winter 2009
MECA Launches the Maia Project
In September 2009 MECA launched the Maia Project, a long-
term initiative to address one of the most harmful features of
the Israeli Occupation and the blockade of Gaza: The systematic
denial of clean, safe drinking water. Israel has appropriated wa-
ter and water sources for Jewish citizens inside Israel and illegal
Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Israel denies materials, fuel,
and permits to maintain and expand Palestinian water systems.
And military attacks predictably—and often deliberately—de-
stroy wells, water tanks, pipes, treatment plants, and sewage
systems. Widespread poverty prevents people from purchasing
clean water or repairing their wells and plumbing. In Gaza, es-
pecially, the poor quality and inadequate quantities of water con-
tributes to serious health problems.
The Maia Project began when children at the UN school in Bu-
reij Refugee Camp, Gaza were given the opportunity to hold an
election to choose one thing they most wanted for
their school: They chose to have drinking water. MECA provid-
ed the funds to build a water purification and desalinization sys-
Ibdaa and MECA:
Creating Solidarity
By Ziad Abbas, MECA Associate Director,
Co-Founder, Ibdaa Cultural Center, Dheisheh Refugee
Camp, Palestine
Over the years that Ibdaa and MECA have been working togeth-
er, many people have asked me why the two organizations have
such a strong partnership, and how this partnership developed. It
is unique and could, perhaps, serve as a model for other interna-
tional solidarity organizations.
The Ibdaa Cultural Center started in 1994 as an initiative by refu-
gees to form a youth dance troupe to build a new generation of
leaders and tell the stories of Palestinian refugees. Today, Ib-
daa has two multi-story buildings, providing vital educational
and cultural opportunities for thousands of children, women
and youth. In these fifteen years of growth and change, Ibdaa
has come to know the real meaning of solidarity through our
the
MAIA
Project
Bringing clean water
to the children of Palestine
tem for the school in 2007. A year later, MECA helped construct
a system at the UN school in Nuseirat Refugee Camp. Each
unit provides drinking water for 2,000 students and staff. Thanks
to generous contributions from hundreds of MECA supporters,
four more units are in progress, and more will be installed as
funds are raised.
relationship with the Middle East Children’s Alliance. That’s
because MECA has never come with a separate agenda. They
always supported the leadership of Palestinian refugees, listen-
ing and responding to our requests to help meet our community’s
needs, and stood behind us in support of our political struggles.
MECA’s relationship to Ibdaa dates back to early 1988, before
either organization existed. I met Barbara Lubin during her first
trip to Palestine, and each time she brought a MECA delega-
tion from the United States to Palestine, I would host them in
Dheisheh. We raised awareness about refugee rights and gave
people from the US the opportunity to see a refugee camp and
hear directly from camp residents about their lives, hopes, and
dreams. In 1989 MECA supported the creation of a community-
run clinic in Dheisheh that was established by local activists.
Other international funders preferred to work with well-estab-
lished NGOs rather than grassroots, community organizations.
Already I could tell that MECA was different.
Barbara and I had a strong friendship and, even more than that,
we shared a similar political vision, which centered around the
Ibdaa and Meca continued on page 4
Dear Friend,
A year ago, in November 2008, Israel unilaterally ger, stronger, long-term movement for justice in Pal-
broke a ceasefire with Hamas when it entered Gaza estine. But we have to get people to see the bigger
and killed six Hamas fighters. The next day, it im- picture. What happened in Gaza last winter has been
posed a suffocating blockade of Gaza, sealing all happening to Palestinians for more than sixty years.
routes in and out. Little or no food, medicine, fuel, In fact, eighty percent of the people in Gaza belong
parts for water and sanitation systems, phones, to families who were driven out of what became Is-
rael in 1948. “But watching the news shows,” Rob-
ert Fisk points out, “You’d think that history began
Letter from Barbara
by Barbara Lubin MECA’s Executive Director
yesterday, that a bunch of bearded anti-Semitic Islamist lunatics
suddenly popped up in the slums of Gaza . . . and began firing
missiles into peace-loving, democratic Israel, only to meet with
the righteous vengeance of the Israeli air force.”
paper, glue, shoes, schoolbooks, or much else got through. On
December 27, 2008, when Israel began dropping bombs on
Israel inflicted major assaults on Gaza in 2004 and 2006. It was
the people of Gaza they were already starving. By the time the
responsible for the 1982 massacres in the Sabra and Shatila Ref-
ground invasion ended three weeks later, 1,400 people, includ-
ugee Camps in Lebanon, and pre-state militias perpetuated the
ing 400 children, were killed, an estimated 4,247 homes and
1948 massacres in Deir Yassin, Tantura and elsewhere during
800 of Gaza’s 2,000 wells
the massive ethnic cleansing that established Israel as a Jewish
were destroyed, along with schools, hospitals, UN buildings,
majority state. While the homes of families in Gaza were be-
factories, farms, power plants and water treatment facilities.
ing flattened by bombs, the homes of families in East Jerusalem
were demolished because of court orders. Many were already
The assault on Gaza finally woke people up. Many who had ig-
refugees from 1948 or 1967. Farmland stolen to build the Wall
nored or avoided the issue of Palestine spoke out for the first
and farmland decimated by tanks is part of a policy to destroy
time. There was a new level of outrage, as reports and photos
Palestinians means of survival and ties to the land. A young boy
came out of dead children, disfiguring injuries from white phos-
shot by rampaging West Bank settlers is as much a victim of the
phorous and DIME weapons, the destruction of whole communi-
Israeli government as a boy shot by soldiers in Rafah.
ties, and escape routes blocked.
On December 31, 2009, hundreds of activists from more than
Eight months later the UN “Goldstone Report” was released
twenty-five countries will join the Gaza Freedom March, orga-
concluding that Israel “violated international human rights and
nized by the International Coalition to End the Illegal Siege of
humanitarian law” and “committed actions amounting to war
Gaza to mark the one year anniversary the Israeli attacks and
crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity.” The report was
demand an end to the illegal blockade. Participants will march
predictably either condemned as being biased against Israel or
alongside the people of Gaza from the southern border with
commended for being even-handed because it includes charges
Egypt to be joined by Israeli and Palestinian activists at the
against Hamas too. Roberts Fisk writes in The Independent of
northern border with Palestine/Israel.
London “Israeli government officials announced that their in-
vestigations were ‘a thousand times’ fairer than the Goldstone
The international academic and cultural boycott of Israel is
investigation. Barrack Obama’s UN ambassador, Susan Rice,
growing. Activists have been “deshelving’ Israeli products at
condemned the Goldstone investigation with the pathetic (and,
Trader Jose’s and creating parodies of pro-Israel propaganda.
again, typical) remark that ‘our view is that we have to remain
Well-known actors and writers denounced Israel’s attempt to
focused on the future.’” The US Congress voted 344-36 in fa-
use the Toronto Film Festival to burnish its image. European
vor of a resolution calling on the President and the Secretary of
labor unions and local governments are cutting ties with Israeli
State to unequivocally oppose any endorsement of the Goldstone
companies. And Sister City initiatives are underway from Or-
Report. The Palestinian Authority went out of its way to further
lando to Sacramento.
weaken its credibility and support among the Palestinian popula-
tion when it reversed its demand that the International Criminal
One year later, the outrage Gaza ignited is showing signs of
Court investigate allegations of war crimes committed by Israel
becoming a political movement that could one day end Israeli
in Gaza. This was after intense lobbying by Israel and the US,
apartheid and the brutal its military occupation of the West Bank
backed up by Israeli threats to scuttle a lucrative telecommunica-
and Gaza. It’s up to us to keep it going.
tions deal the PA was counting on.

