Help Atta remove family from nightmare of Gaza!

Death and dashed dreams. Yes, that is what confronts Gazans today.

Hello, my name is Don, and I’m a retired educator living in Montana—at once so far removed from the horrors being perpetrated, yet so personally connected. I have set up this campaign at the bidding of a very dear friend, Atta Taha, now trapped with his family in Gaza City. Over the past five years I have been welcomed into their home almost daily—even if only remotely via internet. They have generously opened their lives to me, sharing their best and worst moments—a bond of friendship and trust that I will always treasure. I have stood with them over time, but now they are in dire need, and I can only do so much.

Atta writes:

My name is Atta Taha [26]. I live in Gaza. I have three sisters, one brother and my mum. My dad passed away in 2011. I was 13 years old. In these days I’m responsible for my family.

I studied Medical Laboratory. I graduated in 2020. In 2023 I started working at Naser Hospital in Khan Younis city in the south, but being I’m still staying in the north of Gaza, I couldn’t go to the hospital since the 7th of Oct., so I lost my job. I don’t have income source to survive.

I have two sisters, Maryam and Doaa. They were working at home as English tutors, but now they can’t do anything. My mum suffers from diabetes. She needs medicine, but it isn’t available in Gaza. I have another sister, Nahil. She is still studying nursing. My brother Ramy (27) has been injured since 7th of October so he can’t work.

On the 11th of December the occupation force attacked our region so we left our house and moved to the west of Gaza. On the 15th of Dec. the occupation forces attacked the place where we stayed and they forced us to leave the place without anything—blankets, medicine, water, food. We lost everything. Then we went to organization for handicapped people . Then the occupation forces attacked the place and we had to run away from them.

What all we need from you now is help me and my family to Leave Gaza to live in peace.

This is merely the barest sketch of the trauma they have been living through day by day. Atta is also too modest to mention that just days before this tragedy began, he had received formal approval to begin seeking subjects for his proposed master’s cancer research project on leukemia; and that his twin sisters, Maryam and Doaa, had worked hard to pass the government exam and were waiting for their chance to begin teaching—dreams which had buoyed their spirits in a land already the graveyard of dreams, are now at the greatest risk.

Atta likewise neglects to mention that besides trying to provide for his family and despite great personal risk, he has been working with what remains of the beleaguered medical staffs at Shifa and Baptist Hospitals in Gaza City as they struggle to help the many in need.

What can they do? Where can they go? How will they manage to live for a better day?

Those few who can afford it are paying exorbitant sums to agents in Egypt to gain permits to cross the border at Rafah. Such arrangements have been in place for a long time—always shady—but the price used to be several hundred dollars. Currently, the fee can be $5,000 or more per person! It is risky business, but it can be a ticket to safety and a path to rebuilding their lives.

This is a great deal to ask, I know, and I do so humbly on their behalf. If you are willing to make a donation—any amount is helpful—I will collect the funds in my bank account and, when sufficient for all or some number of the family to cross to safety, I will do my best to facilitate making the necessary contacts to arrange for the required documents and fees and safe passage.

Fundraising Goal: $36,000

In the event that sufficient funds are not raised to allow even one to escape:

I thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide. I can't tell you how much it means to them know that there are people on the outside who haven't forgotten them and who care deeply for their safety. Please feel free to share this campaign with others. I will keep you posted on latest developments.

--Don