This weekend will see San Ġwann primary school host a charity bazaar in aid of civilians in Gaza.
The event will take place between 2 and 9pm on Saturday, and from 10am to 5pm on Sunday. A range of goods will be up for sale including clothes, books, toys and various household items.
Turkish and Arabic coffee will be available, as well as traditional food from Malta, Italy, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Pakistan, Japan, Philippines, Libya, Morocco, Lebanon and Tunisia.
In addition to selling goods and refreshments, the event will also feature cultural activities such as music, dance and poems, with all proceeds going to Palestinian civilians living in Gaza.
The bazaar will open on Saturday with the national anthems of Malta and Palestine before a short prayer for civilians lost during the fighting in Gaza.
President Emeritus Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and former Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo will speak alongside delegates from the Palestinian embassy.
The programme will also feature poems by Maltese and Arabic poets as well as songs and messages of solidarity.
“The idea of the bazaar is to bring many cultures within the Maltese community together to support a humanitarian cause,” said Arabic Culture Information Society founder Sanaa El Nahha.
“A diversity of participants from different nationalities are volunteering for this event, which includes college and university students,” she said.
“The event is being held as a reminder of the human side within us, in solidarity with humans enduring massive sufferings and pain throughout wartime. People in Gaza are battling the harsh conditions of siege, thirst, starvation and a lack of medical aid and fuel on a daily basis.
"We are on the verge of winter with 1.7 million civilians displaced in the cold weather and homeless... Each drop of help will help save an innocent life and can restore faith in humanity in the face of this humanitarian crisis,” she said.
This weekend’s event comes a day after the start of a four-day break in the fighting between Hamas and Israel, following almost two months of conflict in the Palestinian enclave.
The bazaar is organised by the Arabic Culture Information Society in collaboration with Malta Doninu and San Ġwann, Msida and Ħal Safi local councils.