The Goldstone Report, and all the focus on Gaza over this past
year, has created opportunities to educate people and build a big-

2 MECA NEWS
 Since September 22, Mohammad Othman, an organizer with the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-
Apartheid Wall Campaign (www.stopthewall.org) and a leader of the international Boycott
Divestment Sanctions (BDS) Campaign, has been detained indefinitely by Israeli authorities.
Mohammad has taken MECA delegations of North Americans on tours of the Apartheid Wall,
we have supported his youth organizing work, and we have worked with him in the US-Pales-
tine Youth Solidarity Network. We urge you to, please, visit freemohammadothman.wordpress.
com to demand Mohammad’s release and to leave a message of support and solidarity.

It Will Take More Than

a Wall to Silence
” Us
by Jamal Juma
Coordinator of the Palestinian Grassroots
Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign

My friend and fellow organizer Mohammad Othman, a 34-year-

old Palestinian human rights advocate, was detained by Israel on
September 22 while returning home from meetings with Norwe-
gian government officials. I suspect he was not surprised. A few
months earlier, Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint within the West
Bank had taken him aside and threatened him with arrest. “We’re
going to arrest you,” one said, “but it’s difficult with you because
all you do is talk.”
As a grassroots leader, this chills me to the bone. If talking is a
crime, if urging the international community to hold Israel ac-
countable for theft of our land is a crime, then we all are vulner-
able. Israeli authorities are increasingly imprisoning and abus-
ing Palestinians - not just Mohammad Othman - for speaking out
abroad about hardships faced by Palestinians.
It’s the Jim Crow South in the wild West Bank. There are more
than 11,000 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom are held for
months or years in administrative detention without charge or
trial. 28 Palestinians from the West Bank village of Bil’in - also
losing land to the apartheid barrier - have been arrested in night-
time raids since June and 18 of them remain detained.
As for my friend, Mohammad Othman, he has spent much of
his time since September 22 in solitary confinement. His deten-
tion has already been extended four times and an appeal rejected.
Strikingly, Israeli authorities have yet to bring evidence or charg-
es against him in the military court. Perhaps this is because, as
the soldier at the checkpoint admitted, Mohammad is guilty only
of talking; of speaking out against injustice.
Mohammad hails from the impoverished village of Jayyous. He
speaks tirelessly about the high-tech fencing that steals his fami-
ly’s land. Mohammad has chosen against great odds to speak out
Ellen Davidson
Mohammad Othman explains to a MECA delegation
how the Wall is choking off Palestinian agricultural
villages, forcing people to find work in the new Israeli
industrial zones.
because the life of his community is at stake. He has discovered
he has a powerful voice. International visitors are riveted when
Mohammad describes how Israeli diamond mogul, Lev Leviev,
is building an illegal settlement on his village land.
Mohammad met last month in Norway with the Finance Minis-
ter and representatives of the Norwegian State Pension Fund to
convince them to follow their own human rights guidelines for
investment. Less than two weeks before Mohammad’s arrest,
the Finance Minister announced the Pension Fund’s $5.4 million
divestment from Elbit, an Israeli company that provides security
equipment for the Wall and builds the drones that have killed
innocents in Gaza.
To date, this was one of the greatest successes of the campaign
to divest from Israel for failing to abide by international law.
Mohammad was a national hero returning home, only to be in-
tercepted by an Israeli government that while losing the moral
battle abroad still exercises ultimate control over our lives.
The full text of this article can be found on the Huffington Post
website.

MECA NEWS 3
Ibdaa and MECA, continued from page 1
Palestinian right of return and empowerment of local leader-
ship in marginalized communities in Palestine and the rest of
the world. Barbara came to Dheisheh Refugee Camp and stayed
with us during curfews and heavy invasions. She showed the
people the depth of her commitment by sticking with us through
the worst.

In 1994 my friend Khaled Al-Saifi and I took on the ambitious

project of starting a dance troupe for boys and girls in Dheisheh.
Though Khaled was a teacher, neither of us had done this kind of
artistic work with children before. We began with a training about
elections and democracy. We gave examples in history of demo-
cratic move-
ments and egation from the United States. Fifteen minutes into the show
taught how Barbara came over and told me “I want to bring this dance
an election troupe to the United States.” Though we had accomplished a
works. Then lot against the odds, this idea seemed crazy. By now I knew
the children how difficult it was to take twenty children to Europe and the
elected fif- idea of going all the way to the US seemed impossible. Before
teen boys and she left Palestine, Barbara spoke with me again and promised
fifteen girls to work on this idea and, still unbelieving, I thanked her and
who would said we were ready.
be part of the
dance troupe. It took two years to organize the trip, but in October 1999,
Khaled and Khaled and I arrived in New York with twenty children from
I, along with
thirty chil-
dren, poured our hearts into creating a dance show that depicted
the history of Palestinian refugees. We called this theatrical dance
piece Al-Khaima, “The Tent,” and encouraged the children to be
proud of their history and to tell their story to the international
community. For three years we were in the streets—we didn’t
have buildings. We practiced in the classrooms of the school and
met in people’s houses.

