Direct Aid for My Family in Gaza • 128 Killed

Today, I stand beside my family in Gaza seeking your support in easing their current struggles and future hardships. Thank you in advance for the generosity of your donation and/or amplification of this fundraiser.

ABOUT MY FAMILY:
Like most Palestinians, both sets of my grandparents were violently displaced from their childhood homes in Jaffa and Jerusalem during the Nakba in 1948. They settled in the Gaza Strip where, despite the hardships of the occupation, they made the best of their lives pursuing their educations and growing their families. Notably, both of my grandfathers, Yousef Abu Saif and Mohammed Al-Dabbagh, were respected community leaders as longstanding educators in UNRWA schools. In the late 80s/early 90s, my parents managed to leave Gaza to get married in the US where I was later born. My name is Mohammed “Moe” Dabbagh, I live in NYC and you can find me at @moemoefuku.

CURRENT SITUATION:
My families are Dabbagh on my father’s side, Abu Saif on my mother’s and Al Mughrabi on my maternal grandmother’s. Since the current genocide on Gaza started on October 7, approximately 49 members of our Abu Saif family have been killed in addition to 79 members of our extended Al Mughrabi family, including veteran UN aid worker Issam Al Mughrabi, my second cousin once removed. Several members of our Dabbagh family have been missing for over six weeks; losses are not yet confirmed.


[Martyrs from our Abu Saif family]

As of 1/13/2024, two of my aunts, five first cousins, their wives and children and over 30 extended relatives are still alive albeit displaced from their homes in northern Gaza to temporary shelters in Deir Al Balah, Khan Yunis and Rafah in central and southern Gaza.


[My cousin Sami in a tent. He holds the remnants of an artillery shell from a nearby strike]

FUNDRAISING GOAL:
Due to insufficient humanitarian aid, scarcity of goods and inflation, everyone in Gaza is currently struggling to have their basic needs met — food, water, hygiene, electricity, wifi, shelter and warmth. The initial purpose of this fundraiser is to provide my family direct aid for their day-to-day. Depending on the success of this campaign, any additional funds will also be provided to them for the sake of rebuilding their lives once it’s safe to return to their homes in northern Gaza. Some homes are confirmed to have been destroyed whereas the rest are unknown at this time. You can find UN News coverage on Gaza here.

100% of the proceeds will go directly to my family via Western Union or bank wire transfer depending on the recipient. Both methods have been tested successfully. If for whatever reason I lose the ability to continue transferring funds to my family, I will reroute donations to the trusted direct aid initiatives below. Please consider donating to them too, if you can. All updates/receipts to be shared on a rolling basis.

• Gaza Mutual Aid Solidarity
• Tents for Rafah 

FAMILY MEMBERS THIS WILL SUPPORT:
These relatives are on my mother’s side and are currently sheltering in a home in Deir Al Balah, an UNRWA school in Khan Yunis and a tent in Rafah.

• Sanaa Yousif Abu Saif (my maternal aunt and main POC) 
  
• Dina Al Bana (my cousin), her husband and children 
  
• Mahmoud Al Bana (my cousin) 
  
• Ibtissam Abu Saif (my maternal aunt and main POC) 
  
• Mohannad Ashour (my maternal cousin), his wife and children 
  
• Reem Ashour (my maternal cousin) and her child
  

[My cousins Mahmoud and Dina, my aunt Sanaa and Mahmoud’s wife on November 28th]

These relatives are on my father’s side and are currently sheltering in temporary tents in Rafah:

• Sami Al-Sayed Khamis Al-Dabbagh (my first cousin once removed and main POC), his children Ashraf and Nadine and his wife Haya 
  
• Rehab Al Dabbagh (my great aunt and Sami’s mom) 
  
• Alaa Al-Dabbagh (my first cousin once removed) and her children 
  
• Walaa Al-Dabbagh (my first cousin once removed) and her children 
  
• Rawiya Al-Dabbagh (my first cousin once removed) and her children 
  
• Raafat Al-Sayyed Khamis Al-Dabbagh (my second cousin), his children Muhannad and Bana and his wife Warda 
  
• Ahmed Al-Sayed Khamis Al-Dabbagh (my second cousin), his son Muhannad and his wife Ola 
  
• Muhammad Al-Sayyid Khamis Al-Dabbagh (my second cousin), his children Anas, Lana, Zain and Lynn and his wife Soha 
  

[My cousin Sami beside the tents in Rafah on January 5th]

FAMILY MEMBERS KILLED BY THE IOF SINCE OCTOBER:
The closest loss I’m aware of is Nidal, the son of my cousin Mohanned, who was killed in a bombing at an UNWRA school on November 1st. His body was never found. The rest are my mother and grandmother’s cousins and their families.

