APN | Jordan
1 October 2024
APN met with an official delegation from Michigan headed by Abdullah Hammoud, Mayor of Dearborn. The delegation was hosted by The Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) in Amman, alongside several civil society organisations with a long history of advocacy and support for the Palestinian cause.
APN General Manager, Mariam Al Jaajaa, highlighted the environmental and agricultural destruction caused by the war on Gaza and ongoing genocide, discussing APN’s efforts to restore agricultural resilience in Palestinian lands and support food sovereignty initiatives. She called for urgent action to be undertaken by the international community in response to the ecocide in Gaza, emphasizing the intersection between environmental destruction and human rights violations.
Samar Muhareb, ARDD CEO, led the discussion, while Mariam Abu Samra, Coordinator of ARDD’s Al Nahda Center, presented a statement on the center's Question of Palestine Program. The program provides a platform for critical thinking and the production of local knowledge on the most pressing social, political, and historical issues concerning the Palestinian cause and the refugee crisis. It also provides legal assistance to Palestinian refugees in Jordan.
The Michigan delegation, representing the largest Arab-American community in the United States, expressed interest in APN’s Revive Gaza’s Farmland Project, recognizing its significant humanitarian and developmental impact on the ground. They affirmed their commitment to establishing lasting partnerships between the Arab-American community in the U.S. and Jordanian organisations working on the Palestinian cause, stressing the importance of developing a precise understanding of the complexities on the ground to facilitate more effective advocacy within American institutions.
Meeting participants recommended strengthening ties between Arab civil society organisations and international entities in America to ensure that their vital efforts are sustained. They also emphasized raising awareness in the United States about the plight of Palestinians and supporting local organisations in providing comprehensive services to Palestinian refugees. They affirmed that a shared commitment to creating a framework for continuous dialogue and cooperation would enable them to advocate for Palestinian rights and justice.
