What is MEPC?
MEPC is a local intergenerational community of Muslims, Jews, Arabs, and all our intersections, along with allies and others working towards human rights and social justice. MEPC is focused on bringing together children from various Arab and Jewish backgrounds, as well as others who share our vision, for a one-week day camp, to build relationships and center human rights through art, science, nature, culture, and food. MEPC ages range from campers ages 5-12, counselors ages 12-18, and a larger community of adults. Many parents, volunteers, teachers, and alumnal families help to organize, teach, and run our programs. Most of our campers are from the greater Seattle area, although we welcome children from anywhere in the world.
Our community condemns the oppression, genocide, and ethnic cleansing of Palestine and Palestinians and believes that no one's safety is dependent upon the oppression of others.
How are we different?
MEPC is distinct from other cross-cultural “peace” camps in that our focus is on building relationships locally and working together on human rights issues. Some other “peace camps” in the United States have been used to normalize the occupation and focus the occupation of Palestine as an issue of religious divisions, rather than of systemic oppression. Because the word “peace” is problematic and often misused, we’ve decided to change our name and move on from “Middle East Peace Camp.” In the fall of 2025, the MEPC community will begin a process to rename the camp. For the time being, it is “MEPC: A social justice camp”.