• Killed by the IOF on October 15th in their home in Tal Al-Hawa: Hatem Awad Abu Saif, Hoda Mustafa Abu Saif, Samah Salah Abu Saif, Rajab Hazem Awad Abu Saif, Muhammad Hazem Awad Abu Saif, Youssef Hazem Awad Abu Saif, Shaima Hazem Awad Abu Saif, Nevin Hazem Awad Abu Saif, Nisreen Hazem Awad Abu Saif, Widad Hazem Awad Abu Saif, Mustafa Hatem Abu Saif, Muhammad Hatem Abu Saif, Marah Abu Saif, Widad Hatem Awad Abu Saif, Hazem Rajab Hazem and infants Awad Abu Saif and Hoda Mustafa Hatem Awad Abu Saif 
  
• Killed by the IOF on October 30th in Jabalia refugee camp: Ali Al-Abd Abu Saif, Rashad Ali Abu Saif and his wife, Youssef Nabil Abu Saif, his wife and children Salim, Zeina and Yara, Shaima Nabil Abu Saif, Umm Nabil Abu Saif and her children Nabil, Sham, Maryam, Silas, and Muhammad, The wife of Ibrahim Nabil Abu Saif, Amal Ali Abu Saif and her children Ali, Alia, Donia, and Amir, The wife of Jumah Maarouf Abu Ali, Safaa Abu Saif and her children Mina and Malak, The wife of Abd Ali Abu Saif 
  
• Killed by the IOF on November 6th in Jabalia refugee camp: Maha Abu Saif and her children Rawan, Malak and Saeed, Reham Abu Saif and Nihad Radwan Abu Saif 
  
• Killed by the IOF on November 10th in an UNRWA school: Nidal Ashour (my cousin’s son) 
  
• Killed by the IOF on December 22nd in the house of Hajj Abu Darwish al-Maghribi: Jawdat Darwish Al-Maghribi (Maiden name: Abu Darwish), Ahmed Jawdat Al-Maghribi, his two wives and their children Fadi, Rafi, Zein, Abdullah and Moataz, Jawdat Ahmed Al-Maghribi, his wife and children Yazan, Juri and Munawwar, Mohamed Ahmed Al-Maghribi, his wife and children Ahmed, Lamis, Misk and Mays, Issam Mohammed Al-Maghribi, his wife Lamia Jawdat Al-Maghribi and children Souad, Lama, Louay and Obaida, Mohamed Essam Al-Maghribi, his wife and children Moatasem and Asid, Nabil Rajab Al-Maghribi, his wife Falak Jawdat Al-Maghribi, his daughter-in-law and her children Falak, Musab, Qusay and Nabil, Warda Jawdat Al-Maghribi and her children Malik, Malk and Imad, Osama Darwish Al-Maghribi, his wife Fatima Nabil Al-Maghribi and children Baraa, Rawan, Muhammad, Muayyad and Rimas, Munawar Ahmed Al-Maghribi and her 3 children, Ahed Moin Al-Saei and his wife Abeer Ali Al-Maghribi, Muhannad Moin Al-Saei and his wife Saud Al-Lababidi, Malak Jawdat Al-Maghribi and her daughter Samah, Hamza Saud Al-Labaidi, his wife and 4 children, Muhammad Saud Al-Labaidi, his wife and 5 children, Amna Saud Al-Lababidi and her 3 children   
  

IMPORTANT REMINDER:
While every penny is deeply appreciated, please note that fundraising, even as mutual aid, is NOT a replacement for meaningful and intentional engagement towards true liberation. It is NOT a replacement for protesting, direct action, BDS, taking money out of banks, joining strikes, refusing normalization, or embodying the core principles that Palestinians have long dictated as the terms of our liberation. Direct and mutual aid efforts are done in the spirit of kinship & solidarity networks; NOT charity, not the mysterious blackholes of organizational structures. The intention is to sustain life where genocide, mass starvation, forced displacement, and deprivation of all basic rights & human decency, threatens it. Thank you ♡