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Al-Quds Fund and Endowment in Kuwait and meets His Highness the Crown Prince

In an effort to strengthen cooperation and support for the Al-Quds Fund and Endowment, a delegation from the fund visited Kuwait and held a series of high-level meetings. The delegation was headed by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal, and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Munib R. Masri, Dr. Hiba Ahmed, Director General of the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development of the Islamic Development Bank, as well as Dr. Imad Abu Kishek, Mr. Omar M. Masri, Mr. Taher Al-Disi and Mr. Muhammedin Weld Umah. The meetings included a visit to HH Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah at Bayan Palace. The delegation delivered to HH Sheikh Meshal the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah's certificate of endowment in Jerusalem, and the annual report of Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah's charitable program. His Highness affirmed his appreciation and support for the work of the Al-Quds Fund and Endowment, stressing the Kuwaiti government and people’s fundamental support for Jerusalem and Palestinian rights. During their visit to HE Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Board of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the delegation reviewed the challenging situation in Palestine and the reality of daily life for Jerusalemites. His Excellency highlighted the importance of economic empowerment in the face of occupation and human suffering. Extended meetings were held with HE Mr. Bader Mohammad Al Saad, Chairman and Director General of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, where the two parties discussed proposals for expanding the partnership between the two institutions in cooperation with other Arab funds. The representatives of Al-Quds Fund and Endowment expressed their deep appreciation to the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development for their long-standing and generous support to the Palestinian people. The delegation held fruitful discussions with their counterparts at the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, headed by its Chairman, Mr. Mohammed Jassem Al-Sager. Mr. Al-Sager stressed that “the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem are matters of principal and pertinence for the Kuwaiti people and its government as much as they are to Palestinians and Arabs." Mr. Al-Sager also affirmed his great pride that the Chamber of Commerce and Industry has always been at the forefront of those supporting Palestine and its people. At the close of the visit, the delegation met with representatives of the Palestinian community in Kuwait. The delegation emphasized the pivotal role of this community in supporting the work of the fund and serving the Palestinian cause, and the significance of further fostering the distinguished relations between the two peoples. ...

September 1, 2022

The Munib & Angela Masri Foundation signs sponsorship agreement to establish Khoyoot training center in Al-Baqa’a Refugee Camp

Omar M. Masri, chairman of the Al-Quds Academy for Scientific Research (QASR) and board member of the Munib & Angela Masri Foundation has signed a sponsorship and cooperation agreement with Basma Al-Nazer, founder and CEO of the Khoyoot Foundation for Development and Training (Khoyoot) (https://khoyoot.org). The signing ceremony was attended by Yazan Abu Jbara, co-founder of Khoyoot and Dr. Ashraf Bany Mohammed, senior policy advisor for MAF. The agreement incorporates a commitment from MAF to sponsor the establishment of a training center for Khoyoot in Al-Baqa’a refugee camp in Jordan. The training center shall have a capacity to train up to 20 women in embroidery in each cohort to help them access more employment opportunities and create a sustainable source of income. Mr. Masri highlighted the impact of this cooperation, which will allow women in Al-Baqa’a camp obtain access to high quality vocational and technical training programs aimed at developing their skills and income, while preserving part of the national heritage and history. He also affirmed MAF’s long-standing commitment to support local community development and skills-development especially for women and the youth. Ms. Al-Nazer expressed her gratitude to MAF for their financial support to establish the training center in Al-Baqa’a camp. She said that this agreement will help Khoyoot scale its capabilities to engage more women inside the camp as well as invest more in developing new programs and products for the local community. The Munib & Angela Masri Foundation is an independent, non-profit institution established in 1970 and works in various fields of development, including education, health, scientific research, culture, and economic empowerment, in partnership with various institutions across Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon. ...

August 22, 2022

Masri Foundation Sponsors first Jerusalem Film Festival

The first Al Quds Arabic Film Festival was launched on March 25th, and will last five days. The event was organized by the ARTLAB - Jerusalem Foundation. The Munib and Angela Masri Foundation sponsored the festival, as part of their longstanding efforts in the preservation of Palestinian culture, especially in Jerusalem where it is most endangered. The festival is featuring several prominent international and award-winning films, submitted by their respective countries to compete for the 2021 Oscars for Best International Feature Film, in the categories of feature films, documentaries, and short films. ...

