A philanthropic legacy

Rooted in its founder’s vision as a vehicle to nurture young minds and develop a stronger Palestine, the AM Qattan Foundation grew quickly to offer a diverse portfolio of education, arts, and public programming, leading to long-term community and funding partnerships and spawning a new generation of social impact models for the region.

In arts and culture, the foundation provides grants of varying sizes to institutions, individuals, and groups involved in the Palestinian cultural ecosystem. It has provided opportunities for artistic residencies, hosts and funds exhibitions, and runs other related initiatives such as its Artist and Writer of the year award. More recently, the foundation has introduced its First Book and First Solo Exhibition grants, which are support and mentoring programmes that culminate in a published book and exhibition.

“When these awards began, they were often the first of their kind in the region and they really nurtured a lot of new visual arts and writing in Palestine,” recalls Mahmoud Abu Hashhash, the foundation’s director of Culture and Education. “They really set the tone for what could be done and I think inspired a lot of other foundations to also support the arts.”

Indeed, a number of the people recognised by the AM Qattan Foundation have gone on to enjoy regional and global success.  These include: novelist Adania Shibli; artists Raeda Saadeh, Mohammad Joha, and Hazem Harb; and Iraqi artist Hanaa Malalah, who held her first UK show at the foundation’s Mosaic Rooms.

Al-Qattan also personally supported renowned filmmaker Michel Khleifi, whose first feature film (and Palestine’s first ever feature film), Wedding in Galilee, premiered at Cannes in 1987, and internationally acclaimed pianist Salim Abboud, whose education he paid for, among many others.

The Educational Research and Development Programme (ERDP) meanwhile, is about supporting teachers and developing high quality pedagogy in Palestine. The foundation works directly with teachers, running training sessions, workshops, and open forums, and supports educators to deliver programmes focussing on drama, STEAM, and early childhood education.

Within the ERDP - which in 2021 was renamed the Education Unit - the Foundation created  the Science Studio, located in Ramallah, an interactive hub and creative space where scientists, artists, engineers, educators, and technicians can convene for brainstorming, ideation, design, prototyping and fabrication of interactive science exhibits. The Science Studio was developed out of a programme funded by Al-Qattan’s brother, Walid, and his wife Helen, in partnership with the local municipality. 

The Studio was intended to be the starting point for yet another larger project, an Interactive Science Center, where science exhibits are not only created by Palestinians (as opposed to being imported from abroad)  but also exhibited and shared with the public. However, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the project was paused. The Studio was later integrated into the Cultural Centre in Ramallah as a makers’/ tinkering space (FabLab, short for “fabrication lab”) and a machinery workshop that is open to artists, creators and design students. 

One of the foundation’s flagship initiatives is the Al Qattan Cultural Centre in Gaza (formerly the Children’s Centre), which opened in 2005. The first of its kind in the region when it was conceptualised in 2000, the centre sought to fill the gaps in mainstream educational provision. It offers a variety of library and information services, cultural and recreational programmes, professional empowerment programmes for librarians and early childhood professionals, and joint activities for children and their parents.

Najwa recalls visiting the centre and going with her brother Omar to a children’s art exhibition. “One girl there showed me her work and when I said it was amazing and that I could never paint in that way, she told me ‘if you take lessons at the Al-Qattan Centre like me, you will learn’. In that moment I could really feel the impact we were having.”

Like much of Gaza’s infrastructure, the Centre was partially hit and looted during the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Strip, with several members of staff and its thousands of young members injured, killed or made destitute.

Through its public programme, the foundation curates, organises, and hosts a range of cultural events that aim to foster cultural and societal dialogues to contribute to the process of positive change. Woven through all programming is a deep commitment to nurturing learning and critical thinking.

“We want to nurture young people, their creative and critical thinking, their freedom of thought and speech because then if you nurture these minds, they can make the changes they want,” explains Fida Touma, who replaced Khalaf as executive director in 2019. “Unfortunately, instead of the country becoming more open to critical thinking and free, it is actually going the other way, so the need for the foundation’s work remains more valid than ever,” she adds.

The majority of the funding for the foundation’s work comes from the Al-Qattan family, although it has also partnered with other philanthropic organisations and government aid programmes and received grants and match funding. 

Donors and partners over the years have included: Save the Children; the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation(SDC); Drosos Foundation; the Norwegian Refugee Council; Ford Foundation, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), the European Union; and many others.

In a move to secure the foundation’s long-term future, Al-Qattan made an announcement in 2011 that he would be allocating 25 percent of his wealth to a trust fund to secure the foundation’s long-term future. This type of very public financial gesture is unusual in the Arab world, where philanthropists typically give quietly and rarely share their numbers.

Explaining himself in an interview at the time, Al-Qattan said: “What if my family decides to change the focus of our philanthropy work? What if the family trust does not produce enough income to meet commitments, as happened in the last financial crisis? “This will ensure its independence, its commitment to education and culture for Palestinians, and its survival for years to come.”

In 2015, Al-Qattan’s wife, Leila, passed away, and Al-Qattan himself died in December 2017, just months before the opening of the foundation’s new Palestinian headquarters, a project he had longed to see realised. 

Located atop a rocky hilltop overlooking the valley that runs from Ramallah to West Jaffa, the architecturally-acclaimed building seeks to be a metaphorical lighthouse for innovation and excellence in Palestine. 

The AM Qattan Foundation building – also known as the Al-Qattan Cultural Centre – boasts the Leila Al-Miqdadi Library, model classrooms, an education resource room, a theatre, a gallery, a multi-purpose hall, art, music and dance studio spaces, a guesthouse, several wide terraces suitable for open-air activities, internal and external gardens, and a restaurant. 

Designed with sustainability at its core, the building has integrated solar energy, greywater recycling, rainwater collection and other green practices earning it the Palestine Higher Green Building Council (PHGC) Diamond Certification.

Covering a built-up area of nearly 8,000 square metres, the centre is also home to the Leila Al-Miqdadi library, named for her love of books.

Touma, who is based at the centre, says the founder’s legacy lives on strongly and continues to influence staff and programmes. “There are always anecdotes being told about what he or Leila  said, or what they did, or how they thought about something, especially when we have discussions about independence and decision making. 

“It’s about being clear on where we stand politically and not being swayed right or left, just having that laser focus on the value of education and the value of culture. The need for an authentic Palestinian voice rather than being swayed, whatever political storm is taking over the country.”

“The thing I knew about Mr Al-Qattan was his attachment to excellence, scientific thinking, and progressive thinking. This world is full of mediocre ideas, but he was someone always pushing to peel away this mediocrity,” she adds.

For a deeper look at the foundation’s most recent programming, read the 2023 Annual Report here.

Looking to the future

Abdel Mohsin and Leila’s four children continue to honour their parents’ legacy of public service, both to the Palestinian people, their society and culture, but also to other causes in their adoptive countries.

While remaining personally and financially committed to the institutions dear to their parents, they have also been active in supporting UK, US, Lebanese and Jordanian institutions. These efforts have spanned higher education, medical research, freedom of expression, sport, emergency relief, international academic exchange research and the rights of refugees either directly through tens of individual annual scholarships or through outfits such as Orange Tree Trust, Yafa Foundation, PACES, Palestinian-American Research Centre, Centre for Palestine Studies at Columbia University and many others. 

A youth family board designed to involve the third generation in this work is currently under formation. Leenah Al-Qattan, currently a trustee, said her children and their cousins were keen to be more involved with the foundation and continue the family's work into future generations.