More on Gaza

As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to devastate the land and people of Gaza, now raising the Palestinian death toll over 1000, people everywhere are coming together to respond to this crisis. Throughout this entire week the school and its community has been investing nearly all its energy and resources into providing aid for the people of Gaza and the people whose lives have been affected by the crisis there. Last Tuesday, for example, the school made its first official use of our spiritual center of the year by holding a candle light vigil in the spiritual center's central courtyard. The school invited all members of the community to this vigil, where students and faculty alike could read a poem, sing a song, or simply express themselves on the crisis. The vigil began at 7:00 in the side dining hall, where the community service department and student volunteers were distributing prayer flags and selling bracelets, pins, and Kheffiyehs (Palestinian, black and white scarves/head garb ) to raise aid money for Gaza. Once everyone had settled the community service department invited students and other guests to talk, read, or sing about the crisis. In the half hour that followed we heard both students and faculty sing songs, both in English and in Arabic; read poetry, in English, Arabic, and even Japanese; and share their experiences of living in Palestine and meeting people from all over the region. Afterwards, we passed around candles and lit them from person to person until we were ready to proceed outside and up the hill to the Spiritual Center. We gathered around the central fountain and stood in silence until about 7:55 when the head of the community service department reminded us that the students needed to be in their dorms by 8:00 for study hall.

This was the first community event of the week to raise support for Gaza. The second event, called "Pizza for Palestine" was two days later in the dining hall. The event all started with the generosity of one of our student's fathers, who owns a pizzeria in Amman. To help the people of Gaza and to provide a tasty alternative the regular dining hall menu, this man donated over 850 Jordanian Dinars worth of pizza to school, all of which was donated directly to buying aid supplies for Gaza. Pizzas sold at 8 JD for a whole pizza and 4 JD for a half. What I'm still unsure of, however, is whether the dining hall served just plain spaghetti and salad by coincidence or as a motivating factor for students to buy pizza and give money for a good cause.

And our third event for this week, "Souq Gaza" is actually taking place tomorrow in Amman, though the school isn't organizing this one. I'm not sure exactly what to expect but I'm sure I'll see local merchants selling both donated items and their own local products at prices set to raise money for Gaza. The school plans to participate by setting up its own booth, which will sell items donated by the school, and by bringing its own students eager to do some shopping.