Berkeley Memorial Honors Barbara Lubin and Her $50 Million Middle East Aid Effort
A gathering in Berkeley commemorated activist Barbara Lubin, highlighting her founding of the Middle East Children’s Alliance, which reports having delivered over $50 million to projects in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.
In early March, roughly three hundred attendees gathered at a Berkeley venue to honor Barbara Lubin, an 84-year-old activist celebrated for her campaigns on rent control, climate issues and education for disabled children, including her son Charlie. Over four decades she enlisted cultural figures like Edward Said, Maya Angelou and Alice Walker, while vocally opposing Israeli policies, once stating “Fuck Zionism.” In 1988 she founded the Middle East Children’s Alliance, which the charity says has channeled more than $50 million into schools, clinics, playgrounds and libraries across Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
MECA organized regular delegations to the West Bank and Gaza and supported rallies for Palestinian solidarity, even after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel. At the memorial, Angela Davis praised Lubin’s community-building and her enduring fight for a free Palestine.
Why it matters
The story shows how a prominent activist’s charity has shaped aid and advocacy for Palestinians and the broader Middle East.
In this story