Nov. 5, 2022

 The Ramallah Friends Meetinghouse was built in 1910. It was originally for girls. Now it’s coed. Let’s hope it continues to survive.

 From Friends United Meeting – Weekly E-news

Ramallah Friends Meeting

There has been an active and vibrant Palestinian Quaker community in Ramallah since the late 1800s. In 1910, this community built the Ramallah Friends Meetinghouse and later added another building that was used for community outreach.

The Ramallah Friends Meeting has always played a vital role in the community. In 1948, the buildings and grounds became the home to many Palestinian refugees. Throughout the years, the members of the Ramallah Friends Meeting organized numerous community programs such as the Children’s Play Center, the First Day School, and women’s activities.

By the early 1990s, the Meetinghouse and Annex, which housed meeting rooms and bathroom facilities, fell into disrepair as a result of damage inflicted by time and the impact of conflict. So serious was the deterioration of the meetinghouse that by the middle 1990s it was impossible to use the building at all.

In 2002, a committee consisting of members of the Religious Society of Friends in the US and the Clerk of the Ramallah Meeting began to raise funds for the renovations of the buildings and grounds of the Meetinghouse. By November 2004, the renovations were complete, and on March 6, 2005, exactly ninety-five years to the day after the dedication, the Meetinghouse and Annex were rededicated as a Quaker and community resource.

Friends meet every Sunday morning at 10:30 am for unprogrammed Meeting for Worship. Everyone is welcome to attend, and the Meeting frequently welcomes visitors from outside Palestine, Friends and friends alike.