Support a Palestinian family in Gaza

Update 5/9/24: We are seeking donations for Sarah's family with more urgency than ever. Israel is now beginning its full-scale invasion of Rafah, the last habitable city/safe haven on the Gaza Strip after 7 months of bombardment, displacement, and violence. Sarah is the only one in her 6-person family who has evacuated. Her younger sister has been paid for but was not able to leave in time. The rest of her family is still in Rafah, and Sarah is extremely worried.

Israel has hijacked the Rafah border, and we are not sure what will happen now. All I can do is collect as much as funds as possible to prepare for Sarah's family evacuation when/if the border reopens. They are at the mercy of this fundraiser. If you are reading this, I am begging you to donate after learning Sarah's situation.

Hi all, I'm a citizen in the midwestern region of the United States. I have an acquaintance in Gaza named Sarah Almzainy who I first met back in 2015 when she was an exchange student at my high school. She has asked me to begin a GoFundMe in order to enable her and her family of 5 to flee Gaza.

Here are pictures of Sarah.

Sarah was a Bertha Justice Fellow at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights within Al-Azhar University and graduated in August of 2023. She is a passionate human rights defender who was looking forward to her human rights training program in France in January 2024. Yet due to the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, she is left unable to leave the Strip. Sarah has always been an active citizen hoping to seek social development in Gaza, as she worked on many initiatives and activities to help marginalized groups and support women’s rights. She is also expecting to pursue a master’s degree in Germany in Development and Governance in June 2024 through the country's DAAD scholarships program. She is an intelligent, wonderful human being and I have much respect for her.

Below are beautiful pictures of Jerusalem from her Instagram.

Right now, Sarah and her family are faced with the most atrocious circumstances making life impossible in the Strip. Her family consists of herself and her mother, father, 2 brothers, and a sister. (Their identities will not be revealed per Sarah's wishes.) Two of her older siblings are hardworking engineers, while her youngest is an ambitious business undergraduate student at Nisantasi University in Turkey. Since October 7th, her family has resorted to 5 different places from the north to the south. Currently, they are in Rafah but separated; with Sarah and her sister staying at their grandparents' place, and the rest of her family taking refuge at an unsanitary shelter with no roof. With little to no sanitary conditions, limited aid and food, and a myriad of other issues, she and her family’s lives are at risk as they continue to stay in the Gaza Strip. Not the mention the continuing bombardment and clashes nearby that threaten their lives.

As seen in the header image, this is the post made on her Instagram 10 days after October 7th, 2023.

Despite the tragic destruction of her homeland, Sarah is committed to making a new life for herself elsewhere. She originally planned to stay in France for her human rights training program, but cancelled going due to already missing over half its duration. She is now set on traveling to Germany for her master's degree after her stay in Cairo, and possibly settling down once she is finished with her studies.

The rest of her family, with the exception of her siblings who study abroad, plans to relocate to elsewhere until they can hopefully one day return to Gaza.

Prices of permits to leave Gaza on the Rafah border are now as high as $5000 with a $1000 booking fee per person. It is exorbitantly expensive to evacuate her entire family, and unfortunately neither of us have much of a circle anywhere willing or able to help support the costs. We are desperate and asking anyone reading if they would be so kind as to make a donation in order to help her family flee from the inevitable death cycle taking place in Gaza before it is too late. Donations will be transferred to Sarah's account over wire in USD.

Please share this poster of the fundraiser (download, copy the sharing link, or copy and paste anywhere you are able) -

https://is.gd/poster_almzainy

To anyone who is unsure about donating, I urge you to do thorough research on what is happening in Gaza and to support Palestinians' struggles in any way you can. It is so much worse than what is currently being shared. If you are unable to donate, please at least share.