Welcome to KARAMA
KARAMA is an independent, non-partisan organization seeking to promote understanding of the issues facing the Arab and Islamic world, and of the Palestinian issue in particular. KARAMA’s vision is that a fresh understanding of the hopes and aspirations of the area’s people will replace the stereotypes and distortions that dominate public discourse on the region. We are involved in several projects to help realize this vision. On this website you can find information about these projects and you can access resources that we have collected or created that speak to the vital issues of the Arab and Islamic World.
KARAMA Initiates Palestine Photo Project
The KARAMA Palestine Photography Project reproduces archival high quality images of historic pre-1948 Palestine for exhibition worldwide.
Based on more than 22,000 photographs in the Library of Congress Matson Photograph
Collection, the Project selects images taken during the British Mandate period of Palestine's history with a goal of making them available for public exhibition and personal use.
The Matson collection is a treasure trove of images of pre-1948 Palestine. They make clear that Palestine was not "a land without people" but, rather, a place with a sophisticated culture populated by people with a clear sense of self-identity.
You can find out more about the Palestine Photography Project here where Karama has posted 200 photos organized into galleries by category. The Project website also offers a book containing more than 50 selected photos, and a Museum-in-a-Box with 20 printed photos suitable for portable displays at community events.
KARAMA offers supplementary materials
on teaching
about Islam
and on teaching the Palestine/Israel conflict
KARAMA has developed a packet of supplementary materials that is intended to be used as an aid in presenting the information already in seventh grade social studies textbooks. The materials are organized into three content categories plus an overview and a list of links to additional resources. The three categories are Introduction to Islam, Beliefs of Islam, and Islamic Achievements. Please review these materials, and if you find them useful, feel free to download and reproduce as needed. To see these materials, click here.
In addition, Karama offers the Lesson Outline and supplementary materials for the workshop Teaching the Palestine/Israel Conflict: A Multuple Narratives Approach developed by Dr. Samia Shoman. To see these materials, click here.
The piece below is KARAMA's overview of the issues of the region.
The Modern History of the Arab and Islamic
World is Inseparable From Colonialism
From the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, the 1917 Balfour Declaration, and the 1920's League of Nations Mandates to the contemporary occupation of Palestine and calls for "regime change," major features of the region have been imposed by the West with little regard for the rights and hopes of the people living there.