Anera Mourns the Death of Rabbi Everett Gendler
by Anera
Apr 4, 2022
We mourn the loss of one of our cherished members of the Anera community: Rabbi Everett Gendler. Rabbi Gendler died on April 1, 2022 at the age of 93 in Massachusetts, where he lived with his wife, Mary. The rabbi’s life was an inspiration to all those who followed and knew him. Long active in…
Read MoreFrom Roller Skating to the Anera Board
Feb 7, 2022
I was born and raised in the Middle East. In our household, we were told to eat our vegetables because there were Palestinian refugees with little on their plates. Every other year we went to Palestine for family vacation. One summer during college, I worked in Palestine. First, I helped out in an orphanage in…
Read MoreMy Trip to Gaza
Feb 1, 2022
My fascination with Gaza has grown within me since my early childhood years. Living in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, I grew up listening to my late grandfather and his circle of friends. They would congregate at his shop and reminisce about their travels to Gaza, Haifa and Akka as laborers and…
Read MoreSupporting Palestinian Children Through Stock Giving
Dec 29, 2021
A career in investment banking leads to engagement with the Middle East I was born in Chicago over 91 years ago. I studied at Princeton University and then got an MBA from the University of Chicago. After my studies, I went to work for The First National Bank of Chicago. I worked my way up,…
Read MoreConnecting to My Grandparents’ Legacy Through Qualified Charitable Distributions
Nov 22, 2021
Both of my maternal grandparents spent their formative years in Lebanon before emigrating to the United States, where they eventually met. My grandmother, Melia Kiame, and her older sister Emily attended a boarding school in Beirut run by German Lutherans. They also spent time in Schweir (Dour El Chouier) with their grandfather, who helped farmers…
Read MoreA Legacy of Supporting Education for the Marginalized
by Anne DeMuth
Oct 18, 2021
I have spent most of my adult life in Minnesota and Alaska teaching English as a second language (ESL). As an ESL teacher, I was always curious about the places my students were from, and had a strong desire to explore them on my own. My first teaching experience abroad was at the University of…
Read MoreDr. Vicken Kalbian: a Steadfast Friend to Anera and to Palestinians
by Anera
Sep 7, 2021
Anera is mourning the death of Dr. Vicken Kalbian, who died on Friday, September 2, 2021, at the age of 96. His influence and leadership has been seminal to Anera for over four decades. Long a pillar of Jerusalem’s medical community and one of its most celebrated and accomplished physicians, Vicken maintained his commitment to…
Read MoreFrom Volunteering to Donating, There are Many Ways to Support Opportunity for Palestinians
Aug 26, 2021
In the late 1970s I spent two and a half years volunteering in Palestine, drawing on my professional background in agricultural pest control to help support farm and garden projects. I had worked on a farm growing up and later studied biology and earned a master’s degree in entomology so I was able to make…
Read MoreRemembering Two Special Anera Supporters
by Anera
Jul 12, 2021
We are sad to report that, in May, Anera lost two valued members of our community: Joseph Asfour and Michael Hudson.
Read MoreSeeing Anera in Action
Jun 28, 2021
By Anera Board Member Katherine Wilkens From June 5th to 13th I joined Anera CEO Sean Carroll and Board Chair Joe Saba on a trip to visit Anera staff and programs in Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak. Originally planned for May, our trip was delayed first…
Read More