Middle East Peace Education Program
Since
the 1970s, the American Friends Service
Committee's Middle East Peace
Program has brought together Jews, Muslims,
Christians, and others in
Southern California to work in common cause
for peace and justice in
the Middle East.
Fall 2008 Teacher Workshop
Online
registration is now available for "Teaching
About the Arab World and
Islam." Our salary point workshop for teachers
will take place on
October 25 and
November 1, 2008
Olive Oil from Palestine
Bottles
of Palestinian olive oil are now available at
the AFSC Los Angeles
office. How would you like to help bring peace
and justice to the
Middle East, support fair trade practices, eat
healthy and delicious
food, and socialize with friends and neighbors
all in one fell swoop?
AFSC is organizing olive oil gatherings to
introduce people to this
important Palestinian agricultural product, as
well as to the realities
of the occupation and its impact on the olive
harvest and Palestinian
farmers.
We believe that there is an essence of God in every person and that lasting peace can only come nonviolently, through justice and reconciliation.
At AFSC Los Angeles, the Middle East Peace Program is a source for balanced information and resources on the region and its issues. We seek to change policies, practices, and perceptions by organizing speaking tours, public events, and other educational campaigns to work for peace and justice in the Middle East.
Our concerns include ensuring Israeli security and Palestinian self-determination, bringing about an end to the US occupation of Iraq, protecting the civil liberties of persons of Middle East origin in the United States, and averting a potential war against Iran.
Ongoing projects include a teacher workshop on the Middle East and other resources for educators, a prayer vigil for peace in the Middle East, gatherings to introduce Palestinian olive oil to the public, and a campaign to challenge the media on coverage of the war in Iraq
Middle East Peace Calendar
Please visit our Middle
East Peace Calendar to view upcoming events
related to peace and justice in the Middle
East, whether sponsored by AFSC or other
organizations.
Also, sign up for our announcement list to receive weekly notices on featured events in the Calendar, as well as occasional program updates.
If you have an event that you would like posted on our Calendar, please see our guidelines on Calendar Submissions below.
Resources on the Middle East
AFSC has many
resources on the Middle East available at our
Los Angeles office or for free download from
our website.
These include a series of fact sheets on occupation realities and nonviolent resistance in Palestine and Israel, as well as Iraq occupation timelines.
Please also see
our list of links
to Middle East-related websites for
additional resources.
Quakers, AFSC & the Middle East
| Milk distribution at Khan Yunis, Gaza. About 90,000 Palestinians received a daily milk ration at this center. Four lines—two for men and two for women—wound through the yard for a distance of about two city blocks. Photo by Campbell Hayes. Image from AFSC Archives. |
Quakers have had connections to the Middle East since missionary Mary Fisher traveled to Constantinople in 1657 to visit the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
In 1889, a Friends School was established in Palestine as the "The Girls Training Home of Ramallah." It was opened to boys in 1901, and continues to operate to this day. In Europe, Quakers helped Jews escape from areas under Nazi rule during the Second World War.
AFSC became involved in the Middle East region in 1920 through relief work in Syria. From 1949-50, AFSC conducted extensive relief operations for Palestinian refugees in Gaza. Paul B. Johnson, executive secretary of the AFSC office in Southern California (now AFSC Los Angeles) was chosen to head the Gaza relief effort.
Today, AFSC continues to work in the Middle East region, with projects that include youth programs in the West Bank and Gaza. In the United States, other Middle East Peace Programs work out of AFSC offices in Atlanta, Chicago, and San Francisco.
Calendar Submissions
The Middle East Peace Calendar is a service to the community by the Middle East Peace Education Program of the American Friends Service Committee in Los Angeles. It provides a listing of events in the greater Los Angeles area relevant to justice and peace in the Middle East. As an open forum, the events posted reflect the diversity of viewpoints of the hosting organizations and sometimes relate to controversial issues. Listing DOES NOT imply any AFSC endorsement unless explicitly stated. Contact event sponsors for more information on individual postings.—
Please email MEPeaceLA@afsc.org to give us feedback or to submit a Middle East-related event to the Calendar. Listings will be posted at the discretion of the Calendar publishers and may be edited for content and space. Our only criteria are that events be 1) related to the people, culture and politics of the Middle East and 2) that they not demonize or advocate hatred, intolerance or violence against individuals or groups, and 3) that they not constitute election-related activity or legislation-specific lobbying, in keeping with our status as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.