**Local support for displaced Gazan Families:** **"Soul of Gaza" fundraiser offers information, film, food to meet urgent needs** A special Palestinian meal and program, ***The Soul of Gaza***, will be held on Saturday, August 29 from 3 PM at Lyman Hall First Churches Northampton, 129 Main St, Northampton, MA, (doors open 2:45 pm). The event will help Palestinian families displaced in Gaza and Egypt to sustain their most basic needs. It will also contribute to an education fund helping students surviving in the rubble of Gaza to find hope and prepare for a future beyond genocide. The *Soul of Gaza* fundraiser features Palestinian cuisine prepared by a chef from Gaza, a screening of the short film 'Angel of Gaza' and several key presentations. Dr. of Liberation Psychology will address Palestine's future under human and ecological decimation and the strain of occupation. He recently shared his thoughts, "My most profound emotions and thoughts hinge upon a long-time process of dehumanizing and delegitimizing our existence as the Palestinian People. For a very long time, this process instilled in us a search for meaning and a sense that there were no ways to revolt against it.   In today's emotions and thoughts, the mere articulation of the heavy pain and trauma sounds irrelevant to share as we are rendered isolated, expendable, and unrelated to other human beings. For some, we are an obstacle to the unfolding of destiny; for others, we are a perfect example of resistance and resilience, but the reality is that we are human beings with dreams that might transcend the world's love of hope and serenity.   To know that your family might die from starvation is to see the end of life become a normal circumstance that fails our consciousness and our very humanity. To center life is to center fauna and flora; to center life is to center plants and animals; to center life is to be aligned with our premise as homo sapiens.  " A local community member working with *Arduna* (Our Land), will describe this Gazan-run farmer's collective. A cofounder of *Eyewitness Palestine* will address the importance of solidarity and learning directly from the Palestinian experience. Event organizers, Apartheid-Free Western MA., invite all concerned with the ongoing devastation in Gaza to contribute either online or by attending this special fundraising-informational event. Learn MORE and register here: *https://givebutter.com/SoulofGaza-campaign-aqjmav* *The Apartheid-Free Western MA project of Traprock Center for Peace and Justice, is the lead sponsor of this event. Learn more at the Apartheid-Free Western MA website: https://www.apartheidfreewesternma.org/* *For more information contact:* *apartheidfreewma@pm.me*