Graphic design by Izzy M. Photos by Will Y, Steve P, Cassandra H, Huwaida A, and Lindsay L.

Our 2019 Annual Report is here! Our report, which spans July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019, includes updates on our delegations to Palestine/Israel, virtual delegations, trainings, and bringing together our delegates into the movement for justice.

Eyewitness Palestine delegates root their understanding in the life stories of Palestinian and Israeli peace-builders. Since 2001, over 1,400 people have learned directly from those engaged in nonviolent resistance to oppression. The foundations for our work are based in the experiences of Palestinian and Israeli organizing communities and working together with communities based in the US to build the foundations of a just society for all. Our work focuses on energizing the movement for Palestinian rights and populating it with educated, committed, and accountable individuals.

Read the report below or as a PDF here.

Impact report

July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019

Since 2001, over 1,400 people have joined an Eyewitness Palestine delegation,
reaching tens of millions more through advocacy and organizing.

Racial Justice & Equity + Education & Advocacy

Each delegate participates in 3 interactive webinars before the delegation, focusing on racial justice and equity frameworks. Upon their return, we also offer delegates 3 interactive webinars with tools to help them advocate for Palestinian rights. This year we also hosted public webinars, bringing these tools to a larger audience, and virtual delegations, which connect a broader audience to our partners in Palestine/Israel.

Impact + Engagement

An Eyewitness Palestine delegation can be transformative and delegates sharing their experience once they return home is a key part of our programming. Delegates engage in a variety of activities, including report backs to their community, writing op-eds, joining local efforts for Palestinian rights, and writing books. This year, we wanted to highlight books written by a delegation leader and delegate:

Financials

Eyewitness Palestine is a people-powered 501(c)3 registered nonprofit organization with the IRS as Interfaith Peace-Builders doing business as Eyewitness Palestine. Our Federal Tax ID is 03-0598184. Our funding sources include both private foundations and individuals. Over 2/3 of our support comes from individuals who donate at all levels - from $10 to $10,000.

Your donations subsidize about 25% of the costs for each delegate and provides programming to build skills that help the movement for Palestinian rights thrive. We also provide partial scholarships to one in four Eyewitness Palestine delegates and grant an average of $18,000 in scholarships each year.

In October 2018, one of our largest private foundation funders informed us that they are redirecting most of their funds to humanitarian efforts in Palestine. We were one of many organizations impacted by this noble decision. We shared this news with our community and thanks to you, we came close to closing the gap in funding!

your gift builds this movement

Eyewitness Palestine Helps People of All Ages Become Lifetime Changemakers in the Movement for Palestinian Rights

We are thankful for the partnerships and connections made across the Palestine Solidarity Movement! Our delegates' work to break down barriers and work across social justice movements using skills and information they learned through our education and advocacy curriculum and on their delegation from Palestinian and Israeli peace-builders.

By not just offering a life changing, transformational delegation in Palestine but also programming before and afterwards, we provide our delegates with the knowledge and tools to be accountable advocates - working for justice for all, not just some!

We know we can bring more people to the movement for Palestinian rights, and with your help we will succeed. Your meaningful, 100% tax-deductible donation will help us raise $100,000 to jumpstart our 2020!

DONATE

Eyewitness Palestine’s staff: Nada, Emily, and Nadya

2019 Stories of Self

Each Eyewitness Palestine delegate has a unique story of who they are and how they came to be a supporter of Palestinian rights – and the rights for all. Delegates connect the most in the shared values and shared struggles against oppression. As part of our Racial Justice & Equity program that all delegates go through before a delegation, we’ve initiated a new process, where delegates look internally and write about their unique stories of intersection, shared values, and passion for the liberation for all people. This year, we wanted to highlight a few of these Stories of Self. Click below to read the full story from each of our delegates.

Featured

Dec 6, 2019

The Need to Stand in Solidarity

Dec 6, 2019

In reflection I can see the many ways in which power structures have shaped my life and the lives of my family. I was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and lived there for the first nine years of my life.

Dec 6, 2019

Changing the Narrative

Dec 6, 2019

One night when I was 8 years old, I was awoken by the hushed whispers of my father and his brother, who was visiting from New York, as they arrived home from an evening out. While at a bar, a stranger overheard them speaking Persian together and asked where they were from.

Dec 6, 2019

My Namesake and Roots

Dec 6, 2019

I was born in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1970, just after the Kent State massacre. A national strike of student protesters shut down universities and burned dozens of campus ROTC centers across the country. My parents were student anti-war activists.

Dec 6, 2019

To be a Voice of Peace

Dec 6, 2019

My story begins in a small town of southeastern Idaho. Some call it the armpit, some call it paradise; I find it to be somewhere in between. Growing up in Idaho with a Palestinian background and an Arabic name, in my experience, was nothing short of humiliating.

Dec 6, 2019

Leveling the Playing Field

Dec 6, 2019

My friend’s grandfather was a pharmacist in Akka and went to Lebanon to ‘wait out’ the war. My colleague’s family was vacationing in Beirut and wasn’t allowed to return. The young students at the UNRWA school would tell me which cities their families were from in Palestine and ask me if I had been there.

Dec 6, 2019

Justice & Fairness - What has Driven Me

Dec 6, 2019

My father said to me, more than once, “Because we as Jews have over time suffered so much, it is up too us to fight injustice wherever we see it.” I’ve always identified with people who have been targeted for racism, homophobia, poverty, immigration status, as well as gender. Anyone who is other.

Dec 6, 2019

Simple White-American?

Dec 6, 2019

I was born into a Detroit working class family in 1962, the great-great-grandchild of German/Polish/Irish/Lithuanian immigrants seeking a better life in the Motor City. And, in the case of my French colonist ancestors, at least 10 generations of Detroiters.

Dec 6, 2019

That Ain't Fair

Dec 6, 2019

My life has been filled with experiences that that have often had me thinking or saying “That ain’t fare”. These experiences are responsible for me formulating very strong feelings about the race relations. I did know the fancy words prejudice, bigotry, racism, intolerance, prejudgment, implicit bias, explicit bias, I just know what I thought “That ain’t fare”.

Dec 6, 2019