Editor’s note: An event took place last Saturday to support Middle Eastern children affected by war, especially in Gaza. We published this piece, May 15, one day after Yom Ha’atzmaut, a day that commemorates the Israeli Declaration of Independence of 1948. For Palestinians, this day is called Nakba Day, also known as the Palestinian Catastrophe, which remembers mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinian people as a result of Israeli independence.
Over 150 Islanders gathered at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury on Saturday to show support for Middle Eastern children displaced or affected by the trauma of war and suffering widespread hunger amid a collapsed humanitarian effort in Gaza.
An “empty bowls” fundraiser, where attendees purchased a ceramic bowl and were served dinner in it, was held this past weekend by a group of Island residents who said they are passionate about ending the conflict in Gaza and Israel. There was a suggested donation of $35 to attend the event.
According to Pam Benjamin, who organized the night, proceeds from an art auction as well as the bowls go to the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), a nonprofit humanitarian aid organization that’s based in Berkeley, Calif. In 2024, the organization reported that they raised over $18.5 million to support children in the region. The majority of the aid MECA supplies is direct; food, clothing, and first aid is sent to areas affected by several wars, specifically in Gaza, neighboring Lebanon, and Iraq.
Additionally, the group assists displaced Middle Eastern youth. About 20 percent of MECA donations go toward educational grants, schools, scholarships, and supplies. Organizers said the Grange Hall event raised over $20,000.
Benjamin said the gathering was about building “humanitarian connection, love, and community” combined with an “enormously important and worthy cause: to feed and educate children who are starving to death without any housing, hospitals, schools, or educational tools.”
The historic post-and-beam structure of the Grange Hall was adorned with Palestinian flags on Saturday, long tables were set with bowls and ceramic wares, and the walls were adorned with artwork donated by local artists. A silent auction for the art was held, and soup was served in bowls that guests were invited to take home.
“I have been concerned about this ongoing imbalance of power, injustice, oppression and treatment of the Palestinian people for many years,” Benjamin told The Times.
Benjamin also does advocacy work through “Expanding the Conversation,” which is a local group that discusses the war in Israel and Palestine.
Also spearheading the event was Talia Weingarten, who runs “Expanding the Conversation,” which has met at the West Tisbury Library every Monday since 2024. She told The Times that “as a Jewish person with family in Israel who wasn’t raised with much awareness of the history of the region of Israel/Palestine, learning more about the struggle for Palestinian freedom has been incredibly eye and heart opening to me.”
The Israel-Palestine conflict has raged since the establishment of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948 in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust as European Jews sought refuge in the newly proclaimed Jewish state. The rise of Israel caused the widespread displacement of the Arab population that lived there. This started a series of wars across the region and decades of failed efforts to establish a lasting and sustainable peace agreement between the two sides.
The current war in Gaza erupted on Oct. 7, 2023 when Palestinian forces from Hamas, which translates as the “Islamic Resistance Movement,” carried out a surprise attack on Israeli civilians. On that day, Hamas forces killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 240 Israeli men, women, and children.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded with two years of bombings, decimating much of the Gaza strip. The conflict has spiraled into a regional conflict, spilling into neighboring Lebanon where many Palestinian refugees live and where Hamas receives support from the militants of Hezbollah. It is concentrated in Gaza where Israeli air strikes have hit residential neighborhoods, schools and hospitals. Official estimates state that 69,000 Palestinian men, women, and children have been killed since Oct. 8, 2023.
However, many sources believe the real number of Palestinians who have been targeted is much higher. Brown University conducted a study in October that claimed over ten percent of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, or over 200,000 people, have been killed or injured by the IDF.
Humanitarian efforts have been thwarted by Israel, according to international aid groups. Last August, famine was confirmed in Gaza by the United Nations. And in October of 2025, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry found that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied the claim. International diplomatic efforts to enforce a ceasefire haven’t been successful.
The group on the Island who attended the fundraiser said the event felt like a meaningful way to show their support for children caught in the war.
Colin Newcomer and his wife, Bianney Diaz, played a rendition of “We Are The World,” a 1985 song by USA for Africa, on the piano and saxophone. The Dock Dance Band rocked on well into the night as Islanders young and old danced across the wood floors. Some set their last-minute bets for the silent auction, and the soup-makers eventually packed up.
“Connection is required to build and maintain the stamina necessary to create a more just world,” Weingarten told The Times. She said it’s important to take action, even when topics feel distant and heavy, especially for acts of violence that “are enabled by our tax dollars.”
“The joy and connection that comes from coming together as a community to put on and share an event like this is life-giving, and expands our ability to keep showing up, to deepen awareness, and redistribute our resources,” she said.