March 27, 2021

Al Nayzak, EU and UNOPS are laying the foundation Stone for the Jerusalem Innovation Park

Jerusalem- the Mount of Olives/Al Suwaneh; Al Nayzak for Supportive Education and Scientific Innovation with the European Union (EU) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) lay the foundation stone for the Jerusalem Innovation Park (JIP) on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The EU Representative in Jerusalem, Mr. Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, and the Director of UNOPS in Palestine, Mr. Tokumitsu Kobayashi, and the founder of Al Nayzak Eng. Aref. Husseini joined the inauguration ceremony for the stone laying, along with a very limited number of personalities due to the current pandemic restrictions. Among them were Mrs. Daniel, Consulate General of Belgium, Mr. Abdel Qader Al-Husseini, Dr. Ahmed Nasser and Prof. Sawsan Al-Safadi from Al Nayzak Board of Directors. In his speech, the EU representative confirmed that, “The right to education is a fundamental human right for every individual and every child, but here in East Jerusalem, quality education is a real challenge; i.e. the schools are crowded, the classes are extremely full, the barriers are numerous. However, there is always a glimmer of hope! Our support for the JIP affirms our commitment to the fundamental human rights and the importance of creative thinking and innovation.” The representative Mr. Sven also reiterated the position of the EU which is that East Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Palestine. It is important to highlight that the (JIP) is an educational complex of 5385m2 in the heart of Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives, comprised of an innovation, technology and science hub along with other educational facilities specialized in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The JIP will offer educational services through internationally recognized educational facilities as well as an advanced scientific garden, with an interactive exhibition, a playground, an auditorium, a Fablab and an astronomy observatory, for the benefit of students and the interested public. The JIP is expected to open its doors, services, and facilities to the public around October 2023. “UNOPS is honored to join its efforts with the EU on the path to increase access to quality education for Palestinian girls and boys in East Jerusalem,” said the UNOPS Jerusalem Office Director Mr. Tokumitsu Kobayashi. During this phase of the project, UNOPS in collaboration with Al-Nayzak Organization for Scientific Innovation will lead the construction and finalize the first two floors of the main building, as well as the procurement of furniture and equipment.From his side, Eng. Aref Husseini, the founder of Al Nayzak and the JIP asserted, “this achievement is the fruit of the collective work, shared passion and a real partnership between local and international entities and individuals which are committed to serve East Jerusalem”. In addition, Eng. Husseini expressed his deep thanks and gratitude to the JIP partners who had a long-term vision, to turn this dream into reality. On behalf of Al Nayzak and Jerusalem, Eng. Husseini expressed his deep appreciation to other individuals and organizations who support the JIP to reach where it is today, specifically the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development- Kuwait, Welfare Association, the Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) company, H.E Dr. Nasser Qatami-Chairman of the Arab and Islamic Funds, the Jerusalemite businessman Eng. Hani Bader Kalouti, Mr. Terry Weber, the businessman H.E Mr. Munib R. Almasri through the Munib & Angela Masri Foundation and Sandouq and Waqfiyet AlQuds, the PalTel Foundation and the Bank of Palestine. ...

January 12, 2021

Alumni, Parents, and Friends Establish the Mahmoud Darwish Professorship in Palestinian Studies

