Java Cat Coffee to Host Silent Auction of Humanitarian Art for Gaza

Java Cat Coffee’s humanitarian relief effort in Gaza will launch Friday as the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project (MRSCP) partners with artists for humanitarian relief in Gaza.

The MRSCP auction “Art for Humanity: A Silent Auction for Gaza” will begin on June 28 and run until July 8. The auction features 66 works donated by artists from across the country with the aim of raising funds for humanitarian aid. The goal amount for the fundraising auction is $6,000, with proceeds going to the Middle East Children’s Alliance.

“What we need today is massive international assistance to deal with the situation in Gaza. And I personally hope that happens,” MRSCP member Cassandra Dixon told Madison365. “I hope my country will participate at some point. But in the meantime, I think it’s up to ordinary people to try to make this happen. »

The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project was founded in 2003 with the goal of establishing person-to-person relationships with Rafah, Palestine. It aims to increase awareness of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflicts and influence American public policy. Although it is not an official Madison-recognized sister city, it works to publicize protests, politics, current events, and aid efforts.

Palestinians receiving aid in Gaza face ongoing difficulties as the Israeli government has prevented deliveries from arriving. Aid via Rafah, on the border between Palestine and Egypt, has expanded thanks to continued military operations, reported the Washington Post.

The art auction takes place after generating interest from a previous silent auction. With the art auction comes the hope of bringing some materiality to a “situation that is so unimaginable,” Dixon said.

“None of us can really imagine 2 million people facing starvation. We can’t imagine the devastation of all the housing, all the infrastructure, all the education. It’s very difficult to accept, and yet we have to do it to respond,” Dixon said. “Art also requires imagination, and you have to be invested in a creation to appreciate it. It requires that the person who created the art and the person who experiences it have some kind of partnership.”

The assistance will be used to provide fresh items such as rice, shampoo, soap, sanitary napkins, laundry detergent, toothbrushes and toothpaste, as well as help prepare hot meals, clothing, blankets, clean water and to begin installing solar-powered water desalination and purification. units.

Bidding for works of art is open from June 28 to July 8. An in-person viewing of the auction items will take place at Java Cat Coffee Shop, 4221 Lien Rd., on Tuesday, July 2, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.