Social Activities

Al-Qaws aims to carry out and develop a number of projects that address our unique community needs through a clear plan of action that promotes social change and respect for sexual and gender diversity in a way that is consistent with our desire to be an innovative and creative grassroots organization.

All of our projects and work fields are developed by committed activists working closely with Al-Qaws staff, board, and senior leadership. Al-Qaws strives to develop and implement its projects by directly engaging community members in the thinking, planning and action processes. For every work field/project, there are volunteer-based steering committees made up of members of the community who are in charge of the specific project and the setting of work plans, goals, implementation and evaluation process. In choosing the work fields, we tried to combine our work on the individual, community and society-wide levels—all of which, in our view, mutually affect each other. We further believe that success in one field contributes to success in turn to the others.

Social Activities

Al-Qaws provides a safe space to bring together individuals in a cohesive group that has established trust and a deep sense of connection and solidarity. All of our groups are based on the commitment of local leadership and the understanding of the importance of local context and reality.

Theoretically, establishing an organization and formal rules and structures could disturb the natural process of creating community. On the contrary, we believe that a smart and creative use of our organizational infrastructure can move us toward the creation and enhancement of a real community of LGBTQ Palestinians.  Admittedly, this is a complicated challenge in the Palestinian LGBTQ community, given its diversity and heterogeneity.

Currently, Al-Qaws operates four different local groups throughout our region. Based in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa, and the West Bank, each group meets at least once a month and works to create, in addition to a space for meeting and socializing, a space for self-development and reflection on issues related to sexual and gender identities. These groups and their activities make our community-building efforts more accessible and locally-based. We plan to maintain these groups, strengthen the local leadership roles, and develop meaningful content and structured group processes.