Friends International Center in Ramallah–February newsletter

by Global Ministries | published on Oct 10, 2014

“This year Ramallah Friends will mark the 100th anniversary of the Ramallah Friends Meetinghouse. The meetinghouse was dedicated on March 6, 1910. This year the members of Ramallah Friends Meeting, attenders, and many who have been associated with the Ramallah Friends Meeting will to acknowledge the contributions of Quakers in the past and present and to work towards creating a vision for future Quaker work in Palestine.

“Many people have passed through the doors of the Meetinghouse during these 100 years. If the stones of the Meetinghouse could speak, they would have some very interesting stories to tell. However, we need to rely on the people who have passed through its doors to tell those stories. Some of these stories have been preserved in books, reports in files, and pictures that many have preserved. Many of the stories have been lost.

“As we prepare for the 100th anniversary of the Meetinghouse, we continue to acknowledge that there was a Palestinian Quaker presence long before the Meetinghouse was built. The building of the Meetinghouse was a recognition that this group of Quakers/Friends who had been meeting in different places in Ramallah for worship, needed to have a permanent place to be and to worship. It has been this meetinghouse, this place of worship that kept the Quaker community together all these years. In 1940 the Annex was added in order to have a place to hold Sunday/First Day School and organize community projects.

“The Ramallah Friends Meeting today is small. Many of its members have emigrated and are living elsewhere around the world. The situation in the West Bank has affected everyone, and Ramallah Quakers/Friends have not been immune to the effects of the Israeli occupation. However, Quakers/Friends continue to have an impact in the Palestinian community….”

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