Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION
As Israeli bombs began falling on Gaza last summer, the Middle East Childrens Alliance responded immediately
to calls for help from our friends and partners on the ground. The urgent needs in Gaza became the primary focus
of our work for the rest of the year. MECA was able to do a great deal of critical, life-saving work, in the face of
great obstacles, thanks to your generous support. We wired funds almost daily to MECA Gaza Projects Director
Dr. Mona El-Farra, who, with a core group of volunteers, delivered food, medicine, and even some hours of
fun, to the ever-increasing number of families displaced by the bombardment. Thousands of new and long-time
supporters from around the world sent donations in an act of solidarity and to let Gaza live. At the same time, we
were able to maintain our support for vital community projects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, continue
to build playgrounds, award scholarships, and provide aid to refugees from Syria. We never want to see the
kind of horror we saw in Gaza last summer. But if it happens, we know that MECA, our Palestinian
partners, and our supporters have the determination and the ability to overcome enormous challenges.
Note: Numbers vary by reporting agencies and people continue to die from injuries sustained last summer and from
new explosions of abandoned shells. The number of those
still displaced is estimated to be 100,000.
CREDIT: MECA
1,300
1,400
2,400
1,650
Anonymous
900
Anonymous
2,900
Anonymous
1,300
400
2,000
2,000
170
Supporters in Nevada County, California, and the Rachel Corrie Foundation for
200
Total Students
19,405
SHORUQ ORGANIZATION
Defending Refugee Rights,
Bringing their Stories to the
World
Shoruq organization in Dheisheh Refugee Camp, Palestine has been thriving since it started just two years
ago. The women, children, and youth are telling the
stories of their lives through the arts and media. Shoruqs audio recording studio, a youth debke (traditional
Palestinian dance) troupe, oral history project, and
more is bringing greater understanding about the lives
of Palestinian refugees to the local community, the region and, increasingly, other parts of the world.
Shoruqs state-of-the-art studio serves as an exciting
classroom where young people learn technical skills
that could lead to employment opportunitiesand
they learn much more. The media program, like all Shoruqs work, keeps its focus on the rights of Palestinian
refugees. So, workshop topics include womens rights,
journalism ethics, media coverage, childrens rights,
along with instruction in things like sound editing and
recording, interview techniques, and song-writing. The
youth are given opportunities to produce their own
pieces and get them out as widely as possibleand
then to train the next group of new participants.
Shoruqs other main area of work is legal aid and advocacy. They have just released a report in English and
Arabic Refugee Children in Conflict with the Law in
Bethlehem with Childrens Rights International Network.
Refugees from Syria are determined to continue their education. MECA supporters are helping them by providing children with backpacks, school supplies, shoes, clothing, and
basic hygiene supplies.
CREDIT: MECA
MECA funded the construction of another beautiful playground in Beit Skariya village in partnership with Riwaq
Association for Architectural Conservation. The playground is located next to the villages one room elementary
school on land donated by the head of the village council. It includes a fun elephant climbing structure with a
slide, a small stone pavilion area for childrens activities like theater, and swings.
Before the construction of the playground, one woman in the village complained, Our children are isolated here.
There is no safe place to play because of threats from the settlers and transportation difficulties make it hard to
take them out of the village to interact with other children or to participate in summer camps or sports.
Thanks to MECA and Riwaq, all this has changed. Two mothers told MECA how much the children loved having
a space to play both during and after school. Every afternoon, they said, You can find most of the villages 60
children at the playground.
This small agricultural village, between Bethlehem and Hebron in the West Bank, is broken up into five enclaves
by illegal Israeli settlements, Israeli-only bypass roads, and an Israeli military base. The settlements block access
to the village, confiscate agricultural land, and settlers regularly harass and threaten the villagers. Many families
have been forced to abandon their homes in Beit Skariya. As part of this project, and to help people stay, Riwaq
renovated 18 homes and installed insulation in the school, which also serves as a clinic when a doctor visits and
as the villages meeting place.
In 2014 Shatha Safi of Riwaq
Center for Architectural Conservation, Palestine and Yara Sharif
of NG Architects and Palestine
Regeneration Team, United
Kingdom won the prestigious
Holcim Prize for Adaptive Reuse
for the design of womens center
and playground in the village of
Beit Iksa. MECA is providing the
funds for the playground, which
has not yet been completed
due, in part, to an Israeli check
point prohibiting materials and
workers from entering the village.
CREDIT: MECA
MASARA VILLAGE
Healthy Food Prepared with Love
and Determination
MECA continues to support the mothers and grandmothers of Masara Village in the West Bank, who rise
every day before dawn to prepare healthy food for the
children in the village. In 2008 the women went to
the pre-school/kindergarten and the two elementary
schools to replace packaged junk food with healthy,
homemade food, using many ingredients they grow
themselves, including zaatar (thyme) and meat pies,
falafel, popcorn, and fruit smoothies. MECA helps the
group purchase monthly supplies and buy and maintain equipment like an industrial blender and a large
gas oven.