When the Brown Corporation announced in May that it had approved the establishment of the Mahmoud Darwish Professorship in Palestinian Studies and appointed Professor Beshara Doumani as the inaugural chairholder, congratulatory emails flowed into Providence from both donors to the professorship and supporters of Palestinian studies around the world. Omar M. Masri, a director of the Munib & Angela Masri Foundation which is supporting the professorship, wrote: “For many reasons, Brown is the ideal home for this professorship, and we look forward to seeing the professorship prosper and contribute meaningfully to Palestinian knowledge production on a national and international scale.” His words encapsulate the goal of nine different donors who came together to fund an endowed professorship in Palestinian Studies at Brown: to produce knowledge about the culture, history, and daily realities of the Palestinian people, whether they remain in the region or are part of the diaspora beyond the Middle East. “The most important thing about the chair is that the holder puts Palestinians at the center of their research, regardless of their geographical location,” says Professor Doumani. “I am very proud of Brown University for taking the lead in institutionalizing a field of study that recognizes the global importance of the Palestinian experience.” Creating an ecosystem for Palestinian studies Prior to 2012, Brown University offered internationally recognized programs in ancient Middle East studies fostered by a number of academic departments, including the Joukowsky Institute for Archeology and the Ancient World and the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. When Professor Doumani arrived in Providence, he helped the University build expertise in contemporary Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. This plan included fundraising for a permanent endowment for the program and for a cluster of three additional faculty positions in the field. The Mahmoud Darwish Professorship in Palestinian Studies is the third of these to be established at Brown, following the Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Humanities and the Stephen Robert Professor of Middle East Studies. Brown also established a Middle East Studies Advisory Council, whose membership consists of a global group of alumni, parents and friends with an interest in supporting Middle East studies. Together, these relationships became the foundation for support of Professor Doumani’s vision to create a robust intellectual program specific to Palestinian studies. “I wanted to start a Palestinian studies program here because their history, experiences, and voices are often marginalized in academic research about them,” he says. “But it has been a growing field of study in the last 15 years, and this was an opportune moment to take stock of the field and help shape its research agenda.” E. Paul Sorensen ’71 ScM’75 PhD’77 LHD’19 hon., P’06, P’06, a longtime member of the Middle East Studies Advisory Council and a donor to the Mahmoud Darwish Professorship agrees. “I just do not see how any school can have Middle East studies without having Palestinian studies. Palestinians are an integral part of the history and culture of the region.” Sorensen and his wife Joan Wernig Sorensen ’72 LHD’19 hon., P’06, P’06 began by supporting a graduate stipend in Palestinian Studies at Brown, which has since become an endowed postdoctoral fellowship. Their interest was sparked after their son Christian ’06 spent time teaching English at a Palestinian school in the West Bank. “Learning from him about the area and local living conditions taught us that scant reliable information is available via normal channels,” says Mr. Sorensen. “Supporting an area of study focused on Palestine and Palestinians at a U.S. institution is one avenue to expand sources of reliable information.” Building a coalition of support for an endowed professorship It is unusual to have nine different donors come together to endow a professorship. But, when Professor Doumani, Sorensen, and others began reaching out to alumni about supporting Palestinian studies at the University, they found a great deal of interest. Basem Salfiti ’93, whose parents were born in Jaffa, Palestine and were part of the first wave of Palestinians to move to Jordan due to conflict in the region, was among the first to lend his support. “I think all of the donors involved like the approach of New Directions in Palestinian Studies at Brown,” he says. “It’s more holistic. It’s not just focused on politics. It concerns culture and history. It can go in so many different directions, and that’s what you want. You want to be able to document and drive research around all these issues.” Given the unique opportunity to establish the first professorship in Palestinian studies at a major U.S. research university, interest in supporting the position soon expanded beyond Brown alumni to include prominent Palestinians with no previous ties to Brown, including the Masri and Abu Ghazaleh families, among others. “When this conversation started, it took a lot of people. But it was a typical Brown project,” says Salfiti. “It wouldn’t have happened like this in other places. People were interested because it was such a unique program, but it also fit right in with what they were doing philanthropically already.” Many of the donors pointed to the “multiplier effect” they feel the Mahmoud Darwish Professorship will have at Brown and in the wider world. Rasha Abu Ghazaleh Farouki remarked, “When we heard about the establishment of Palestinian Studies at Brown, we were incredibly excited about the precedent that would be set. Our conversations with Professor Doumani ...

July 19, 2020

Community Campaign for the People of Bethlehem: A well-deserved calling of Benevolence

To ease the latest travel and work restrictions, resulting from measure taken to curb the spread of COVID19, 500 food packages were distributed to needy families residing in Bethlehem refugee camps. Taher Al Dissi, coordinator of this and other campaigns throughout the country, credited the efforts of the youth of Jerusalem and their charitable values which aim to ensure that the most vulnerable of the Palestinian community in the refugee camps are not left behind during these difficult circumstances. He also thanked the donors, namely, the Munib & Angela Masri Foundation, who are the main funders of this and the other food packages campaigns drives. Al Dissi affirmed that the people of Bethlehem have always demonstrated their loyalty to the wider Palestinian community in crises, and that was the overarching reason behind the naming and spirit behind this community driven campaign. Adding that this campaign is not a charitable one, as much as it is a national and humanitarian obligation. Campaign member Amir Maragha affirmed that the initiative came from the Jerusalemite youth movement and as a result, a framework has now been developed for these volunteers to fundraise and deliver support through appropriate channels, to other cities and needy areas throughout Palestine. ...

