<div>My name is Rebecca Stonehill. I am a writer based in Norwich, UK and in 2024 I read an article by a young, Gaza-based writer called Shahd Alnaami entitled 'Gaza's Libraries will rise from the ashes.' (<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/12/14/gazas-libraries-will-rise-for-the-ashes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/12/14/gazas-libraries-will-rise-for-the-ashes" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/12/14/gazas-libraries-will-rise-for-the-ashes</a></a>)
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I was struck immediately by the clarity and courage of Shahd's voice and I made contact with her through Instagram. Together, with our shared passion for books, writing, libraries and literacy, we managed to organise an online writing workshop which took place on 9th February 2025. During the preparation and organisation of this workshop, many people close to Shahd were killed, including her beloved 13 year old sister, Rahaf. She has also lost her home twice. She is currently living in the roof space of her uncle's house. Despite all this, she is continuing to study (although this is online as her University is no longer standing) and to write. Despite the gruelling challenges she constantly faced, Shahd was determined to go ahead with this workshop. We were joined by people from around the world - Gaza, the UK, the US, Canada and the Netherlands for what was a powerful and moving collaborative experience. Since then, we have run a second workshop online, based around tatreez, Palestinian embroidery.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The United Nations has reported that thirteen public libraries in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed and that many in Gaza are now being forced to burn books as fuel for fires to stay warm or to cook. In the words of Shahd, 'This is our heartbreaking reality: survival comes at the cost of cultural and intellectual heritage'.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Shahd's dream is to be granted a scholarship so that she can continue with her studies abroad. She has written for We are not Numbers and Al-Jazeera amongst other platforms. Shahd is a passionate advocate for literature, reading and libraries and the love for knowledge and education that runs deep in Palestinian culture.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Can you help Shahd to continue developing her talent so she can share the stories of Palestinian cultural heritage and resistance with the world? Palestinian voices have been censored and sidelined for too long.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Please share and spread the word.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><a href="https://youtu.be/F6yPUNw0IGI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Here is a video</a> that Shahd made interviewing the librarian of Maghazi Library.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><a href="https://rebeccastonehill.com/a-voice-among-the-ashes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Here is a link</a> to my blog in which you can read more about the background to how Shahd and I connected and how the first workshop went and <a href="https://rebeccastonehill.com/writing-for-gaza-stories-of-resistance-of-hope/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a> is an account of the second workshop, Stories of Resistance and Hope.
</div>

Dawn Warmbrand

Anonymous

Liana Taylor

Meret Jacob

Colette Bernheim

Fabia Brunori

Lindsey Gould

Brigitte Dern

Alice Raimondo

Erin Lang

Silvia Guerini

Konrad Schafmeister

Sahar Mustafah

Vidushi R Singh

Alisha Gurnani

Donate to support talented Gaza-based writer Shahd Alnaami

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Donate to support talented Gaza-based writer Shahd Alnaami

Still £10,847 to go. Help us build momentum.