Hi friends, this is elizabeth and Tina, friends and former colleagues at The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, writing from the USA with a personal plea on behalf of our dear friend and longtime colleague, Dr. Jamil Abdel Atti, Palestine Director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine.

We’re writing to ask for your support as we try to help Jamil, his wife Amal, and their children and grandchildren raise funds so they can escape the war in Gaza.

Whether you know Jamil or you’re just learning about him now, we hope you’ll take a few minutes to read about a truly incredible soul and his family, and learn about the immense difference you can make for someone who has served others tirelessly for decades! (SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN FOR PHOTOS)

Jamil’s dedication to helping others

Dr. Jamil Abdel Atti – known affectionately as “Dr. Jamil” – has been the Director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine’s Gaza Program since its inception in 2005. Born and raised in Gaza, Jamil has spent more than four decades in the field of mental health - helping children and adults find peace and perhaps even joy within themselves despite the dire conditions that have existed in Gaza for almost 70 years and have gotten horribly worse since the onset of the current war. In 2018, he earned his PhD in Psychology and Mind-Body Medicine from Saybrook University in California.

Jamil has always been a beacon of light, working tirelessly in impossible circumstances – including a blockade and four previous wars – to foster hope, healing, and a better future for his community. Despite the enormous challenges, Jamil and his team in Gaza managed to train and supervise over 1,500 Palestinian teachers, healthcare workers, and community leaders in CMBM’s mind-body trauma healing approach. Prior to the onset of this devastating war, these 1,500 facilitators had provided trauma-relief and resilience-building services to over 285,000 children and adults in Gaza.

Since this current war began

Jamil and his family have suffered terrible losses since this war began, first having to flee their home in Gaza City to find safety in Khan Younis in the second week of October. Soon after, they had to evacuate again - this time to Rafah - with few options available.

In November, two of Jamil’s beloved sisters, with the entire three generation family of one of them, were killed by bombing. Among them, several nieces and nephews Jamil helped raise since birth and guided through early adulthood and their young children. He has also lost several dear colleagues and friends – including two CMBM Faculty he had known for decades. Recently he learned that his family home in Gaza City was demolished: ”Everything, all our furniture and clothes, years of family pictures, everything, is gone.”

Today he and his family of 13 are living with 37 other extended family members in a relative’s home in Rafah. Jamil is now the sole breadwinner for all 50. “If I had just $1 dollar, I would split it with my brothers and sisters. This is how you plant goodness.”

Despite his personal losses and trauma since October, and to our continued amazement, Jamil has managed to lead his team of 25 faculty and dozens of additional volunteers to provide direct trauma healing services to an astounding 40,200 children and adults living in 37 shelters in Khan Younis, Bureij, and Rafah. The techniques they use help people mourn the loss of their loved ones, homes, livelihoods, and neighborhoods; release some of their overwhelming fear and anger; and find some sense of security, comfort, and purpose. Many have reported sleeping better, and finding the strength to continue to be there for their families, friends, and clients, even as bombardment continues.

After evacuating to Rafah, Jamil does what he has always done: thrown himself into being of service. Often working without electricity, amidst ongoing shellings, and grieving the loss of team-members and friends, Jamil’s light continues to shine.

When we ask him, “How is this possible, Jamil? How do you keep going?” he replies:

Alhamdulillah (thanks to Allah,) we are still alive, we are still breathing.

You ask how I keep going? Every day I wake up at 3am and start my prayers. When my granddaughters wake up, I see their smiles, the beauty in their faces. I hold them, and feel that everything is possible. I am so happy.

You know, I really believe our hearts echo each other. This reminds me to appreciate everything my wife, and everyone in the family are doing to care for each other. And wherever I go, I practice finding the goodness in people. Even if I don’t know them, I smile, and I see their goodness! This is what I practice every day. Every minute.

Even now, sitting here in the UNRWA Operation Room every day, staff tell me how my smile and laughter is contagious. Now they are happy to see me, and tell me jokes when I come in! We all laugh together, drink some coffee, and feel better. This helps us all keep going.

I love the work that I’m doing so much because it touches my spirit. Yes, there is so much pain. I see so many tears. It’s not easy, believe me: it triggers my loss and my pain. But every time I remember Allah, our spirits, and it’s ok. 5 times a day I do my prayers and it reconnects me to our sweetness, our goodness. Afterward I am refreshed, and it feels like I can see things anew, and all the possibilities.

