May 2024 Newsletter

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Palestine Day on Palestine Way: A Day of Resilience

and Representation

PACC hosted our 3rd annual commemoration of Palestine Way, which attracted over 10,000 people from all across the country. It was a day to come together as a community and show our resilience, persistence and endurance despite the unimaginable pain our community has been through. We highlighted and honored the Palestinian businesses that make up our vibrant community, who have worked tirelessly to make the city of Paterson and South Paterson specifically known as Little Palestine. We hosted over 60 vendors who support Palestine. Our civic engagement team collected 256 pledge cards and 15 voter registration cards. Our Palestine Education table featured Palestinian crafts and activities for children to participate in as well as Palestine trivia for adults. It was an engaging and interactive time for everyone to learn something new about Palestine. The children of the community waved the Palestinian flag and our Arabic students performed traditional Palestinian songs. We were also joined by influential speakers such as Laila El- Haddad and Linda Sarsour, and enjoyed passionate performances centered around Palestine by Omar Offendum, Zach Matari, and Al-Raya Group. It was a day full of Palestinian pride, serving as a reminder that we will continue to exist no matter what we go through. Our existence itself is resistance to the constant threat of erasure

We are very grateful to our community and those who came from out of state to join our festivities. Check out our pictures and videos on our social media pages! We also wanted to thank our sponsors for their help in funding this event.

Meet the Newest Members of our PACC Team

Welcome Haliema Twam, a passionate advocate for change and a proud first-generation Palestinian-American, hailing from our vibrant community of New Jersey. With a heart deeply rooted in solidarity with all oppressed peoples, Haliema brings a wealth of experience and dedication to her new role as the Civic Engagement and Advocacy Manager at PACC.

Bayann Amer is PACC’s new Office Manager. You’ve probably already met her if you’ve stopped by our center recently! She graduated from Towson University in Maryland where she earned a major in Law and American Civilization with a minor in Spanish. She is dedicated to Palestinian Liberation and is proud to join the team at PACC. Bayann’s hobbies include traveling, exercising, and baking.

Omar B. Rimawi is PACC’s new Marketing Director. Omar is a Production Artist and marketing professional with a heavy focus on organic social media, community building and relationship management, and a content creation professional. A first generation Palestinian-American, he wants to utilize his skillset to elevate and embolden the Palestinian community and strengthen our ties to other communities in the region as well.

PROGRAMS

Get Ready for PACC Summer Fun

We’ve expanded and improved our PACC Summer Fun program to offer even more exciting activities for our students to enjoy! Participants can now look forward to weekly field trips, engaging daily activities, in-house cooked lunches, and a brandnew rotate and drop schedule. Each day will end with fun activities, many of which will highlight Palestinian education and culture. Make sure to register on our website today– spots are filling up fast!

Community Workshops

We proudly continued our Tatreez, Cooking, and Art community workshops this month, attracting a diverse group of participants. These workshops not only provide our community with valuable skills, but they also celebrate and honor our rich cultural heritage. During our cooking workshop, those in attendance mastered the art of making Msakhan rolls and Fattoush salad. Our tatreez workshop introduced participants to a new pattern featuring the Palestinian flag. Our art workshop focused on Palestinian themes, perfectly timed with the 76th anniversary of the Nakba. To register for any of our upcoming workshops, please visit our website!

WORKSHOPS

Supporting the Rutgers Newark Encampment

After collecting supplies from the community, PACC was honored to visit and donate supplies to the students and people holding down the fort at the Rutgers University, Newark encampment. PACC is proud of all students and community members participating in encampments nationwide.

Tatreez Workshop at Rutgers University

PACC’s Tatreez instructor, Wafa Ayyad, hosted a beginner’s tatreez workshop for the students in the encampment. She gave a powerful presentation on the role of women and tatreez in our resistance, followed by a hands-on demonstration where participants practiced their tatreez skills. 15 people participated.

Virtual Tatreez Workshop

Wafa Ayyad also hosted a virtual workshop at Rocky Hill Library in Connecticut. Over 40 participants attended this online workshop, where they were introduced to a brief history of tatreez and then were guided through the process of creating simple Palestinian embroidery patterns.

EVENTS

Gaza Now

PACC was honored to have Dr. Ahmed Ebeid join us for a moving presentation on his experience on his last two medical missions to Gaza. Dr. Ebeid has been on medical missions throughout his career, but he discussed just how difficult but simultaneously inspirational the experiences serving in Gaza were. 35 people attended.

Purple Pizza Book Launch

Amanda Najib, a long-time PACC community member, released her first children’s book, Purple Pizza: A Palestinian Food Tale. PACC was excited to host her debut book launch. Purple Pizza refers to Msakhan, the national Palestinian dish. Around 40 children and adults alike enjoyed this engaging book reading and discussion.

