The Palestinian American Coalition of San Francisco was developed out of the popular Annual Palestine Day Cultural Festival held in San Francisco. In October 1978, Palestinian organizers and activists gathered to determine the best way to provide humanitarian aid to Palestine. They agreed to host an annual cultural festival to raise money for humanitarian aid. After several meetings with organizers, it was suggested that the Ramallah Club of San Francisco, a social group for descendants of families from Ramallah, Palestine, in the diaspora, take the lead in organizing the festival because they were the most established and funded Palestinain community organization at the time. 

Dr. Samir Totah, a respected Pharmacist and President of the Ramallah Club of San Francisco, was the Chairperson of the first Palestine Day Cultural Festival. The Ramallah Club of San Francisco, supported by other local Palestinian social clubs and political organizations, led a community effort in organizing and sponsoring the Palestine Day Cultural Festival for the first several years. After some time the Ramallah Club of San Francisco was the only organizer of Palestine Cultural Day Festival. 

In 2014, Afif Baba, President of the Ramallah Club of San Francisco approached Dr. Totah about making the event more inclusive to increase attendance and participation. They decided to call on the other local Palestinian organizations to participate in the organizing of the festival. They held a meeting attended by over 70 Palestinian-Americans where they discussed developing a coalition to assist with the festival. The meeting resulted in the establishment of the Palestinian American Coalition of San Francisco (PAC-SF). PAC-SF consisted of eight Palestinian-American organizations based in the San Francisco Bay Area and four Members At-Large to ensure that active members of the Palestinian community who may not be part of an organization, were given a voice in the coalition. The first Co-Chairpersons of PAC-SF were Dr. Totah and Dr. Khalil Barhoum, a senior lecturer in linguistics at Stanford University.

PAC-SF’s mission is to preserve Palestinian heritage through hosting cultural and educational events throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and assume responsibility for organizing and sponsoring the Palestine Day Cultural Festival.

For 36 years, Palestine Day was held in San Francisco’s Hall of Flowers making it challenging for members in the South and East Bay to attend. In addition, the venue had a limited capacity of 3,000 people and offered little parking. As a result, in 2018 the festival was moved to Leo J. Ryan Park in Foster City where a Palestinian-American, Sam Hindi, was mayor. Leo J. Ryan Park offers ample parking and expansive indoor and outdoor venues. As a result, the event drew 10,000 in 2019 and  a record breaking 15,000 in 2023.

We thank our Palestinian community for their ongoing support and participation.