October
Palestinian American Community Center
October Newsletter #SupportTheMission
2022
October 2022
Palestinian American Community Center
If you like anything we are doing, please donate at paccusa.org/donate Every dollar helps keep us going!
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October 2022
Palestinian American Community Center
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Events
Fufu in the Kitchen Book Signing We were able to host a Meet & Greet and Book signing with Heifa Odeh, the person behind Fufu’s Kitchen and the author of her new cookbook, Dine in Palestine. She is also a NJ native and we are honored to have the opportunity to uplift her work. Guests were able to listen to Heifa answer questions about her book and the process leading up to the publication. We had over 120 people in attendance in person. Check out our photo album from the event here.
October 2022
Palestinian American Community Center
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Fall Fest
This month we hosted our fourth annual Fall Fest at School #11, and it was bigger and better than ever before! We had over 250 people in attendance. They enjoyed pumpkin painting, face paint, fun fall games, contests, competitions, and hayrides.
We also welcomed the young entrepreneurs of our community and held our first ever kids’ business fair for youth ages 6 to 16. We also used this opportunity to further our civic engagement efforts by encouraging community members to register to vote, pledge to get out the vote, fill out our community mapping form, and share their community stories with us. Click here to check out our photo album from the event.
October 2022
Palestinian American Community Center
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Palestine Monday
Given the beginning of the Olive Harvest season, we hosted a conversation about the political and social significance of the Olive Harvest season with Palestinian scholar, educator, and activist Lila Sharif. To bring in voices from the ground, we also welcomed Mariam Mammar, the Executive Secretary of the Battir Municipality who shared some traditional songs that are sung by farmers during the harvest season. We had 19 people join via Zoom and over 422 views on Facebook.
Workshop Wednesday
We were able to host an informational workshop with Northeast New Jersey Legal Services on an overview of all the services they provide. We had over 12 people in attendance in-person and 5 on zoom.
Women’s Brunch
Due to an increase in demand, we hosted two women’s brunches this month! At our first brunch, we had 20 women enjoy a workshop on mental health with Ahlam Mohammed from Smile. At our second brunch, we had 15 women honor breast cancer awareness month through a workshop on breast cancer awareness with St. Joseph’s Health and a Q&A with Dr. Sana H. Obaid, MD FACOG
October 2022
Palestinian American Community Center
Programs Fall Programs
Our Fall 2022 Program Session started on October 1st and is off to a great start! This session, we have a total of 11 programs and over 200 people registered for our programs! A few of our most popular programs include Dabka, Cooking Club, English Conversation, Arabic, and our newly launched Sewing program.
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October 2022
Palestinian American Community Center
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Marketing
Olive Harvest In Palestine
The month of October marks the start of the Olive Harvest season in Palestine. To honor this season, we launched a social media campaign to educate our followers about the historical significance of the Olive Harvest season and what it means to Palestinians living under occupation today. We also created our very own educational video to explain the significance of this season. Check out our posts here!
Community Engagement Clifton City Council Forum
We hosted a Clifton City Council forum at PACC for potential candidates running for Clifton City Council, we had over 70 people in attendance. The event was livestreamed on both Facebook and YouTube. Make sure to go out and vote on Tuesday, November 8th.
October 2022
Palestinian American Community Center
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Advocacy and Community Engagement (ACE) Team
We launched our third ACE cohort this month! We have a team of eight dedicated high school and college students who will be engaged in generative conversations about professional and personal development and leadership opportunities, all situated within the goal of empowering and furthering the success of our community, both locally and in Palestine.
No Appetite for Apartheid
In collaboration with the NJ Democratic Socialists of America Palestine Solidarity working group and American Muslims for Palestine- NJ, we hosted the No Appetite for Apartheid campaign launch and training. Eleven initial members learned about how to be in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle, the importance of BDS campaigns, and how we can collectively put pressure on local and national businesses to stop selling the products of Israeli companies, or companies who are complicit in the occupation of Palestine. Stay tuned for updates and action items from the team! Email asabbagh@paccusa.org if you are interested in being involved.
October 2022
Palestinian American Community Center
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William Paterson SJP Palestine Day We attended William Paterson’s SJP Palestine Day as one of their vendors. We were able to sell our PACC Merch and give out information about PACC. We were able to enjoy a dabka performance and musical performance from one of the students as well.
Immigration Integration Conference We were able to attend the Immigration Integration Conference as one of their vendors where we passed out general information about PACC and sold our PACC Merch. We enjoyed a few performances from different cultures and learned about changes in immigrantion policy.
October
Palestinian American Community Center
PACC_USA
2022