Help a Palestinian Family Escape Gaza

Hi, I'm fundraising for my best friend Kamal, along with his wife Nada and 2 year-old daughter, Yara. Their goal is to get out of Gaza and re-establish themselves as refugees in another country. If the goal falls short, they can still use anything they can get for food, medicine, winter clothes, and other supplies.

My friendship with Kamal has been a life-changing experience. As a Jew, I was raised to believe that Palestinians hated Jews simply because we were Jewish, and it was their life's mission to find us wherever we are in the world and kill us. I internalized that teaching, and was terrified of Palestinians. At the time we started talking online, around 2012, I was only just starting to learn that the issue was more complicated than I had previously believed. Kamal, God bless him, put up with the most racist and ridiculous questions from me, and his reaction was always laughter. "If we met, wouldn't you have to cut my head off or you would be a traitor to your people?" I was that bad. But Kamal never decided it wasn't his job to educate me, or that I was beyond reach. Through his humanity and friendship, he helped make me into a better person who does not dehumanize others. Since then, we have become the best of friends who talk almost every day and know everything about each other. His family has become like a second family to me, and it is my greatest wish to get to meet them all someday.

Since the latest Israeli onslaught, things have gone from bad to worse for Kamal and his family. They were living in an apartment in Gaza City when the first evacuation order was issued, packed up everything and moved to a UN shelter in Khan Younis. They spent about 100 days there, during which time Kamal lost his mother, three cousins, and several friends. When the shelter came under attack, they were forced to flee again, this time with only the clothes on their back. They lost everything. After staying in friends' tents for a few days, they were finally able to set up their own tent in Rafah, which is where they're currently staying. Now that Rafah is Israel's next target, they don't know where to go or what to do.

Kamal and his family just want to get to safety. Yara is at an age where it still might be possible to get her out of this with minimal trauma. She still believes the bombing noises are just people playing outside. Kamal also deals with chronic pain, and is unable to access medication. He injured his ankle playing soccer years ago, and because of failed surgeries, it's only gotten worse. Walking on it over the years has caused immense back pain. If he was anywhere in the world but Gaza, he could get proper treatment. Kamal is an English teacher and also knows Spanish, so that will make it easier for him to integrate into another country. No one wants to be forced from their home, but at this point, what matters most is safety for Yara, before she gets old enough to understand the bombs are not toys.

Any donation, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated.

Note: what was expected happened, they had to leave Rafah and move but they couldn't move that far because it costs a lot more and now danger is getting closer and closer and they have to move again.

Note 09/19: Since the beginning of this, they've moved several more times and had a bullet shot into their tent while they were away. Kamal doesn't even have a tent over his head at night anymore. (Nada and Yara are sharing a tent with Nada's family but there's limited space)