SAMIDOON UPDATE 1 - LAUNCH

Partial panel from Al’ Aqwaa by Jameeleh Shelo, Johanna Taylor, and Jodie Troutman

Hi there,

Thanks for checking out Samidoon: Comics for a Free Palestine! This project’s been long gestating and is finally going live. Unfortunately, our efforts are still very much needed to assist Palestine right now—at the time of writing, the temporary ceasefire is coming to an end and aid continues to be blocked from the people who need it the most.

This project was originally conceived as a crowdfunding campaign, but due to some peculiarites of most crowd-funding sites, and the fact that this project will inherently happen, it’s just a matter of determining the number of copies needed and collecting the funding for printing and the donations, it made more sense as a pre-order campaign, with the option of extending this website’s usefulness to keep copies available for a long time to come. But one thing we wanted to make sure carried over in the spirit of a crowdfunding campaign was a transparent updating process. You’ll see on the shop page that we’ve got a progress bar toward the initial goal of $4000 that will cover a 500 copy initial print run. This blog page will include updates on how things are progressing, any unforeseen delays or complications, and information and resources on how to get or remain further involved.

On this first post, we wanted to cover some questions we think you might have:

WHAT IS THE PALESTINE RED CRESCENT SOCIETY AND WHY ARE YOU GIVING TO THEM?

The Palestine Red Crescent Society, or PRCS, is a humanitarian organization focused on health and the welfare of the Palestinian people. It is related to other Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations around the world. They are specifically focused on Palestine and have been providing as much aid as possible under the circumstances of the genocidal actions of Israel. While the most direct good can come from funding individuals in Palestine—and there are many vetted campaigns for individuals seeking assistance (see below for more)—given the complication of aid organizations having free movement within Palestine and being able to get aid where it’s needed, the PRCS is one of the organizations most primed to be able to make use of moneys for actual on the ground assistence.

It should also be noted that while proceeds will go to the PRCS, this book is not officially affiliated with them. The decision to donate to the PRCS lies solely with the contributors.

WHY PRE-ORDER THIS BOOK INSTEAD OF GIVING DIRECTLY?

The hope is that this isn’t an either/or scenario. Of course, we fully encourage giving directly to the PRCS and other organizations and Palestinians in need (see below for more).

In addition to being a fundraiser, this book is full of stories. Palestinian creators and their allies have donated their time and efforts to tell stories of Palestinian life (both real and imagined) and of resistance. And we want to share those stories with the world—especially in light of the attempted destruction of Palestinian cultural and personal histories.

WHY IS EVERYTHING A PRE-ORDER AND WHEN CAN I EXPECT IT?

The campaign has been structured as a pre-order to make sure we’re actually able to set the amount needed for the first print run, as is the case with many comics and books. In terms of delivery, the initial order window is set to end at the end of May 2025, with final production in June, and estimated delivery beginning in the late Summer./Fall.

THIS ALL SOUNDS COOL, BUT WHAT ARE OTHER WAYS I CAN CONTRIBUTE?

Besides donating directly to the PRCS, the contributors recommend these resources:

Operation Olive Branch - A grassroots community-based movement to gather, promote, and connect to Palestinians’ direct fundraising efforts and aid requests for their families.

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund - A humanitarian organization focused primarily on aiding the children of Palestine with medicine, infrastructure, and food.

Doctors Without Borders - One of the largest humanitarian medical groups in the world, including efforts in Palestine.

eSims for Gaza - A donation-based community project that provides Palestinians with digital Sim cards to allow for access to mobile and internet networks.

The Cartoonist Cooperative’s eSims for Gaza drive - The Cartoonist Cooperative, without whom this project would not have been organized, has also run their own donation incentive program where cartoonists and artists will draw you a little something for your eSim donation.

BDS - Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions or BDS is an organization dedicated to education and financial disentanglement from institutions that profit from Israeli settler colonialism. Fun comics fact: On the BDS home page, you’ll see a depiction of Handala, a character created by Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali who has come to represent the spirit of samidoon and the Palestinian people.

American Muslims for Palestine - A U.S. based community group focused on education and organization.

Jewish Voice for Peace - A Jewish-led organization that helps with community actions for Palestine.

US Palestinian Community Network - A U.S. based Palestinian community action organization.

Cartoonists for Palestine - We’re not the only group of comics creators who’ve put together an anthology. Check out additional fantastic comics and their own book.

Books for Palestine - A collection of fiction and non-fiction books (and some comics) by Palestinian authors.

Ceasefire Now - A website where you can quickly email your U.S. representatives and tell them to demand a permanent ceasefire.

FaxZero - A website where you can quickly fax your U.S. representatives and tell them to demand a permanent ceasefire, demand a cease in U.S. weapons shipments, and demand the U.S. divest from Israel.

5Calls - A website that helps you with scripts and numbers for calling your U.S. representatives to demand a permanent ceasefire, demand a cease in U.S. weapons shipments, and demand the U.S. divest from Israel (as well as other massively important causes).

The White House Contact page - Let’s face it, probably won’t do much good, but if you’d like to reach out to and yell at the White House, you can!

I’M A COMICS ARTIST AND WANNA CONTRIBUTE!

Thanks for the interest! We are not seeking additional contributions to the book at this time. However, please do email samidoonanthology@gmail.com to see if there may be something you can do to help!

WHO ARE YOU FOLKS ANYWAY?

Our contributors include Ignatz award-winner Iasmin Omar Ata (Nayra and the Djinn), Jordan Alsaqa (Cooking with Monsters), Omar Abed (The Book that Almost Rhymed), Marguerite Dabie (The Hookah Girl and Other True Stories), Jameeleh Shelo (Laith the Lion goes to Palestine),Palestine Book Award winner Mohammad Sabaaneh (Power Born of Dreams: My Story is Palestine), Fuad Alymani, Reem Alnatsheh, Dania Omari, Salam Zahr, GLADD award-winner Jacoby Salcedo (This Land is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story), Fortune Wesson, Johanna Taylor (The Ghostkeeper), Jodie Troutman (Star Trek: Celebrations), Megan Huang (The Scale Trade), Ringo-nominated Anas Abdulhak (Etheres), Lambda Literary Award-nominated Alina Wahab (Nectar), Rebecca Michaud (Potions 101), Duck Drew, Matthew Palacios (Darklighter), Lorenzo Hall (TMNT: Black, White, and Green), James Marsh (Transformers: Beast Wars), Cris Jackson (The Rose Prince), Danny Lore (Bloodline: Daughter of Blade), Rebecca Ann (The Press Guardian), and David Mariotte (Transformers vs. the Terminator). We would also like to thank the rest of our incredible team: Cover artist Dania Omari, Logo designer Jeeda Shupassi, Web designer Amanda Griffiths, and Mark Bouchard, Hannah Moushabeck, and the Cartoonist Cooperative for their help!

Thanks!