News

From Karen Kovalcik on Palestine and her annual olive oil party

When my dear friend and founder of Playgrounds for Palestine, Susan Abulhawa, asked me to write an article for the newsletter, I was certainly honored. Now that I am completing this task at the eleventh hour, I guess I underestimated the thought and emotion that would swell in me as I attempted to explain my motivation and actions for this charity. The Palestinian people have absolutely grabbed my attention as I have attempted to seek out the truth and broaden my view of justice in our world today. The more I learned, the more dialogues that began with my friends and family, and the more I saw from documentaries produced from around the world, I had no choice other than to decide there’s something I must do. As a small singular voice can rouse many, I decided to start to sell the olive oil from this blessed place to support

Running a marathon for PfP

Ramzy Baroud (http://www.ramzybaroud.net/) joins PfP Board members susan abulhawa and Dennis Parrish as they train to run the Philadelphia Marathon in the Fall in support of PfP. Would you like to join us? Veteran Palestinian-American journalist and former Al-Jazeera producer, Ramzy Baroud has taught Mass Communication at Australia’s Curtin University of Technology, and is Editor-in-Chief of the Palestine Chronicle. He had this

We’re building two playgrounds in Lebanon’s refugee camps, this summer!

We’re very excited to report to our supporters that PfP will build two playground in Lebanon late this summer. In cooperation with MECA (Middle East Children’s Alliance) and ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid) , the first system has already been purchased for a preschool and it includes two separate units, a “hide-away hut” and a full play module for ages 2-5 years. We’ve created a page for this playground on our website, where you’ll find more photos and which we’ll update as we get closer to implementation (https://playgroundsforpalestine.org/our-playgrounds.php?ID=9). The second playground will serve a wider range of ages and will likely be built in the Nahr el Bared Camp.

Thank you to Lake Shore Baptist Church

From all of us at PfP we would like say a huge thanks to the  for raising $730!! We so appreciate all the gifts and donations we receive, but when it involves kids and the kind of service project, education and generosity that were described in their letter to us, it goes beyond the usual level of gratitude that we feel. Check out their wonderful letter below – Each year the children of Lake Shore Baptist Church collect pledges and participate in a Bike-a-thon around the back lot of the church. The money raised benefits a pre-selected mission project which the children learn about in the weeks prior to the Bike-a-thon. Since we at Lake Shore value childhood and outdoor play, and were

Thank you to our olive oil hosts!

As PfP’s small enterprise of selling Fair Trade, organic, Palestinian olive oil continues to grow thanks to word of mouth and the wonderful volunteers who host olive oil parties for their friends and families. This fall, we would like to recognize the contributions of Houda and Dr. Ali Anaim in Philadelphia; and Stacy Grossman in Grand Rapids, MI. We are so grateful to them for their generous efforts

Fun Day in Nahr el Bared

September 12 was no ordinary day for the kids of Nahr El Bared Camp. Over 200 children gathered in the Mazen Afifi Playground for a fun day organized by PfP partners Bait Atfal Assoumoud and ANERA. The purpose of the event was to entertain the children and at the same time embellish the park established by PfP, MECA, and the Afifi’s in partnership with ANERA. The kids enjoyed their gifts and a variety of fun activities such as wall painting, trees and flowers planting and other interactive games. Children planted eucalyptus trees and climbing roses. Running races and tug-of-war were held. The children helped paint colorful murals, and over 500 Spider Man and Cinderella stickers were passed out and greatly enjoyed by the children. We are grateful to ANERA staff, donors Mary Afifi, Ellen Siegel and Jane Power,

Palestinian Children Break World Record

This event, which took place on a beach close to the city of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, was organized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) as part of the Summer Games program. The Summer Games Program is designed to provide Palestinian youth in the Gaza Strip with arts and crafts activities, festivals, and Arabic and math education during the summer months. This kite festival was an attempt to break the previous Guinness World Record for kite flying. By all accounts, the previous record was broken by this event, where as many as 5,000 kites took to the sky. The previous record was less than 1,000 and

Israeli Siege of Ship Bringing Aid to Gaza

This ship which carried reconstruction and 3 tons of medical supplies, in addition to childrens’ toys, also carried passengers such as Cynthia McKinney, a former US Congresswoman and presidential candidate, and Mairead Maguire, a Nobel Peace Prize winner. The reason for the ship’s detainment is the Israeli-enforced blockade on Gaza. The ship’s supplies were confiscated, and the IDF has stated they will be delivered “subject to authorization.” The ship, sent as a part of the Free Gaza Movement, is said to have been in international waters

Our playgrounds in Gaza were NOT destroyed!

Dear PfPers, Some good news! The two playgrounds that we installed in Gaza, one in Rafah and one in Khan Younis, a few years ago have been spared and they’re getting good use. We added some pictures of the playground in Rafah and expect more pictures from Khan Younis soon. We had been worried that the playgrounds may have been damaged over the four week long Israeli air and land assault that left most of Gaza in rubble. And with everything that Gazans had lost, including so many lives senselessly ended, we didn’t feel comfortable asking them about the playgrounds. But our wonderful friends at ANERA checked on them for us and we got a few pictures from Rafah that we’re happy to share with you.    

Playground at Nahr el Bared Installed

JC Boushh, a supporter and volunteer at PfP, traveled to Beirut on November 26th to install a playground in the refugee camp of Nahr el Bared, and to train local workers to install our second playground at Ein el Hilweh, two playgrounds we’re putting up in partnership with Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) For more photos of the installation, click here We will post more about these playgrounds at a later date. Keep checking the website for updates on Ein el Hilweh

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Remembering Salah Ajarma, our beloved brother

On July 14th, Playgrounds for Palestine joined friends and family to remember Salah Ajarma, our dear friend, comrade, and brother who passed away in April 2021. Salah was an integral member of PfP and over the years he became family to all of us. He was a man of integrity, passion, and unwavering commitment to justice and his country. He dedicated his life to empowering his community, especially young people, and in the process created a school, a kindergarten, and spectacular community center in the heart of Aida refugee camp, where young people could go for recreation, music, art and dance lessons, after school help, and more. He touched so many lives, and all of us are better people for having known him. We miss him terribly, but we will continue in the legacy of service that he left for us. Our love and condolences to his family.

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This donation, our first to PfP, is to honor the children that see beyond conflict, and remind us to be ever present.