Help My Gazan Family - Robbery and Rubble: Viral on TikTok

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I've spent the last 20+ years raising money and awareness for everything from Cancer research to humanitarian crises in nearly every continent around the globe. I have traveled around the world doing my part to bring hope to people that need it. Refugees, the homeless, the poor, even the wrongfully incarcerated.

I never thought in my wildest dreams I would be making a gofundme page for my own cousin’s survival. My name is Said, and my cousin’s name is Sabir, and he and his family are in Gaza, trying to survive.

You likely know Sabir without realizing it.

Remember these videos that went viral, featuring armed soldiers riding around on stolen children's bikes in front of a demolished home?

Well those bikes are the bikes of my cousin Sabir's children -- and the home they destroyed? It was his too.

Or the furniture – specifically that chair, you know the one: in the viral photo of the soldier relaxing in the Sun against a background of a demolished home with graffiti sprayed onto the walls? That was the chair Abu Sabir would sit in. He was killed because he couldn't get the proper treatment for his health condition after electricity was cut off. The soldiers stole that chair and filmed themselves lounging in it.

It's not enough that Sabir’s home was turned to dust; they also had to make a mockery of the memories and the life that was lived there.

“It was our dream house,” Sabir’s wife, Umm Tawfiq, told me. We put everything into that house; we had our memories in that house. We can never get that back.”

She told me they destroyed the home in stages -- step by step -- to make absolutely sure they would see its destruction, so they would know their dream home was no longer livable – they wanted to make sure my cousin and his family would have nothing left and nothing to return to.

It was a home that was filled with dreams and ambitions for Sabir, his wife, and his five children.

For seven months, they’ve been homeless. “On Oct. 7, we woke up, and it was just like any other day – the kids were dressed and leaving for school, and then, suddenly, bombing started. We live in a city near the northern border. The bombing was intense around us, and we decided to leave and go to our relatives who were near Al-Shifa hospital. We stayed there for about a week, thinking we’d eventually go back home, but it was not so. We sought refuge inside the hospital. It’s hard to describe what we say: the dead on the floor; children crying; blood, fear–we had never seen anything like this in our lives.”

Sabir and his family moved several more times before ending up in Rafah, and now, they are relegated to a makeshift barrack-shelter with 10,000 other people–they get some mats, a thin mattress, and one blanket for every 3 people. Their bathroom is shared by 150 people, and they have to use a bucket and bag to collect after themselves. Umm Tawfik told me, “There’s no privacy. We can maybe take a shower once a month. Disease is spreading. I don’t even know how to describe it or put it in words.”

And their son, Muhammad, is at risk of losing his eyesight: Without the special lens he needs to help his eye, he will lose his eyesight. In November, the lens was $10. The cost then jumped to nearly $50 and now costs over $100 for each lens however, because the lens supplier was demolished, he struggles to find it even at high prices.

“This is Gaza and her situation, and we have no idea what is coming next. We don’t know when we are going to leave Rafah. There is no safe place,” says Umm Tawfiq. What is going to happen to our kids? Our daughter was in college, studying medicine. She now tells us, ‘You don’t understand what we are going through – the older generation already got to study and get jobs; where is our chance at a future?’”

“I am a mother, and Sabir, as a father–what are we supposed to do? We have no idea what lies ahead for our kids.”

“Alhamdulilah, the story is not over yet – we are waiting for what is going to happen next, and where we are going to end up: if we remain displaced; if we escape; if we are killed or die from starvation or illness from the sickness all around us. There have already been outbreaks, including liver poisoning–my kids have all had it. What’s waiting for us, we don’t know.”

Yet, despite everything that has happened to us, we continue to say “alhamdulilah”.Whatever God dictates will happen” Umm Tawfik says.

Probably as much or more than anywhere else, I have done everything in my power to amplify the voices and bring relief to my beloved Palestine. Today, however, is different. This is more personal. I consider all of Palestine a part of my family but this time is different. Our family and the family connected to our family are dying. In total, more than 100 people in our extended family and close friends have been killed. Some of them I knew, some of them I only heard of, others I will never have the chance to meet.

I know and have met Sabir. I know him well, and I have to do what I can to help him, Umm Tawfik, their kids, and the rest of the family.

I know we are all hurting and I know we are all spending everything we have on everyone we know but if you can find it in your heart and in your budget, please make some space for Sabir–your donations will go directly to him and his family to help them with their urgent needs. I have created a separate bank account to collect the funds and will then transfer money to him via moneygram or western union depending on availability. Only costs are for transfer fees and gofundme fees.

We may not be able to rebuild his beautiful dream home, but we can bring him some comfort in knowing that his story matters; Umm Tawfik matters; their children matter, and we will not allow what he is known for to be viral videos of his stolen furniture and a stolen life.

More Photos of Current Conditions in Rafah Below:

Shower for 100+ families