Special Back-to-School Appeal: Please support READ PALESTINE!

During the past year the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project joined with a group of local book-loving volunteers to create READ PALESTINE! — a project to spread awareness and educate young people about Palestine by offering them Palestinian stories and culture through books.

We need your help now to expand the reach of this project.

Here is how it works: We fundraise and purchase books by and about Palestinians for all ages, from tots to high schoolers. We link up with educators, parents and librarians who can opt to receive a bundle of books for their libraries, classrooms or homes.

We have also started offering community Read Aloud hours, where we team up with local spots for a storytelling session followed by a cool craft.  Think bookstores, libraries, community centers and classrooms with a circle of kids and parents listening to a book being read aloud to them. (If you know of a place that would like us to do a Read Aloud, please get in touch!)

More recently, we have launched youth Book Clubs. Regardless of the child’s school level – elementary, middle, or high school – we have books they will find engaging and gain valuable insight from. Students can gather (sometimes with students in Palestine via Zoom) for a few sessions of book discussion and learning led by one of our Read Palestine volunteers.

Our mission for this project is summed up best by this statement from The Madison Reading Project: “We believe wholeheartedly in the importance of children having access to books that reflect their unique identities and open their eyes to other people’s lived experiences.”

As we approach the fall start of school, we are asking you to please consider a donation to spread the Read Palestine book project even further in the Madison community.

Donate to purchase a complete Book Package (packages range from $60 to $87) or individual titles on our list. Packages and books are listed below. One hundred percent of your donation will go to purchasing books for the project.

• Donate securely online through our Square account, or
• Help us avoid credit card fees and mail a check payable to MRSCP and marked “Book Project” to
  MRSCP
  P.O. Box 5214
  Madison, WI 53705

As always, we thank you for your support!

Interested in volunteering with this project?
Contact RafahSisterCity@yahoo.com

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Read Palestine! Book Packages

*Prices are MRSCP costs for book packages that will be donated to school classrooms, community centers, and libraries participating in our Read Palestine! Project.

K-3rd Elementary – Total Package $60

• Homeland:  My Father Dreams of Palestine ($19)
• Olive Harvest in Palestine ($11)
• These Olive Trees ($19)
• When Za’atar Met Zeit ($11)

4th – 5th Elementary – Total Package $64

• Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine ($19)
• Farah Rocks – one of the series books ($11)
• Ida in the Middle ($16)
• We Are Palestinian: A Celebration of Culture & Tradition ($20)

6th – 8th Middle School – Total Package $68

• Ida in the Middle ($16)
• We Are Palestinian: A Celebration of Culture & Tradition ($20)
• Balcony on the Moon ($12)
• Determined to Stay: Palestinian Youth Fight for Their Village ($20)

9th-12th High School – Total Package $87

• Determined to Stay: Palestinian Youth Fight for Their Village ($20)
• They Called Me a Lioness ($18)
• Gaza Writes Back: Writings Born of Fire ($20)
• My Name is Rachel Corrie ($13)
• Power Born of Dreams: My Story is Palestine ($16)