Loading ...House of Palestine: A Space for Palestinian Cultural in San Diego
House of Palestine, an affiliate member of the House of Pacific Relations located in Balboa Park, in the heart of San Diego, California. The House of Palestine’s mission is to promote the culture and heritage of Palestine by hosting various social activities featuring Palestinian traditional costumes, folkloric dance, poetry, music, arts and crafts, and food. In addition to fostering Palestinian culture, the House of Palestine, provides a meeting ground for Palestinians and friends of Palestine.
We are an active and vibrant community that has not forgotten its roots or its beloved homeland. We are thousands strong, and together, we are raising the next generation of proud Palestinian-Americans. As part of this effort, over 11 years ago, we formed “The House of Palestine,” and were fortunate enough to be granted admission into the House of Pacific Relations, a consortium of “houses” representing 33 countries. The House of Pacific Relations was first created in 1935 in order to provide park visitors the opportunity to learn about other cultures and traditions. It promotes multicultural goodwill and understanding through educational and cultural programs. It is located in Balboa Park, the 1400 acre cultural center of our city. Although many countries have joined the House of Pacific Relations, only those with an exceptionally active local community have been granted permission to build a structure, called a cottage, inside the park.
Today, after more than a decade of hard work, countless events and tens of thousands of volunteer hours, the city of San Diego is finally ready to give us public land in order to build our own cottage. We have showcased Palestinian culture, whether through our rich cuisine, traditional dabkeh, or beautiful embroidery, to hundreds of thousands of park visitors. More importantly, we have taught our own children to be proud of their culture, a culture that is under constant danger of being erased. Through the work of our committed volunteers, we have seen the Palestinian flag flying high over the park multiple times during festivals that attract over 200,000 people. Now, we are about to build a cottage, which will become the first Palestinian cultural center in the United States, and proudly and permanently fly the Palestinian flag for decades to come at the world famous Balboa Park.
Through small donations we have raised more than half of the $265,000 needed to build our cottage. However, we are in need of an additional $130,000 in order to see the building to completion.
It is for these reasons that we humbly ask you to Donate on line by visiting our website Houseofpalestine.org or send us a check to 6161 El Cajon Blvd, # 149, San Diego, Ca 92115, with the proceeds going to the building of the House of Palestine cottage. We would be honored to see all of you in our new cottage in December 2016. For any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me
Sincerely,
Ghassan Saudi
Project Manager
New International Cottages
Ghassan.nicc@gmail.com