Last year, the Jenin Freedom Theatre (JFT) in Jenin Refugee Camp, West Bank, welcomed
a new theatre school class and graduated another. They produced five new theatre plays,
including their first-ever play for small children, restaged two of its most successful productions to date, and took productions on tour across the West Bank, reaching an audience of
more than seven thousand. The theatre introduced live streams, enabling audiences around
the world to see performances as they happened; met international audiences at speaking
tours in the UK and US; and were invited to give workshops and speak at seminars, conferences, and other events in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. They launched three new photography courses for children and young adults, published two photography exhibitions, one
book of novels, one photography book, and two issues of its youth magazine. Three of JFTs
short films were selected for participation in several international film festivals.
10
CREDIT: MECA
The autumn was a milestone for The Freedom Theatre as work began on several theatre
productions simultaneously, many of which went on tour to villages, Bedouin encampments,
towns and refugee camps throughout the West Bank. These tours shared the aim of countering the very deliberate Israeli strategy of fragmenting and dividing Palestinian society.
February. The award-winning film documentary, A World Not Ours, the story of Ein elHelweh, Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon
April. MECA welcomed
back bay area favorite Ali
Abunimah with his new
book The Battle for Justice
in Palestine, along with
Refaat Alareer and RawanYaghi who read from Gaza
Writes Back: Stories from
young writers in Gaza, Palestine.
May. Carry it Forward,
Celebrate the Children of Resistance.
MECA collaborated
with the Rosenberg
Fund for Children to
present a video of the
theatrical production about the 60th anniversary
of the execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.
December. Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Richard Falk spoke about his new
book, Palestine: The Legitimacy of Hope.
In-Kind Donations
(Medical Relief)
Revenue from Sales &
Public Events
Foundations & Matching
Donations
Benets for Meca
Interest Income
Program Expenses
Fundraising
Administration
Program Expenses
The Maia Project
194,190.00
Direct Aid
132,552.00
Childrens Projects
383,701.00
The Scholarship Program 176,386.00
Public Education
102,567.00
Medical Aid
99,614.00
Total Program Expenses 1,089,010.00
18%
12%
35%
16%
9%
9%
12
In Memoriam
On March 8, 2014 the Middle East Childrens Alliance lost our dear friend David Halaby. David,
along with his wife Mona, gave so much to MECA
and the children of Palestine. They participated,
with two of their sons, and other family members,
in two MECA delegations to Palestine. David
shared his familys story of exile from Jerusalem at
a MECA event in Berkeley and was a generous and
loyal supporter. For many years, we counted on
David to pack, haul, store and unpack goods for
the annual Joining Hands Palestinian Bazaar (See
page 16). David was also a master woodworker,
sailor, loving husband, father, and grandfather.
MECA is so grateful for the outpouring of support
from dozens of people who honored David by
making contributions to protect and improve the
lives of Palestinian children.
Check to see if your employer has a matchinggifts program. You may be able to double (or even
triple) your donation to MECA just by filling out a
form.
Workplace Giving
Gifts of Stock
Donate for Charity will tow your car, handle all the
paperwork, and sell your carwith the proceeds
going to MECA.
Call 866-392-4483 or fill out an online form at www.
donateforcharity.com. Be sure to select Middle East
Childrens Alliance from the pull-down menu on the
form.
15
Founding Advisors
Sen. James Abourezk
Maya Angelou
Anan Ameri
Dr. Swee Chai Ang
Dr. Fathi Arafat
Prof. Naseer Aruri
Rabbi Leonard Beerman
Prof. Joel Beinin
Jeanne Butterfield
Prof. Noam Chomsky
Ramsey Clark
Dr. Charlie Clements
Dr. Davida Coady
Hon. John Conyers
Angela Y. Davis
Ossie Davis
Hon. Ronald Dellums
Prof. Troy Duster
Kathy Engel
Samih Farsoun
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Max Gail
Allen Ginsberg
Hon. Jackie Goldberg
Yvonne Golden
Bluma Goldstein
Susan Goltsman
Khader Hamide
Rabbi Burt Jacobson
Hon. Grantland Johnson
June Jordan
Casey Kasem
Ying Lee
Riyad Khoury
Prof. Mel King
Felicia Langer
Jerry Levin
Ibrahim Abu Lughod
Bill Means
Holly Near
Prof. Hilton Obenzinger
Jack ODell
Father Bill ODonnell
Matti Peled
Antonio Rodriguez
Michel Roublev
Prof. Edward Said
Rev. Gus Schultz
Pete Seeger
Prof. Hisham Sharabi
Stanley Sheinbaum
Samir Totah
Leah Tsemel
Marc Van Der Hout
Alice Walker
Prof. Dick Walker
Sharon Wallace
Hon. Maxine Waters
Leonard Weinglass
Brian Willson
Leon Wofsy
Tawfiq Zayyad
Jim Zogby
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