Seattle Islamic Relief: Water, money and schools for Palestine

An elderly woman stared, intently, before asking two young girls seated at a table next to me: “Is Umm Mohammad your grandmother?”

“Yes,” one of them answered, before submitting to numerous follow-up questions about various family members’ global whereabouts.

“Sabrina! You’ve grown so much!” exclaimed a man at another table, as the smiling young woman explained she was not Sabrina, but her sister.

All around, people were greeting one another, eager to catch up before the evening’s programme began, the annual fundraiser of Islamic Relief USA, held this year in Lynnwood, a suburb just north of Seattle, Washington. The spacious banquet hall filled up fast, and soon everyone was seated around tables covered in tablecloths and napkins in black, red, white and green, the colours of the Palestinian flag, with Palestinian flags as centrepieces.

Islamic Relief USA works globally, with a mission to provide “relief and development in a dignified manner regardless of gender, race, or religion,” but the focus of this particular fundraiser was Palestine, and more specifically, as one of the organisers, Murtaza Junepo, said, it was twofold: Palestinian orphans, and water and hygiene in Palestine. 

The evening’s programme began with a video overview of Islamic Relief’s work around the world, including in the US, where volunteers and staff had delivered food packages, hygiene kits, blankets, rain ponchos and warm meals to thousands of homeless and low-income Americans, from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Portland, Oregon. 

In Seattle, newly arrived Syrian refugees participated in last year’s annual “Day of Dignity,” IRUSA’s largest annual US programme, serving US military veterans, so as to show people “the image of ISIS does not represent us,” as one young volunteer put it. 

And in Flint, Michigan, when the water turned toxic, more than 500 IRUSA volunteers delivered about 33,000 gallons of water door to door in below-freezing January and February weather to low-income neighbourhoods.

Sheikh Fazel, imam of the Bellevue Mosque, which was torched earlier this year, and which had hosted multiple fundraisers in previous years, noted that the Quran says we are all created from water, and that water is the source of all life. Indeed, this is a universal truth, and recalls the Indigenous American “Mni Wiconi,” “Water is Life” affirmation that sustained the Sioux tribe in its standoff with the North Dakota Access Pipeline developers.

The evening’s speaker, Dr Hatem Bazian, offered a quick overview of the dismal water situation in the West Bank and Gaza, stressing that the catastrophe there is man-made, not a natural disaster. There are four sources of water for Palestinians in the homeland, Bazian said: the Jordan River, the mountainous aquifer in the West Bank, the coastal aquifer and rain collection.  

However, Palestinians get zero percent of the Jordan River water, which all goes to Israel. Israel also gets 83 percent of the mountain aquifer water and 82 percent of the coastal aquifer water. Palestinians also get zero percent of the water that is collected from rain.  

Israelis get four times the amount of water Palestinians get, and each additional Israeli settler represents more water taken from Palestinians. The World Health Organisation suggests that 100 litres of water per day per person is needed; Palestinians get between 30 and 50 litres. Bazian also told of how 140 Palestinian wells were destroyed, along with 30 miles of pipes, for the construction of the apartheid wall.  

Islamic Relief USA, however, has been working in partnership with various NGOs on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank to alleviate these circumstances, and has achieved significant results. It has raised $20m for Gaza relief since 2014, helping 370.000 people, restoring water to 500 facilities and even exceeding a goal of repairing 10 schools, as they were able to fix 11. 

As Bazian spoke, I asked the event’s co-organiser, Ghassan Maarouf, if people were possibly more wary of donating to Islamic charities these days, when Islamophobia is running rampant.

I was thinking of the recent months-long investigation into NGO World Vision, which Israel alleged had diverted money towards Hamas. The investigation cleared Mohammad al-Halabi, head of World Vision’s Gaza operations, of all charges, even as it reminded us of how easily jeopardised our efforts remain as long as Israel continues to control every aspect of the lives of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

And those of us who have long been active in Palestine solidarity remember the tortuous ordeal of Sami al-Arian, a tenured professor whose career was destroyed over false accusations of “funding terrorism”.  

The generosity of a community that has not forgotten its disadvantaged members is commendable, and to be feted.

To this day, Arian’s case remains the US Justice Department's longest-running and most controversial investigation into links to terrorism, eventually driving him to plead guilty to one count of racketeering, which he says he agreed to in order to end his family’s misery. Arian has since been deported to Turkey.

Maarouf said that Islamophobia has been rampant and unchecked for many years now, “since 9/11”. Islamophobia is not a new development, he told MEE. “It’s been growing since 9/11, and getting worse with each administration, but it is not a new phenomenon in this country.”

Donations ebb and flow, he said, depending on a number of factors, including other emergencies and other fundraisers. He mentioned the Syrian refugee crisis, and how people are also rallying to alleviate the refugees’ miserable circumstances to the best of their abilities.  

The generosity of a community that has not forgotten its disadvantaged members is commendable, and to be feted.

The dabke dancing that concluded the evening’s events, performed by the Jafra Dabke Team, a Seattle-based troupe, was a fitting end to a programme that celebrated culture, commitment and giving. One of the dancers was wearing a T-shirt with two Arabic words that translate into English as “Free Palestine.”  

Except in the Arabic there was no ambiguity about “Free.” It was not meant as an adjective, but as a verb: We must work on freeing Palestine. This was a call to action beyond mere charity, and one that most people in the room clearly embraced as they cheered on the dancers.