Support for Gaza Family in Leicester

Hi everyone! This is Shareefa Energy, Ewa Jasiewicz and Sarah Al-Sarraj and we are raising money to support a Palestinian family from Gaza that has arrived in Leicester this week via Warsaw, Poland. They only just managed to get out of Gaza.

The mother* is Polish-Palestinian and is currently staying with her brother, who lives in Leicester, with her 3 young children. She is pregnant and her 3 children are aged 11, 6 and 2. They are extremely distraught and traumatised after having been rescued from under the rubble of their home in Gaza. The family have survived mass bombardment over the past month and have lost everything. They are scared to sleep next to windows and fear the continuation of bombing despite having reached safety. Their father is still trapped in Gaza and the family are trying to get him out to safety, against the Israeli government’s orchestrated separation of Palestinian families seeking refuge.

They are traumatised and have witnessed horrific scenes - both from this attack on Gaza and previous ones when losing their home during Operation Cast Lead in 2009. Nobody should ever experience what they have experienced. Pregnant women have been heavily impacted by the Israeli forces' war crimes in Gaza. Getting the family back to good health is our priority and responsibility.

The family have already experienced Islamophobia and racism during their short stay in Poland en route to England. At a time of increasing xenophobia in the UK under the hostile environment, it is important that communities support, safeguard and protect Palestinian families here. The extended family have already lost 38 members in Gaza in the past month. The whole family is bereaved including the family members based in Leicester. They fear for the safety of surviving family members, including grandparents, who are still in Gaza. We intend to relieve some stress from their family and support them where necessary as the Leicester community and via our national/international networks.

Your financial support will ensure the family has access to legal support, necessary essentials, rent money when needed, holistic activities, healthy food and to be able to rebuild their lives. They have lost everything. It is not easy for people with complex PTSD to return to ‘normal’ life, to go to work and return to business as usual. The children’s father and extended family in Gaza are still unsafe, and so the survivors' guilt and trauma continues for the family.

Your financial support will go towards:

The funds we raise will be given to the mother’s brother (based in Leicester), who is the beneficiary.

We hope you can support them as they are rebuilding their lives from scratch. Your solidarity is appreciated during these devastating times.

*Please note, due to safeguarding reasons, we have not disclosed the names of the family members.