Familien für Palästina is a collective of people united by our commitment to fight for a free Palestine. Besides that, care work is a common fact of our lives – whether it is care for children or for others in our community. Our notion of families includes single-parent-families, human-animal bonds and queer people. It is also aspirational: We strive towards a world where colonial and imperialist border regimes, prisons and capitalism no longer determine how we organize our intimate relations, our livelihoods and our communities.
We are a mixed group – Palestinians and non-Palestinians. We recognize that the struggle for a free Palestine overlaps with the struggle against structural racism and imperialism everywhere. Many of us have also been active in different movements and communities for many years and have experiences with migrant, anti-racist, refugee, queer, Mad/psych survivor and intersectional feminist struggles.
We started out by going to protests together. We try to make protest spaces welcoming to children when we can. All children are our children. We believe that fostering multigenerational community strengthens the Palestine movement as a whole. That is as much about including young ones and their caregivers as it is about honoring the experiences, lessons and sacrifices of the older generations.
We practice mutual aid. We work closely with Infinity Team in Gaza, a group who came together to provide basic necessities (hygiene, food, water) and financial support among the displaced people. They also organize educational and emotional support activities for children. We are full of admiration for the creativity and determination they have shown to provide some relief in the most difficult situations. Being in direct contact with them is nourishing us to practice hope and not succumb to despair. The money that we raise at our events supports their work. We have organized several fundraisers with different thematic focuses, always offering activities for children as well as youth and adults. Our fundraisers are very successful thanks to a network of collaborators and supporters, especially Food4Palestine.
We have collaborated with many other organizations in Berlin as well: the Internationalist Queer Pride Berlin, pa_allies, Palinale, HeArt of Gaza exhibitions, Frauen Machen Druck, Al Festival, Gaza Komitee and Görli Winter Market among others.
We also organize political education for children and families in our communities, because our schools and the vast majority of German media convey dehumanizing and racist ideas about Palestine. Our community’s children – whether they are Palestinian, Muslim, Black, Jewish, … — are growing up with the knowledge that Palestine is a rich culture with a long history, and that fighting for Palestine is an urgent cry of justice. The Palestinian resistance is an inspiration for all of us.