In the first three years, the young dancers traveled to France,

Iraq, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, and Holland. In each country
they mesmerized audiences with their dances and moved them
with their eloquent words. The children were the ambassadors
for Palestinian refugees, traveling around the world and sharing
their history. It was the first time a children’s dance troupe from
any of the fifty-nine Palestinian refugee camps traveled abroad.
After returning from our first trip, we organized a performance
at Bethlehem University for our own community. The parents—
many of whom were initially opposed to the idea of boys and
girls dancing and traveling together—strongly encouraged us to
continue working with their children. At that performance we
announced the launch of a new organization called Ibdaa—“to
create something out of nothing”—that would serve the children
of Dheisheh.
In the summer of 1997 we organized another memorable per-
formance at Bethlehem University, this time for a MECA del-
Photos:
S. Smith Patrick
ABOVE: Ibdaa Dance Tours 1999, 2003, 2005:
MECA sponsored the only US tours of Ibdaa’s youth dance
troupe, which have introduced US audiences to the stories
of Palestinian refugees, farmers, and prisoners through tra-
ditional folkloric dance (debka) and theatrical choreogra-
phy. Ibdaa dancers met with children and youth from mar-
ginalized communities in the US and learned how their lives
and struggles are intertwined. Proceeds from and the tours
helped build the Ibdaa Guesthouse, and the new six-story
Women and Children’s Center
BELOW: In 2006 MECA secured a grant from the Mosaic
Foundation for Ibdaa to build a playground for its kinder-
garten and preschool—the first and only playground in the
camp where 6,000 children live.

4 MECA NEWS
Dheisheh Refugee Camp. We stayed
in the US for six weeks and in each
city we performed and raised funds
for Ibdaa’s work, while also meet-
ing with schools and community
groups to teach them about life in a
Palestinian refugee camp and learn
about life in their communities. Dur-
ing this tour, and the 2003 and 2005
tours, MECA created the possibility
for refugees to build relationships
with other marginalized communi-
ties. The dancers performed twice
on Alcatraz Island in programs or-
ganized by Indigenous people. They
had deep discussions with students at
a school in Albuquerque who faced
oppression as “illegal” immigrants.
They performed in Houston at a joint
benefit for Ibdaa and two grassroots or-
ganizations run by refugees of Hurricane
Katrina.
Meanwhile, the Ibdaa Cultural Center
continued to expand to meet many needs
in the community. One project made it
possible for young people to connect with
Palestinian refugee youth in other places
for the first time—through the Internet.
But some opposed our work because of
our support for the right of return; because
boys and girls, women, and men were
working together; and
because they were jeal-
ous of Ibdaa’s success
and growth from a local
initiative to an organi-
zation On August 24,
2000, arsonists burned
down the computer lab
and children’s library.
The young people lost
their connection to their
friends in other refugee
camps. MECA was one
of the first organiza-
tions to respond and
help Ibdaa rebuild.
The relationship be-
tween MECA and Ib-
daa continued to grow.
The funds raised on
three US dance tours and additional contributions from MECA
supporters, made it possible for Ibdaa to build infrastructure and
Oral History Project: In 1998
Ibdaa began an Oral History
Project, but was told by sev-
eral funders that it shouldn’t
be a priority. MECA recog-
nized the importance of this
work and provided funding
to bring children and their
elders together to learn
about their history as refu-
gees and to visit their origi-
nal villages, from which they
were expelled in 1948.
Photos: Ibdaa
Sports are among
the most popular
activities at Ibdaa,
providing a respite
from the harsh
realities of life
and an avenue for
young people to
have fun, engage
with one another,
and excel. There
is no space in the
crowded camp for
sports activities so
the children and youth on Ibdaa’s teams play in the fields
and halls of surrounding towns and villages. MECA pro-
vides funds for equipment, trainers, and transportation for
two football (soccer) teams for boys, a young women’s vol-
leyball team, and three basketball teams for boys and girls.
Ibdaa is proud to have established the first women’s bas-
ketball and volleyball teams in a Palestinian refugee camp.
This year, the basketball team won the 2009 championship.
Mural inside Ibdaa Guesthouse. This four-story building
houses a computer lab, offices, ten guest rooms, a multi-
purpose hall and restaurant. When I was young I went to this
same location each day and stood in line with hundreds of
children waiting to receive a hot meal from the United Na-
tions. I felt defeated by this daily humiliation. With funds
from MECA and others Ibdaa destroyed the old building and
built a new place for children to come with dignity and cre-
ativity to learn and teach, and generate a strong and united
Photo: Ellen Davidson commitment to a future of peace and justice.
MECA NEWS 5
develop new and important projects. MECA and Ibdaa shared
a vision for social development through focusing on children’s
and women’s rights. MECA stood in solidarity with the Pales-
tinian struggle and with marginalized people in the Palestinian
community in ideological and concrete ways.
Over many years MECA has supported many Ibdaa programs in-
cluding the kindergarten and children’s library; youth programs
like the dance troupe, media training, sports teams, and oral his-
tory; and women’s leadership training. MECA made it possible
for an Ibdaa delegation to participate in the historic 2001 Dur-
ban Conference on Racism in South Africa, and helped Ibdaa
create income-generating projects like the women’s embroidery
collective, the
guesthouse, and
the restaurant.
These investments
enabled Ibdaa to
grow to meet the
needs of our com-
munity and gave us
the space to dream
up new projects for
Dheisheh residents
and the wider Pal-
estinian commu-
nity.
Over time MECA and Ibdaa have became real
partners, helping each other grow and develop.
MECA supports Ibdaa’s work on the ground in
Palestine and Ibdaa supports MECA in educat-
ing people in the US. Together we are work-
ing to create a new generation of Palestinian
leaders and an informed public in the United
States.
Today I’m proud to say that, after 15 years
