DSPR History

In 1949, following the dispersal of 726,000 Palestinian refugees as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, three Evangelical Anglican canons from the Diocese of Jerusalem initiated activities and programs to support the refugees that eventually grew into the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR). Later, in 1974, when the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) was formally established, DSPR became part of the Council maintaining autonomous status with administrative links to MECC. DSPR worked alongside the displaced people and refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon offering services and activities that responded to their emerging needs. In Galilee, as well, DSPR was set up to help deal with the consequences of dislocation and displacement within the territory that was once British-mandated Palestine.