The Sameer Project
“Because we focus on equity, and because we work in a way that we are facilitating support rather than dictating support, and [because] our values are clear—our goals towards liberation are clear—I think over time we’ve built trust within many communities, and it’s so beautiful to see the support that we get.” - Hala Sabbah, co-founder of The Sameer Project
Here’s one thing I can say with all honesty: I did not expect to find a clown amidst the rubble in Gaza.
My guess is that, probably, you didn’t expect that either. That’s why I’m so excited to introduce you to today’s neighbour—or rather today’s neighbours. Once again, I’ve chosen an organization working on the ground in Gaza to spotlight; together we’ve learned about Ele Elna Elak, Gaza Soup Kitchen, and Thamra, and it’s now my pleasure to talk a little bit about The Sameer Project!
Despite the person I’ve drawn to represent this organization, the Sameer Project is not just about clowns (really, it’s not even mostly about clowns, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity). Formed in April 2024, the Sameer Project was originally concerned with providing shelter in the form of bulk purchased tents for our neighbours who had been displaced throughout Gaza. The group was founded by a handful of Palestinians in the diaspora—Hala Shabbah (London), Lena Al Dajani (California), Hala’s cousin Mira, who is from Gaza but was evacuated in December 2023, and with support from the folks behind the Instagram account Translating Falasteen. While most of them were like us—on the outside looking in—they also had indelible bonds to the people and the land that meant sitting idly by just wasn’t a choice for them. In Mira’s case, he lost her own father to the genocide, as he was killed not long after Mira was able to evacuate. The project earns its name in his memory.
Their first endeavour was a camp in Rafah for children who had been discharged early from Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals—not because they no longer needed treatment, but because there just wasn’t enough space to treat all the thousands of injured children, let alone the adults. This camp, now named the Refaat Alareer camp after the beloved Gazan poet we met a few months ago in Imago Palestina, is still one of the Sameer Project’s main focuses, and is composed of roughly 25 families at a time, though some rotate through based on their changing circumstances. For my Torontonian readers, this is basically the Sick Kids Hospital of refugee camps, and I’d encourage you to check out their Instagram to meet some of their wonderful and courageous residents.
Since that first camp, they’ve expanded rapidly both in terms of services and geography. Aside from the Refaat Alareer camp, the pillar of the Sameer Project is the equitable distribution of resources to the folks who need it most. They have trusting partnerships with displaced peoples camps throughout southern Gaza where they’ve developed efficient systems of doling out supplies based on what needs those communities have identified and what resources are most available at the time. In northern Gaza, where Israel’s most focused ethnic cleansing campaign is still underway, they focus on bringing supplies to the isolated communities that have held their ground—communities that many of the large NGOs have stopped attending to because of Israel’s constant attacks on aid workers.
Beyond just resources however, they also work with local communities and talented individuals within those communities (such as our clown here) to provide a vast array of services, including but not limited to: community kitchens, medical treatment, dental treatment, barber services, water trucks, firewood delivery, personal care & disease prevention workshops, and mental health booster days for children. I saw this clown holding this smiling girl in a video from the latter, and I don’t think I can properly describe the joy it brought me to see these kids laughing and singing for once.
Now, I said earlier that the group is led by folks in the diaspora, so at this point you may be wondering two things. One, why didn’t I just draw one of those founders (why the clown)? And two, how are they able to do all this great work despite being, like ourselves, millions of kilometres away?
Both questions find their answer in the thing that’s most special about the Sameer project: while the founding team may facilitate its work, the hands and feet that are really making the difference are those in the communities being served. The “they” I’ve been referring to this whole time is a dedicated team of volunteers on the ground in Gaza, serving their neighbours directly.
Now I’m not saying this is a unique strength—the other groups I’ve highlighted use roughly the same system as well—but it is what’s to credit for the diversity of the services that the Sameer Project can offer.
There’s a lot that you and I can do for our neighbours in Palestine, but at the end of the day, we are still looking at them through a telescope. It’s hard to tell what needs are going unmet or what opportunity is open, and even harder to respond efficiently.
Moreover, we can’t see what systems of care are being built and need reinforcing if we’re not experiencing their successes and failures firsthand. This is one of the main failings of large international NGOs that work in Palestine—they’re there for relief, and they will be able to do it to greater and lesser degrees, but they’re not there for building. They’re not there for resisting occupation and colonialism by building self-sufficiency and mutual solidarity.
But every neighbour who helps another with her tent, every relationship built through equitable giving, every isolated family connected with a web of community, and yes, every clown who dons face paint to make the children of Refaat Alareer camp smile, is a seed that will grow a garden of sumud.
For us, way out here, international solidarity doesn’t mean micromanaging our neighbours resilience, nor does it mean driving ourselves mad trying to make impossible decisions about who deserves our help. It means equipping our neighbours to meet their needs in the ways only they know how to meet them. It means giving them the resources they need to build a better reality than colonialism and genocide. It means forging bonds founded in trust, and choosing to put our faith in that.
Prayer Requests:
With your heart: Pray for all the hands and hearts that make up the Sameer Project. Pray that they might be rewarded a hundredfold for the care they’re showing their neighbours, and that all their sowing will one day soon be reaped as liberation. Pray that the resources our neighbours need would flow into their communities through projects like these, and that the colonial forces keeping aid and prosperity out of Gaza would be torn down.
With your voice: With news of PM Trudeau’s resignation, now is a great time to tell your MP that you expect their support of Palestine ahead of the coming election, or they shouldn’t expect your vote.
With your hands: Make a donation to the Sameer Project. Better yet, consider how you might be able to develop a sustainable system of financial support based on your resources and giftings. See below for links.
More Information:
The Sameer Project donation links
““A Form of Resistance Towards Liberation” - Hala Sabbah on The Sameer Project,” an episode of the Millennials are Killing Capitalism podcast (source for Hala’s quote at the beginning)
“Inside One of Gaza’s Internal Displacement Camps” at The Indypendent
Linked in text: