Help Evacuate My Family from Gaza

Dear friends and caring strangers,

This is an urgent appeal for assistance to rescue my family and facilitate the temporary relocation of my dad, brother, and his family, and my niece from Gaza amidst the currently unbelievable conditions they are facing.

This month my dad became 78 years old; we couldn’t hear his voice; we have not seen him in four months. My heart aches. I miss him so much.

My dad, is a dedicated, kind, intelligent human being, a hardworking teacher, from whom I learned my values and see myself in teaching and see life through his lens as a whole. He never put himself first; he was always there for us, along with my mum, they dedicated their life to a brighter future for us, for the community and the world. They both taught me thoughtfulness, kindness, loyalty, gratefulness and to be in service for those who need it the most. I’m lucky to have Mum by my side at the moment, and I pray I can help my dad and the rest of my family to reunite with us in a safer place soon.

My brother Mahmoud whom I have not seen and his family since 2018; we decided January 2024 would be our reunion for all of us in Gaza before it was wiped out and our dreams collapsed. Mahmoud works as an accountant and together with his wife Nesma were taking care of their three children and sharing responsibilities to provide a bright future for them, as our families did and as any family would do. Of a similar character, as we say in Arabic, “a pot that found its cover’, is his wife Nesma; she’s a kind, intelligent, very organised woman who pays attention to the finest and slightest details of her home, her children, and her work as a pharmacist. They have three awesome children and each one of them was a journey of pain and hope to Nesma, as she has the toughest pregnancy, having daily needles to bring them to life. Their existence is all that they have; all that gives them meaning and hope in this life

Mahmoud and his family, to me, represent a huge sense of joy and hope. Mahmoud, particularly, always simplifies hurdles and finds solutions to every problem; Mahmoud was the main inspiration for my problem-solving magic and building hopeful resilience throughout the years seeing his smile every single time we talked. Our video calls were filled with cheerful stories and assurance, joined laughs including the sweetness and laughs of his cute little kids.

No more.

The current unfolding genocide on my people led to the lack of our usual contacts, our usual phone calls, our shared smiles and laughs and our joy to see our nephews on screens. Our current communication is dependent on weak, unstable e-sim connections that barely connect every few days, a few text messages here and there to assure us they are surviving this catastrophe so far.

My niece Nour,

the heaviest story to tell, and the dearest to my heart. Nour is 11 years old. She was with her dad in Gaza; and her mum (my sister Amani) in Istanbul at the moment. They cannot reach each other. Nour’s dad was killed a month ago by an Israeli airstrike on their house. Losing everything, Nour survived this cruel injustice; her mental health is deteriorating day after day, yet she has little hope that she will see her mum again.

Amani is working her best to rescue her in the hope they will reunite again, in the hope of easing her daughter, offering her comfort, and planting a better future for Nour, together with the help of us, the help of yours.

As you have already witnessed on your screens over the past four months, the situation in Gaza is dire. My family is still alive alhamdulilah. They have gone into so much suffering. Currently, as they remained in the North and refused to leave; there is no aid getting in there. They are facing slow death; no access to food, clean water to drink and not even tap water, nothing! Everything meant to sustain a living and keep a life is wiped out; schools, streets, workplaces, mosques and every single symbol that gave life value has been destroyed. Every time we think there is nothing worse from what we saw, we get shocked again and again and again; It's getting worse and worse every day; there is almost no life left to hold on to, seeing their kids slowly losing it.

If there is any ceasefire soon; we'll help them evacuate Gaza, so I am trying to fundraise money to pay for the Egyptian side's fees to help them out of this unfolding catastrophe. I also aim to help them start from scratch once they are out.

Almost half of the money raised is hoped to cover the borders' fees (currently 25,000$, 5k per adult and 2.5k per child, excluding admin fees before and after which is unknown how much exactly at the moment). The remaining money will go for issuing passports, living expenses for a few months, and/or visas and travel expenses to another destination. It is also hoped to cover other minor expenses including 3 % of the website's deduction on the whole sum and .25 for each donation, the fees for bank money transfer + and my or my sister's travel to Egypt to register my family in Hala Company (as a first-level relative has to go in person to register them).

We hope we reunite with them under a safer sky soon, and bring ease to our hearts. I am writing at these critical moments; not only are we terrified of what is happening and worried about the other halves of our hearts and souls in Gaza, but our hearts are also loaded heavily in dealing with our Nehad's chronic disease. Nehad, the kindest sister in the world has been fighting against cancer since 2019. She is currently hospitalised and continuing to receive treatment here in Turkey, for which most of our savings are already spent, in the hope she gets better soon. We are full of hope, full of prayers of reunion with all my family; full of hope and full of prayers for my sister's recovery. Amen.

Your generosity of sharing and donating will help my family get to a safer shore whenever it is possible. Every share and/or donation, regardless of size, will be met with endless gratitude, contributing to a safer future for my family.

Last, we are also offering Qurannic Arabic classes and Arabic classes/workshops on @yalla.arabic ... so you can also help us by learning with us there if you are interested! Some courses will also be free of charge as a giveaway/give back to the support we have received in such dark times.

I will keep you updated on the situation of my family; we’ll make it!

Thank you so much for considering helping in any possible way!

A hopeful big hug,

Sahar