June Newsletter

June

Palestinian American Community Center

June Newsletter

2022

June 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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June 2022

Palestinian American Community Center

PrograEvents ms

This month we wrapped up our spring session programs, which included a dabka recital for all our pre-beginner, beginner, intermediate and advanced participants! We thank all our program participants and our dedicated program instructors for a wonderful session and are looking forward to a successful PACC Summer Fun Program. We will be restarting our regular programs in September.

Community Garden We relaunched our community garden this month and have a plan in place to make it bigger and better than it was before! With a strong team of volunteers dedicated to maintain the garden, we are excited to expand our garden and look forward to harvesting traditional Palestinian herbs and ingredients for Palestinian dishes.

Falastin Magazine Volume 6 Issue 2 This issue of our Falastin Magazine featured stories of the Naksa from our community members. Our contributors submitted poems and anecdotes that share their generational connection to historic Palestine. We also paid tribute to the late Shireen Abu Akleh (May she rest in Power).

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June 2022

Palestinian American Community Center

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Events

Women’s Brunch

Marketing

This month’s women’s brunch focused on the importance of mental health with Ghada Saleh and why it’s important to write wills with Meha Siyam. We had 18 women attend who enjoyed an opportunity to learn about their well-being and future life plans.

Naksa Campaign This month marks the 55th anniversary of the Naksa. The Naksa marks the anniversary of the displacement of Palestinians after the Six-Day War. To commemorate this day, we launched our newest issue of Falastin Magazine with the theme of the Naksa.

We also held our Clifton flag raising that day.

Graduation Posts This month we highlighted over 100 college graduates from the Class of 2022 on our social media platforms. Alf Mabrook to everyone and their families!

June 2022

Palestinian American Community Center

Clifton and Paterson Flag Raising

Palestine Week

We raised the Palestinian flag in both Clifton and Paterson!

We honored our Palestinian community’s strong presence and growth in both cities, and thanked the elected officials Mayor Sayegh and Mayor Anzaldi for their support and presence each year of the flag raisings. We had over 75 community members attend both and enjoy dabka performances from our advanced boys and girls dabka classes!

Tatreez We hosted a workshop that took participants through a historical understanding of the cultural and political significance of tatreez led by Yousr Shaltout (follow her work on instagram @tatreezing). Sixteen people attended, learned basic stitching methods, and began creating their own patterns!

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June 2022

Palestinian American Community Center

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Including Palestine in Arab American Advocacy We held an online discussion with Samer Khalaf from the American-Arab AntiDefamation Committee that focused on situating and centering Palestine in larger Arab American advocacy efforts in the United States. The conversation was very lively and informative, leaving participants with many helpful tools. We had 12 people attend via Zoom and 1,600 views on Facebook.

Book Talk with Marah Siyam and Open Mic Night Our very own community member and Falastin editor, Marah Siyam, just released a book called Some People don’t Deserve Names. We hosted her book launch followed by our open mic night where we had 8 performers! We had a fun night of community sharing and storytelling with 44 attendees!

Community Engagement

June 2022

Palestinian American Community Center

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Voter Registration/Get Out the Vote Team

This month our interns focused on making local community members aware of the Primary Election for the U.S. House of Representatives. Leading up to the election, we were present at various community events and called residents to assist in finding polling locations along with verifying active voter registration status. We also created informational graphics and a video to post across social media platforms educating voters on where local taxpayer money can be redirected.

Family Fun Day with Power of One We held a table at Power of One’s Family Fun Day at Nash Park in Clifton, which brought together all the great organizations, groups, and services that the Clifton area has to offer for families, individuals, and senior citizens living in the Passaic County area. We showcased our literary magazines, civic engagement work and our merchandise.

June 2022

Palestinian American Community Center

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CUMAC Community Fun Day We held a table at CUMAC’s Community Fun Day which brought together families, individuals, and senior citizens living in the Paterson area for an afternoon of giveaways, gathering and education.

Immigrant Heritage Rally We joined the New Jersey Alliance of Immigrant Justice in an Immigrant Heritage Rally in Trenton to stand in solidarity with the protection of immigrant rights. Layla Odeh, our Civic Engagement and Advocacy intern, gave a speech about the lack of political representation of the Arab American immigrant population and Aya Mustafa recited a poem about the Palestinian struggle.

Advocacy and Community Engagement Team Our ACE cohort met for the last time this month, and we debriefed on what the team enjoyed most from the program, what could be improved, and how they plan to continue advocating for Palestine and their community in the future! Look out in the fall for our ACE application for the next cohort!

June

Palestinian American Community Center

PACC_USA

2022