Summary
The Quaker organisation (AFSC, “the Quakers” in Gaza) that holds the copyright of Light in Gaza (2022), ran relief for Palestinian refugees in Gaza in 1949-50, and launched the Gaza Unlocked campaign from which the anthology grew (Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, PDF p.9, p.19-20, p.55).
Details
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In 1949 AFSC agreed to a United Nations request to assist Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, and was invited by the UN to manage Gaza’s relief system in December 1948 (Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, PDF p.19-20, p.55).
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Its executive secretary Clarence Pickett argued in the Philadelphia Inquirer on March 20, 1949 that refugees must view their situation “realistically” and accept that “home” is now the Jewish State of Israel; the AFSC Gaza Unit’s letter of October 12, 1949 instead conveyed the refugees’ demand for repatriation and their rejection of resettlement (Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, PDF p.56-57).
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AFSC withdrew from direct relief in Gaza on May 1, 1950, when UNRWA took over, having warned the UN that prolonged direct relief could militate against a political settlement (Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, PDF p.58).
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AFSC launched the Gaza Unlocked campaign in 2015, published Life Under Blockade: A Collection of Essays by twelve Gaza-based young authors in 2018, hosted Ahmed Abu Artema’s US tour in 2019, and issued the September 2020 call for abstracts that produced Light in Gaza (Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, PDF p.20, p.25).
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About AFSC, printed at the end of Light in Gaza, gives its founding in 1917 as a Quaker organization based on the belief in the divine light within each person, its April 1948 staff trip that led it to accept the UN’s request to support displaced Palestinians in Gaza, its food, shelter and sanitation work in ten camps and schools for all the Strip’s children — the structures that formed the basis of UNRWA’s operations — and its early, forceful voice for Palestinians to return to their homes or receive voluntary resettlement with compensation (Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, PDF p.310-311).
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The same About AFSC records that AFSC ended refugee relief in 1950 but continued with UNRWA-coordinated preschool centers, the first legal aid clinic for Palestinians under occupation in the 1970s, and youth work from the 1990s from offices in Jerusalem and Gaza; the anthology’s writings do not necessarily reflect AFSC’s opinions (Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, PDF p.310-311).
Related pages
Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, Jehad Abusalim, Shahd Abusalama, UNRWA, Right of Return