Relief for Abdallah's Family Amidst Crisis

My name is Abdallah. I am 22 years old. I like to eat key lime pie. My favorite song is Onceortwice by Oscar Anton. I love finding new trails to hike. I love to ride in the car with the windows down feeling the wind, especially by the beach. I love listening to my nephews laugh. I love enjoying a meal that my mother cooked just for me.

I share all of this because, well, you might think that you don't know someone like me. But you do. Just because I am a Palestinian from Gaza does not change the quality of my dreams, the depth of my love, my love of a good pop song, or the way that my heart is breaking as my homeland and my family are under siege.

It is with a deep sense of heartache, after much deliberation with my sister Nedaa in Germany, that we share specifics about what our family in Gaza needs right now. It is scary for us to ask you for help. But we don't know what to do, so here we are.

The destruction of our family home in Jabalia, North Gaza, is where this war lives for me. I grew up in a three-floor duplex, which housed my parents and my two brothers, Ayman and Mahmoud and their families in separate condos. My sister Abeer lived in a separate apartment complex in Sheikh Zayed, North Gaza.

The neighbors next door were bombed on November 24, 2023, 30 minutes before the ceasefire was scheduled to take effect at 8 AM. That, in big part, destroyed my home while my family was there. My brothers’ condos upstairs were largely destroyed and my house suffered destroyed walls, broken windows, and maimed furniture. My room is the only functioning place in the house where my parents are staying, while my brothers are staying in other wall-less rooms.

My family stayed in the North of Gaza even when the soldiers displaced them Dec 14- Jan 14 2024. On January 16th, what appears to be a drone or shelling attack on the same neighbors injured Ayman with 10 shrapnel pieces neck to ankle. We are lucky that none of them hit a life-threatening spot. He continues to ache, especially the neck. My 70-year-old baba lost around 20 kilos ~44 pounds, so did the rest of the family with the crushingly dire situation and resources.

We did everything "right". We are educated, hard working, and we love peace. In fact, I've been studying peace and reconciliation for years through my participation in peacebuilding programs. Abeer worked as an architect, Mahmoud as a nurse, and Ayman as a school science lab tech and substitute teacher. Abeer’s husband, Mustafa, worked on telecoms as a mechatronics engineer.

My parents; 70 and 62 yo; lived abroad most of their professional lives as teachers. They came home to Gaza in 2003 to build a future after retirement. We are hoping to give them a comfortable living as much as possible.

My immediate family in Gaza is:

Parents: Mohammed and Maha

Brother Ayman, his wife Rewaa and three kids; Mohammed (7), Jamal (5) and baby Amir.

Brother Mahmoud, his wife Lamis and kid Murad.

Sister Amany, her husband Mohammed and three kids; Qasem (8), Yazeed and Bahaa (3).

Sister Fatoom

Sister Abeer, her husband Mustafa and their baby Ahmed.

Somethings you might not know about how much it costs to be a Palestinian in Gaza trying to stay alive right now:

It costs $250 for a 50 pound bag of flour

It costs $5000 for a Palestinian adult or kid to get out of Gaza (latest figures)

With the raised funds, I hope to immediately support with:

If you have questions about this effort, please contact me (Abdallah) directly for more information and details. I am working with my friend. Sera Bonds, who runs a social impact company, Waking Giants that provides reparations and mutual aid support to provide Venmo options for contributing if you'd rather do that.

Thank you for your attention. Thank you for remembering that Palestinians are people. Thank you for contributing. Thank you for keeping your heart open.