Monday Brunch

In honor of the Nakba this month, we hosted Hada Sarhan who screened two films about the Nakba by director Kahdijeh Habashneh. She then hosted an interactive Q&A session with the 18 women in attendance.

Nakba Documentary Screening

PACC commemorated the 76th anniversary of the Nakba with a screening of our documentary “Stories of the Nakba: 75 Years Later”. The screening was followed by a discussion led by Enas Ghenaam, a resident of Gaza who came to visit the U.S. for the first time from Gaza for a conference only to be stuck here since. Enas’ own aunt was featured in our Nakba documentary, which shows how systematic the Nakba is: many survivors of the current Nakba in Gaza have families displaced from the original Nakba of 1948.

Voices from Palestine Series: Live From Rafah

We planned to host a conversation with Wa’ad Abu Zaher, who was going to share what life in Rafah has been like lately. However, due to the reality of living under genocide, she was unable to join us due to unforeseen circumstances. We instead held an open discussion with the 20 participants who joined about what we should be learning from the Nakba in the present moment. We are grateful for Hiba Bi’rat who helped moderate the conversation.

Infiltrators Documentary Screening

We hosted a screening of “Infiltrators”, a documentary that chronicles the daily and difficult efforts of Palestinians trying to travel in their own land. The screening was followed by a discussion with the director himself, Khaled Jarrar. About 30 people attended and all proceeds from the event went towards supporting Khaled in all his upcoming filming endeavors.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH

Municipal Elections

Our civic engagement team made sure the constituents of the 6th Ward in Paterson got out the vote on May 14 for the Municipal Elections. Our 10 volunteers made about 1,300 phone calls to our local community members and educated over 300 people about the importance of this election.

Advocacy Efforts in Howell Township

In collaboration with JVP, Voices for Humanity, and ICPJ, PACC called 55 community members to urge them to attend their local town hall meeting where people were trying to take down a billboard that said “Stand with Humanity, Stand with Palestine”. Our efforts were successful and the billboard is still up today!

Tabling at John F. Kennedy High School

We tabled at JFK High School’s Self- Care Fair where we educated students about Palestine and showcased Palestinian culture. We also explained the importance of civic engagement to them and making sure their voices are heard!

Primaries GOTV

We made 8,001 calls, spoke to 1,131 constituents, called into 7 townships, with 32 volunteers, 5 interns one of which single handedly knocked on close to 800 doors.

Meeting with Assemblywoman Alixon Collazos-Gill

Assemblywoman Alixon Collazos-Gill visited PACC along with her members of staff so we can build a relationship with her as constituents of her district and to talk about the IHRA Bill. We also discussed what PACC does for the community at large and our need to maintain our freedom of speech in order to continue to serve our community. This is the first step towards working with the assemblywomen in meeting our needs. We will continue to address the direct impact that she can make in the community and we hope to see our needs met.

We emailed every committee member to attempt to schedule a meeting with their offices. Had constituents call key targets like James Beach and Gordon Johsnon. We also met with Clifton Assemblywoman Alixon Collazos-Gill who is sponsor of the bill. Our efforts with IHRA are ongoing and being monitored.

MARKETING

Congratulations to our 2024 Graduates!

PACC wants to extend congratulations to all graduates in our community! We are highlighting college graduates on social media and celebrating all their hard work and achievements. If you would like to shout out your graduate, fill up this form!

Mother’s Day

This past Mother’s Day, we commemorated the brave mothers of Gaza who have undergone horrors as they struggle to feed their children and be brave for them, all while struggling to survive themselves. Read more here.

Reflecting On the Nakba, 76 Years On

We dedicated our efforts all month long to the commemoration of the Nakba and to reminding ourselves and everyone around us that despite the ongoing and systematic efforts to silence us, our people remain strong and resilient. Through our events and educational materials, we emphasized that the Nakba is not simply an event of the past, but has been ongoing ever since. The violent acts committed by Israel against Palestinians have been systematic, from 1948 to this very day. However, we also remind everyone that Palestinians continue to practice sumud, because as we continue to prove, our existence is resistance. Check out our instagram for more informational content on the Nakba.

World Keffiyeh Day

In honor of World Keffiyeh Day, we posted a graphic that broke down the meaning of the keffiyeh patterns and gave a 30 second tutorial on how to wrap one around your head. Check out the tutorial here

Honoring Shireen Abu Akleh

Two years ago, beloved journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by the Israeli Occupation Forces while covering an Israeli raid in Jenin. We honor her memory and the 143+ journalists in Gaza who have been intentionally murdered by the state of Israel for exposing the truth in the face of suppression and silencing. See our post here.