Help Nour’s family rebuild their life in Gaza

Hi, my name is Elizabeth Tang, and I’m a civil rights attorney based in Washington, DC, USA. I’m raising funds to help Nour Murtaja’s family survive and rebuild their life in Gaza after losing everything in Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestine, which is shamefully funded by my own nation's government.

Nour (23) and her family of 7 (father Samir (52), mother Samah (45), sister Haneen (21), brother Mohammad (17), brother Youssef (14), and sister Maram (9)) are from northern Gaza. Just 6 months before the war began, they finished adding a new floor to their extended family's home, which was first built 23 years ago, and joyfully became neighbors with their cousins' families. The family home was just one street away from Al-Shifa Hospital and has been completely destroyed. They were under siege twice and are now suffering from famine. All exits out of Gaza have been blocked.

Nour's home: (1) before and (2)-(4) after.

Nour's family has been displaced 5 times since the genocide began. First, they fled from their home to Al-Shifa Hospital, where they believed they would be safe. Then, as the entire world saw on the news together, Al-Shifa Hospital was bombed. They were displaced to Al-Hilu Hospital, which was also bombed with white phosphorus, which is internationally banned because it burns through bone and can reignite even after medical treatment. The family was then forced to return to their home in hopes of finding safety. Unfortunately, because their home was so close to Al-Shifa Hospital, it too was destroyed. They were bombed, besieged, and deprived of food for several days, a living nightmare. At one point, they were forced to subsist on animal feed. Her brother Mohammad has lost 25 kg (55 lb) since the famine began. Today, after being displaced several more times, they have found shelter in a cousin’s home in northern Gaza, where 20+ people are crammed together into a small house with only 4 rooms and share 1 bathroom. Every day, they struggle to find enough food, water, electricity, and internet access to survive.

Nour's brother Mohammad has lost 25 kg (55 lb) since the famine began. Compare the boy in pink on the left with the boy on the right.

Their life before the war was profoundly different. Last year, Nour had just received a degree in software engineering at the Islamic University in Gaza and received an offer to work at a company called Tech Chef before the war began. But she was never able to start working. When the war is over, she dreams of completing her master’s degree in software engineering and finding a new job opportunity. But right now, she must focus on helping her family survive.

Nour graduated with a degree in software engineering in 2023. Her father Samir was so proud of her.

Nour's father Samir had already suffered from great pains all over his body and had difficulty moving; the pain has since grown worse after a very large door fell on his back during a bombing. He used to work in a grocery store, but it was destroyed by the Israeli occupation, and as a result he has not had a salary for the past 8 months. Nour’s mother Samah used to be a school deputy director and had been excited for her son Mohammad to graduate from high school, but the school was bombed to rubble by the occupation.

This is a message from Nour’s mother Samah:

“My beautiful children have dreams, desires, aspirations, and hopes like the rest of the children of the world, but all of this was violated by the occupation. My children were deprived of the childhood they deserved. They loved our home, which was full of laughter and the joys of life.

Before the war, my daughter Haneen loved watching YouTube videos and my daughter Maram loved her cartoons. My sons Youssef and Mohammad loved to watch and play football [soccer]. My husband Samir and I were content with our lives and just wanted our families to be well. But the occupation bombed our beautiful home, destroying our memories and our lives, and burned all of my children’s toys, books, and clothes. My children were outstanding students, but because of this war they have been unable to continue their education, neither in school nor at university.

Today we find ourselves in a situation you could never have imagined. Without a home, clothes, or consumable food and water, my family desperately needs your help to survive and rebuild our lives and our home.”

Nour's sister Maram before and after their home was bombed, as she tried to save what was left of her clothes.

I have spoken with Nour through Instagram video chat and seen firsthand the dire situation she and her family are in. Like all of us, Nour’s family just wants to live a normal and safe life. They deserve our greatest efforts and assistance, especially those of us from countries (like mine) that supply the missiles destroying their land and massacring their people. Please give whatever you can to help Nour’s family obtain adequate water and food at this time and to rebuild their lives after these horrific events.

Funds donated to this GoFundMe will be withdrawn in the United States by me (Elizabeth) and transferred via international money transfer to Nour’s extended family in Egypt, who will then transfer the money to Nour’s immediate family.

Thank you

Elizabeth & Nour