning and a new dawn for girls and the young,” said Suha Ziyada, who has worked for the organization for two years. “We focus on Pal- estinian refugees, advocating for their rights—especially their right to retum, We provide support for them to be able to deter- mine their rights and, hopefully, protect them in the future.” Shorug provides a girls-only space to allow girls to share their experiences with others and better support one another. They lear how to express themselves using music, audio, video, pho- tography and dance. Currently, Shorug is in the process of col- lecting oral history interviews from refugee elders and working to ensure a prominent voice for women in telling their story to future generations, In 2014 Shorug started a pro bono law clinic that provides legal and social support for refugee children from Bethlehem district who ate in conflict with the law. Last year, the three members of the Shoruq’s girls’ hip-hop group performed in the US. ‘The “With and For Girls” awards were conceived by the Stars Foundation in London, and are now the work of a group of funders, including The Global Fund for Children and the Malala Fund, Muna Wehbe, CEO of Stars Foundation says “We want to shine a spotlight on these outstanding local organizations and en- courage more funders to support girls in their role as vital agents of change within [the NGO] sector.” ‘Suha Ziyada of Shoruq accepting a“With and For Girls” awards given to 20 organizations in 19 countries. "We wanted anew beginning and a new dawn for girls and the young” CREDIT: STARS Foundation Yes! | want to help protect the health, lives, and rights of the children in the Middle East. Here is my tax-deductible contribution Oi sas O $50 (4 $500 Gs Id like to join MECA’s Children’s Circle with a monthly gift of $ [JA check payable to MECA is enclosed. Osi00 Oi s250 [ | Please charge this credit card in the amount indicated above. Card Number: Expiration Date: Security code Signature: Email me MEA Address: MIDDLE EAST CHILDREN'S ALLIANCE chy 57.216 1101 8th. St. Berkeley, Ca 94710 ‘To make a donation onli MECA is a 501(¢)3 exempt organization. Your gift is tax-deductible as a charitable contribution. soto: www.mecaforpeace.org/donate www.mecaforpeace.org MECA NEWS 7Ion proFit onG| US POSTAGE PAID MIDDLE EAST CHILDREN’S ALLIANCE BERKELEY CA 1101 Bth. St. Berkeley, Ca 94710 PERMIT #265 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, zm in Brktey: Palestinian-American poetactivist/political commentator REMI KANAZI, with his new book Before the Next Bomb Drops: Rising Up from Brooklyn to Palestine, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall, 1606 Bonita. ULE Les ILAN PAPPE, MORE INFO & TICKETS at www.mecaforpeace.o g