May 1, 2020

Mai Masri’s “3000 Nights” Wins Two Awards at Carthage Film Festival

Mai Masri’s film won the “Bronz Tanit” within the Feature Film competition and the “Screenplay Prize” for a feature film within the Official Competition. “3000 Nights” was the third among 17 films reviewed by the jury in its 27th edition. The festival’s closing ceremony was held on Saturday night, November 5, 2016. First established in 1966, the JCC is the longest-standing film festival in the Arab world and Africa. The festival was hosted every two years until it became an annual event since 2014. This year’s edition marked the festival’s 50th anniversary. Masri’s film, inspired by a true story and shot in a real prison in Jordan, follows a newly-wed Palestinian schoolteacher who is wrongfully imprisoned in an Israeli jail, where she gives birth to a son. ...

November 7, 2016

New Incubators For Scientific Research In Palestinian and Jordanian Universities

The Munib R. Masri Development Foundation (the “MDF”) has launched an initiative in 2015 called the Jerusalem Endowment for Scientific Research and Quality of Education in partnership with the University of Jordan and AlQuds University. By virtue of this initiative, the MDF has laid the cornerstone for six buildings in six Palestinian and Jordanian universities to be dedicated as scientific research centers each named “The Munib R. Masri Center for Scientific Research and Quality in Education.” This Jerusalem Endowment fund aims to develop scientific research and raise awareness in quality of education while transforming communities from a state of knowledge consumption only to that of exporting innovation and invention. In addition, another goal behind this initiative is to encourage and foster a renewed environment that encourages scientific research and quality of education in conjunction with sustainable development in the public and private domain. This initiative further aims to connect all Jordanian and Palestinian universities as well as other top universities in the Middle East and North Africa. MDF intends to make these scientific incubators available in all Palestinian universities.The universities that have benefited to date from the MDF endowment initiative are: University of Jordan Alquds University Polytechnic University in Hebron Islamic University in Gaza Palestine University Palestine Technical University (Kadoorie) ...

May 4, 2016

MDF participates in funding the first 100% Palestinian funded feature Palestinian film “ Omar”

“Omar” is a feature film by the Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad. This work is the first Palestinian film which is fully funded by Palestinians. MDF participated in funding it as part of the Foundation’s mission that aims at supporting Palestinian cultural advancement. “Omar” is the fifth fictional work for Hany Abu- Assad. It was filmed in the cities of Nablus and Nazareth and other areas near Israeli’s separation wall. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival last year, and was on the short list for a nomination for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar . “Omar”, is a Palestinian baker who routinely risks his life by climbing over the separation wall in order to meet up with his sweetheart, Nadia. The plot develops when Omar is captured and imprisoned by the Israeli occupation then propositioned to work as a double agent. From here the events develop and spiral out of control… The movie was screened for the first time in Palestine on September 3rd, 2013 at The Ramallah Cultural Palace, in a packed hall and in the presence of Mr. Abu Assad and the full cast. ...

October 29, 2015

MDF Replaces Farmer’s Horse Killed by Settlers with a New Tractor

Hamid Daraghmeh, a farmer from a village outside Nablus, recently lost his horse to settler aggression and violence. The settlers killed Daragmeh’s plow horse in an unprovoked attack on his farm land adjacent to his family home. The perpetrators from a neighboring settlement have not been charged with any crime by the Israeli police, although their identities are known. Without the plow horse, Daragmeh cannot perform the daily critical tasks of turning and clearing the heavy soil of the farm, or transporting crops to market. Daragmeh is a subsistence farmer, able to provide for his family’s needs but without financial reserves or access to supplemental resources. The MDF, learning of the crime and the vulnerability of the Daragmeh family, stepped in and replaced the horse with a new tractor, which will enable Daragmeh to farm his land quickly, efficiently and more profitably. The story was covered extensively in the local Arabic press. ...

April 15, 2014

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