of working with children and youth, I have
stepped back from Ibdaa in order to encourage
the development of new leadership: Hazem
Alqassas, Areej Jafari, and others who “grew
up” through Ibdaa’s programs. As the Associ-
ate Director of MECA in the US, I know that I am still con-
tributing to the work of Ibdaa, while my colleague Josie Shield-
Stromsness, a MECA staff member is working with Ibdaa on the
ground in Dheisheh Refugee Camp.
After all these long years, MECA and Ibdaa have created a mod-
el for a solidarity relationship that others should learn from and
replicate. This relationship can show how grassroots initiatives
that are born and grow up in the alleyways and streets of a refu-
gee camp can be an inspiration for local communities in other
parts of the world.
6 MECA NEWS
Photo: Uda Olabarria Walker
Scholarships: In 2003 and 2004 Ibdaa asked
MECA for help with a very important project—
higher education for its youth leaders. Five
promising students came to complete their
education in the US, free from the obstacles of
occupation. Ahmad Jabr, Rashed Abu Alia, and
Jehad Al-Shamarkheh have completed their
studies, and Keyan Daoud and Ahmed Al-Ghrouz
will graduate in December. Now, MECA supports
Ibdaa and the wider Palestinian community
with 100 scholarships for students at universi-
ties in the West Bank and Gaza. Ibdaa is one of
the organizations that assists MECA in finding
applicants.
MECA has funded media training work-
shops for youth at Ibdaa, donated media
equipment, and supported digital story-
telling and music workshops for youth
from all over the West Bank. In 2010 Ibdaa
will create a professional quality audio
production studio, thanks to a very gen-
erous gift from MECA supporter Scott
Handleman. to provide training for young
people in Dheisheh and specially designed
intensive trainings for Palestinian youth
coming from other areas.
Photos: Ibdaa When the Ibdaa youth dance troupe first
traveled abroad in 1994 they brought traditional Palestin-
ian embroidery to sell in France. In 1997 Ibdaa women’s
program started an embroidery collective so that women
could get paid fair wages for their handwork, have their
own source of income, and help support their families. At
first, Ibdaa sold just a few pieces at a time to international
visitors and to dance troupe audiences. MECA and an-
other organization helped market the embroidery outside
Palestine, and there are now 100 women in the embroidery
collective and Ibdaa has added a small sewing workshop to
finish the pieces.
Scholarships for Palestinian Students
In 2009 MECA provided full or partial scholarships for
100 Palestinian students studying at eleven universities in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These young people are Pal-
estine’s next generation of teachers, dentists, nurses, engi-
neers, translators, and much more. Their scholarships are
provided by two funds established by supporters, the Elly
Jaensch Memorial Scholarship Fund and the Tree of Life
Scholarship Fund. In addition, MECA’s Ramzy Halaby Ed-
ucation Fund provided scholarships for Keyan Daoud and
Ahmed Al-Ghrouz, who will graduate from US universities
in December 2009.
“I would like to thank MECA for the scholarship and
for your care for the students in Gaza, especially in this
difficult financial period caused by the war and siege.
The scholarship comes at a great time for me because
I couldn’t afford the tuition to continue my studies this
year. I love to work with people and to help them and
this is the reason that I am studying in the Medical
College. I’m happy because I can be a volunteer in Al-
Taher Center now and help my community while I con-
tinue my studies.”
-Taghreed Al-Amawi,
22-year-old medical student at Al-Azhar University, Gaza
MECA Supports Boycott Divestment
Sanctions (BDS) Campaign
In 2005, a broadcoalition of Palestinian civil society organizations
calledupon people of conscience all over the worldtoimpose
boycotts, divestment andsanctions against Israel, similar tothose
appliedtoSouth Africa in the apartheidera. These non-violent
principledmeasures shouldbe maintaineduntil Israel meets its
obligation torecognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right
toself-determination andfully complies with the precepts of
international lawby:
1. Endingits occupation andcolonization of all Arablands and
dismantlingthe Wall;
2. Recognizingthe fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian
citizens of Israel tofull equality; and
3. Respecting, protectingandpromotingthe rights of Palestinian
refugees toreturn totheir homes andproperties as stipulatedin
UNresolution 194.
For more information andhowtoget involved: www.bdsmove-
ment.net, endtheoccupation.og, http://www.quitpalestine.org/

