April 2023 Newsletter

We distributed toys on Eid!

For Eid, thanks to Penny Appeal, PACC gave out toys to 200 families. We were met with excitement and warm smiles and are immensely thankful to Penny Appeal for their funding and giving back to the community in this capacity.

You raised $92,541 this Ramadan!

We want to thank PACC family members for their immense generosity this Ramadan! We hosted our annual fundraising iftar with 125 attendees and were able to raise $92,541.

PACC is incredibly grateful to every single person who donated and supported the center! We are not able to continue the work that we do without your support!

You are building 10 homes in Syria!

PACC collected $34,350 donations from the community for the victims of the Earthquake in Syria and Turkey. We partnered with Human Appeal to build 10 permanent homes in northern Syria. We are incredibly proud to be part of this project but we couldn’t have done it without your generosity.

You are donating to families in need!

PACC’s Women’s committee, led by Wafa Elsamna, was able to raise enough money to prepare 200 food boxes for families in need in Gaza.

Programs Spring Programs

We launched our spring program session this month and we’re offering new programs such as Arabic Conversation Class, Cooking for Teens and Men’s Dabka.

We were on ABC news!! Our Dabka Program Advanced Girls, taught by Eman Assaf, were featured in a segment on ABC for Arab American Heritage Month. The segment talked about how important it is to keep the tradition of dabka alive by teaching the next generation of women that they don’t need to stand in the background of a dabka circle– they can lead one themselves. At PACC, we are constantly breaking boundaries and inspiring young girls in our community to embrace and be empowered by their culture. We couldn’t be more proud of our dabka girls! Watch the segment here. (our part begins at 4:07)

Civic Engagement

We went to the MOVE Summit!

In honor of Arab American Heritage Month, two of our team members flew out to Dearborn, Michigan for the MOVE Summit. The summit was a space organized by Access and NNAAC. It was 3 days of Arab American organizers meeting and speaking about matters most important to them in the Arab community. We also made history at the 51st Annual Move Dinner by being a part of the 2nd largest sit-down dinner in the U.S. with an estimated 1,500 attendees!

We met our goal for the MENA Campaign!

Earlier in the month, alongside our NNAAC family, we succeeded in surpassing our goal of 10,000 comments for the MENA Campaign! Our Grassroots Organizing Team helped with the MENA Outreach by phone banking and attending community gatherings. We also reached out to various influencers like Jenan Matari to increase the MENA comment efforts.

School 25 Arab Heritage Month Workshop

In honor of Arab American Heritage Month, school administrators and volunteers asked PACC to deliver a presentation highlighting Arab culture and undoing stereotypes about Arabs that students at their school were being subjected to. Abire Sabbagh, our Palestine Education Director delivered a workshop to a full auditorium of 7th and 8th graders who enjoyed the workshop. The Arab students especially felt seen and validated.

PACC Goes to Trenton

This month, our Executive Director, Rania Mustafa, made her way to Trenton to advocate for Palestine during the Arab American Heritage Month hearing. She spoke to the governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, and along with other Arab and Palestinian American colleagues had a conversation about why Palestine should be centered in the conversation.

We launched our Grassroots Organizing Team

Throughout the month of April, our grassroots organizing team of 6 youths, started their internship by supporting and empowering our community through tabling and phone banking. They provided our community with information and resources on how to support their communities through representation, identification and voter registration. This month, PACC tabled at ICPC taraweeh and Clifton Community Resource Expo.

Advocacy for Palestine

We released a statement!

In response to the brutal terrorism inflicted by the Israeli Occupation Forces on April 4th towards Palestinian worshipers at Al-Aqsa, we released a statement condemning the attacks.

We went to the Hands off Al-Aqsa Protest

As co-sponsors, we joined AMP-NJ at Times Square in NYC for a protest and march to show our support for the Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque who were brutally attacked during Ramadan. We provided a bus for 43 community members. Our Program and Events Coordinator, Fedah Mohammed, spoke about our responsibility to never normalize such attacks on Palestinians in their home cities by the IOF and Israeli settlers.

We spoke at Rutgers New Brunswick

Barry Mahmoud, on behalf of PACC, spoke at a rally to condemn the attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque hosted by The Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at Rutgers New Brunswick. He emphasized the importance of not normalizing violence against Palestinians.

Marketing

We celebrated Arab American Heritage Month

We celebrated this special month by sending out an email campaign highlighting the many ways we can uplift our Palestinian/Arab American neighbors and community members. In collaboration with Jenan Matari, we created a video that explains the contributions Palestinians have made to the Arab world through food, music, and our shared struggle against oppression or imperialism and western intervention in the middle east.

We highlighted Ramadan and Easter in Palestine

This month we shared what Ramadan looks like in Palestine on social media by highlighting some of the traditions that are enjoyed, such as eating Qatayef after Iftar, praying at Al-Aqsa Mosque and hosting family gatherings. Although we prayed for a peaceful Ramadan for our Palestinian Muslim sisters and brothers, like clockwork, they faced brutal oppression and terrorism at the hands of the Israeli Occupation forces. We released a statement via email and posted on Instagram condemning the attacks and demanded elected officials and community leaders to publicly shame Israel’s actions.

We also shared images of Palestinians celebrating Easter in the streets of Jerusalem and in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre while wishing them a joyous and blessed Easter. Unfortunately, Palestinian Christians were victims of brutal attacks by the Israeli Occupation Forces and were barred from attending Service at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Israel is constantly imposing acts of Jewish Supremacy while Muslims and Christians live in fear of not being able to practice their religions freely. At PACC, we support all religions being able to practice in peace and comfortably in their homelands.