Inside the Little Gaza Pop-Up by Palestinian + Fil-Palestinian Refugees

(SPOT.ph) There are close to 2.4 million registered Palestinian refugees, and they're mostly in countries like Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, West Bank, and Gaza. There are a few here in the Philippines, some 16 families which have formed the grassroots community dubbed Little Gaza. The group recently held a small food bazaar in Quezon City to help raise funds, and those who made it—this author included—had the rare chance to sample the families' dishes, as well as learn about the issues they face to this day.

Also read:  
The Kin of Drug-War Victims Keep Their Stories Alive at This Coffee Shop 

Take a look at the recent Little Gaza event in Quezon City:

The “pop-up kitchen” held at Don Antonio Heights featured dishes prepared by Palestinian and Filipino-Palestinian refugees. Holy week break (and scorching heat) aside, guests were aplenty, and they patiently lined up to purchase tubs of freshly prepared Palestinian dishes for takeaway.

The food on offer included kabsa, a traditional rice dish with chicken, raisins, nuts, and spices; maqluba, an "upside down" rice dish with veggies like eggplant, and chicken; bukhara and biryani; chicken biryani; and chicken mosakhan (roasted chicken seasoned with sumac). There was also qatayef, empanada-like pastries filled with a sweet, spiced mix of what looked to be nuts and coconut; dried dates for nibbling on while waiting amid the long queues; and layali lubnan, a semolina pudding lightly sweetened and topped with crushed pistachios.

“The short story is there were refugees from Gaza who asked for our help so we—along with my husband and four other individuals—looked for a place to house all of them and together we put up ‘Little Gaza,’” shares Kamilah Dimaporo Manala-o, who put up the bazaar and also manages the community.  “We have 16 families, 69 refugees from Gaza under our care now."

“A lot of these families migrated from Egypt,” says Gabes Torres in an exchange with SPOT.ph. Torres was connected to the group through a friend and helps them out however she can, e.g. holding a birthday fundraiser for the cause. From speaking to the refugees, she says that while it was relatively easy for the Filipino-Palestinians in the group to return to the Philippines, it wasn't the same for the pure Palestinians. It took a lot of negotiating from the Filipino-Palestinians for everyone to be finally allowed to fly out. 

“[For us,] Little Gaza, working as management, God willing, we will take care of their rent and house them for six months to one year—as long as we can,” Dimaporo Manala-o tells Spot. The group’s aim? “For them to focus on their business Little Gaza’s Kitchen, get jobs, and put their kids back in school without them having to worry about paying for their rent and bills.” But Torres tells us about a common desire among the Palestinian-Filipino mamas—to return to Gaza and, ultimately, to see the “end of imperialist genocidal violence.”

The group will be holding more pop-ups and events soon that you can keep a lookout for via Little Gaza’s Instagram page; among these is round two of A Taste of Gaza, happening at Quezon City Memorial Circle on April 10 to 11, from 8 a.m. onwards on both dates.

In the wake of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Gazans face challenges finding new homes as very few are able to leave for Egypt (the only exit point right now), and it is difficult getting visas. 

For more information, check out Little Gaza at Don Antonio’s Instagram page.

Hey, Spotters! Check us out on Viber to join our Community and subscribe to our Chatbot.