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PALESTINE WEEK
Palestine Flag Raising
We raised the Palestinian flag at both Clifton and Paterson City Hall! Over 200 members of our community came out to show our unity and our strength at each flag raising ceremony. In Clifton, we were proud to honor recipients of the PACC’s Clifton High School Scholarship and host speakers who highlighted the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. In Paterson, Paterson city council members and elected officials offered their support to the plight and needs of Palestinians. At both ceremonies, we expressed our mourning by raising the flag at half mast.
Find Your Power in Government
Our very own Advocacy and Civic Engagement Manager held an educational forum about the importance of being civically engaged. The 17 attendees left the forum understanding how they are responsible for engaging the people closest to them so we can build and expand our people power.
Student Activism Panel
PACC was proud to facilitate a student activism panel as part of Palestine Week. 30 students and community members listened as panelists from various SJP chapters discussed how they’ve led and experienced activism in their universities. Topics they touched on included divestment, encampments, solidarity, and general Palestine advocacy.
Arabic Story Time
PACC wanted to include children during Palestine Week by having an Arabic storytime and craft session. 16 children and their parents joined us for this engaging event where they read a story, created a craft, and had the opportunity to purchase Arabic children’s books.
Book Club
PACC was excited to host another installment of our Book Club, this time led and facilitated by members of the New York Chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement. We read The Trinity of Fundamentals by Wisam Rafeedie. The two-part session engaged 21 individuals in a discussion on the context of the book and how it relates to the current moment regarding.
Reclaiming Roots: Virtual Teach-In
Ramzy Baroud, a Palestinian-American journalist and activist, led us in an engaging virtual discussion on how the narrative on Palestine has changed this past year and the support for Palestine has grown tremendously. 35 community members joined.
End of Spring Programs PROGRAMS
We concluded all of our Spring session programs this month! Thank you to every community member who was a part of our programs! We hope you enjoyed them as much as we did.
We especially want to highlight our annual programs, Arabic for Kids and Dabka. The achievements of our 26 Arabic students were honored in our annual graduation ceremony and our 70 Dabka students showed off their dancing skills at our annual recital in front of friends and family. Check out pictures from both on our Facebook and Instagram pages and be sure to register your children in the Fall!
We are excited to launch our PACC Summer Fun program in July, Registration for our second session is still open. Register Here.
COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS
Our community workshops continue to be a hit as people are eager to continue learning Palestinian cultural practices. Our Advanced Tatreez workshop was attended by 12 participants who learned how to stitch the traditional manajel pattern. At our Cooking workshop, 20 participants learned how to make delicious knafe, a staple Palestinian dessert. Don’t miss out, register for our upcoming workshops here!
EVENTS
Monday Brunch
To allow our community to heal and prioritize their personal needs, we held our monthly monday brunch and this time the topic was health and fitness. Registered Dietitian, Aya Mustafa gave a presentation on nutrition and answered questions that was followed by a yoga session by instructor Dominga Urrejola. Our Monday Brunches are meant to be a small treat for our women to come together in a safe space to take comfort in the community. Around 15 women attended.
OUTREACH
Justice for All NJ Muslim Leaders Thinking Retreat
PACC was invited by a partner organization, Justice for All, to discuss how local muslim leadership can support Muslim students that are being targeted and censored as they mobilize and advocate for Palestine. Palestine Education Director, Basma Bsharat, attended on behalf of PACC.
Power Of One Family Fun Day
PACC tabled at the annual Power Of One Family Fun Day in Clifton. We introduced many people from the Clifton Community to PACC as a whole, specifically focusing on the various programming and events we offer.
Decolonize The Classroom Teach-in
PACC tabled at a teach-in with Decolonize the Classroom. We sold PACC merch and talked to people about what PACC does!
Palestine Apartheid Workshop in Montclair
Our Palestine Education Director, Basma Bsharat, was invited to speak at a panel/ workshop on Apartheid hosted by the Montclair Quakers and cosponsored by JVP New Jersey. The panel included Stephanie Urdang, a Jewish South African, and the workshop discussed the parallels of apartheid in Palestine and South Africa, while maintaining the unique situation of Palestine.
ICPC Eid Night Bazaar
PACC was delighted to participate as one of the vendors at ICPC’s Eid Night Bazaar, showcasing our latest curated designs. Every purchase from PACC merchandise helps sustain our daily operations. Visit our center to explore our collection and support our cause!
ADVOCACY
Opposing IHRA Bills S1292 & S2937
Upon hearing that two bills were proposed to the senate committee to adopt the IHRA definition of Anti-Semitism in New Jersey, we quickly worked with our partnered coalitions to mobilize our local community to oppose the bills. We directly reached out to all our contacts by making phone calls, posting on social media, sending texts, and helping people register their opposition and sign up to testify at the upcoming hearing during Jumma prayers. We helped community members who needed it write testimonies for the committee hearing. We also created a campaign around having community members call their committee members directly and encouraging local elected officials to testify in opposition on our behalf. Over 600 people signed up to testify at the virtual meeting, and we will continue to advocate and mobilize as long as needed to! PACC was represented during the testimonies by Haliema Twam, Diab Mustafa and Basma Bsharat. Subscribe to our mailing list to stay up to date on this issue.
Maersk Rally & March with NYC PYM
PACC joined the New York City of PYM for a rally and march to protest Maersk, a major company that has ties with Israeli genocide by transporting over $300 million in arms to the Israeli military since just October.
Stop The Red Line Protest in D.C.
We organized a bus for over 50 people to join in surrounding the White House in Protest to the ongoing genocide and massacre in Rafah. Stating we are the RED LINE!
Community Garden
We launched our community garden! With the help of 12 volunteers and some of our community’s kids, we were able to plant Palestinian crops in our newly renovated backyard space! After leveling the ground and installing fencing donated by Samna Construction and Steel Corporation, we got to work! Some of the crops we planted include bamia, warak enab, kusa, eggplant, mint and so much more! The purpose of our garden is to have our community members pass down knowledge about farming techniques and crop cultivation. Check out our pictures here.
NNAAC Advocacy Days
The National Network for Arab American held a 3 day training leading up to our June 27th advocacy day. 55 different representatives from Arab lead organizations all got together to have meetings with over 20 offices of current congressional and senate members on Capitol Hill in D.C. We discussed the importance of passing legislation to meet our community needs and let our voices be heard on the grief our community has been facing as Palestinian Americas at this time.
Ali Institute Leadership Program
This June we began our 8 week summer program in partnership with the Ali Institute. We are helping to grow leadership qualities in 11 students both high school and university students. Through training, workshops, and speakers.
MARKETING CAMPAIGNS
Graduation Posts
We are continuing to highlight the achievements of our community all month long. Check our graduates on instagram and facebook to see their incredible accomplishments.
Eid
Al Adha
Eid Al Adha marked day 254 days since the genocide. We wanted to remind our community to remember the sacrifices being made willingly and unwillingly by the people of Gaza and all of Palestine. Read more and swipe through our post.
Father’s Day
For father’s day, we wanted to remember and commemorate the fathers in Gaza who have sacrificed so much during this ongoing genocide by having our community members share a message. Watch the full video here
Naksa Education Campaign
This month marked 57 years since the Naksa. Read more about the historical significance of this time period and how it offset Israel’s ongoing military occupation. Read the full post here and our informational video here.
Palestinian Father’s Day
For Palestinian Father’s day, we wanted to honor Bassem Tamimi, father of Ahed Tamimi whom we met on one of PACC’s homeland project trips. Bassem was just released by the IOF after being abducted and detained for 8 months. We are pained to see his current state and wish him good health. Read the full post here