A Life-Saving Gift for the Children

YES! I want to help meet the basic needs of children in the Middle East and give
them opportunities to learn, play, and envision a better future.
Here is my special contribution to help MECA:

Install water purification systems in Gaza schools • Support community arts, sports, andmedia programs
Deliver medical aidtoPalestine andIraq • Provide scholarships for Palestinian students
[ ] $250 [ ] $100 [ ] $50 [ ] $25 [ ] $ ____________

[ ] My check payable to MECA is enclosed. [ ] Please charge my credit card in the amount indicated above.

Card #: _______________________________________ Exp: _____________________

Signature: _____________________________________________________________

Name: ________________________________________________________________ 1101 8th. St. Berkeley, Ca 94710

Address: ______________________________________________________________
www.mecaforpeace.org
City, ST, Zip: ____________________________________________________________

Email: _________________________________________________________________
MECA is a 501(c)3 exempt organization. Your gift is tax-deductible as a charitable contribution. MECA NEWS 7
1101 8th. St. Berkeley, Ca 94710

SAVE THE DATE:

Sunday, February 28, 2010
Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk brings his incom-
parable insight, encyclopedic
knowledge of modern Middle
East history, his analysis of West-
ern imperialist adventures, and
his renowned razor-sharp wit to
bear on current events in the re-
gion.
Saturday, December 12th Only, Noon-6PM
St. John’s Church, 2727 College Avenue, Berkeley Fisk has lived in and written about the Middle East for
more than thirty years. He is the Middle East correspon-
Hundreds of beautifully crafted items including Tatriz (Palestinian Embroidery); dent for The Independent of London and the author of five
Hand-blown Glassware from Hebron; Carved Olive wood; Painted Ceramics; books, including “Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War.” “The
Organic, Extra-Virgin Olive Oil; Olives; Olive Oil Soap; Scarves, Shawls, and other Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle
Textiles; Calendars and Cookbooks; Honey; Jewelry; Children’s Clothing and Dolls East,” and “The Age of the Warrior: Selected Writings.”
from Gaza, and much more! He is the winner of numerous journalism and human rights
And don’t miss the tasty homemade Palestinian food awards, including the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Prize
& Middle Eastern music too! from the Lannan Foundation.
For more information & directions at:
Location, ticket prices, & more information coming soon!
www.mecaforpeace.org