OUR ASK

Now, after helping so many others, Jamil urgently needs our help to get his family out of Gaza – his 3 adult sons and daughters-in-law, as well as his 5 granddaughters, ages 0-7. Although Jamil and his wife Amal might be able to leave without payment based on having valid US Visas, they wouldn’t dream of leaving before the rest of their family is safe.

As we write, the incursion on Rafah is underway and the safety of Jamil and his family, like everyone’s in Gaza, is at extreme risk. Through this campaign, we aim to raise $60,000 to cover the fees charged by an Egyptian coordinating agency to evacuate 6 adults ($5,000-$8,000 a person) and 5 children ( $2,500) from the west of Rafah. These funds purely support humanitarian aid for civilians and will be transferred directly to Jamil, who is able to withdraw them.

Funds will go toward evacuating:

Jamil & Amal’s Children:

Anas, a General Practitioner physician and his wife Dima

Rajab, a Lawyer, and his wife Rida

Mahmoud, a Business Administrator and his wife Nirmeen

Jamil & Amal’s Granddaughters:

Amal (age 7) - “Amal loves drawing, and has such a kind heart!”

Miriam (age 5) - “Miriam is very assertive, and so strong! She is smart in math and science, and could have such a bright future!”

Yusra (age 4) - “Yussra is always dancing, playing, joyful!”

Minna (9 months), her name means Gift

Zaina, born during the war, delivered by Jamil. Her name means Beauty.

Jamil and Amal will return to Gaza after a much-needed respite, fully committed to the land and their people. And, while they are away, Jamil will work remotely with his team and his appointed deputies, CMBM Leadership, and key partners to make sure the work continues.

Jamil’s sons, however, face limited opportunity in a decimated Gaza where the unemployment rate was already sky-high (over 75%). Highly educated – a doctor/General Practitioner, lawyer, and business administrator – they are anxious to relocate somewhere safe, with solid prospects, to build lives for their families

Statement of Need & Request for Help from Jamil

I am so worried about my sons and my whole family. Here in Gaza there is no safe place. There is no future. There is no opportunity. Over 80% of the infrastructure is destroyed. More than 400 schools have been destroyed.

My sons and their families are young. They want to have a future. It is really hard. My oldest grand-daughter, 7, Amal – whose name means Hope! – she asks me everyday, “When are we going to leave? Why are we here? Why us? Why us? I want to go to school. I want to see my friends.” I tell her I am doing my best. That I will see what I can do to get her and the family out.

If my family can get out, I will be released from the fear and responsibility of making sure my immediate family is safe. My sons would face a lot of hard work to rebuild their lives, but at least they could start. There would be light at the end of the tunnel. They would not need to rely only on me for their financial security. This is what worries me so much. If I die, my sons need to be able to support themselves…

You ask why I want to return to Gaza after I get out, take a break, and can breathe deeply for a little while? It’s because I love my work and I love my people so much.

You know, everyone here in Gaza is in the shock phase right now. So much pain will come after the ceasefire, when people return to everything they have lost. Imagine a young person who has lost all of their family members – dozens of people – how will they move forward? There will be so much grief.

I believe my work is very important: to help people find hope.. If everyone runs away, who will help them? People are hopeless right now. But if we help them heal their wounds, and teach them skills for healing, they will heal the wounds of others! And there can be a new generation who understands what it means to heal.

Any additional funds raised beyond the $60,000 will help this family rebuild new lives - for Jamil and Amal in Gaza, and for their sons to emigrate and settle in new lands.

Over the last few months, Jamil's CMBM colleagues have tried every other possible way to get him and his family out, with no success. There's so little we, sitting in safety, can do to support the many innocent, beautiful children and adults trapped inside Gaza. But we can do SO MUCH for our one, incredible Jamil and his wonderful family. Helping them will buoy Jamil beyond words, and enable him to continue to serve as an inspiration and beacon of light to so many others.

Please join us and give as generously as you are able to today. Every dollar counts, and will mean so much! And please help us share this campaign far and wide. Let’s pour our love into healing the healer, helping the helper who has done so much for so many.

With love,

elizabeth & Tina

Jamil & Amal's Family (before the two most recent additions!)

Jamil finding a moment of joy with his granddaughters (Dec 2023)

Jamil (center back) helping children release their fear and anxiety in an UNRWA shelter (November 2023)

Jamil with a man who is despairing the loss of his home (November 2023)

Jamil & his team have worked with Gaza's schoolchildren since 2010

Jamil's CMBM work in Gaza is featured on CBS' 60 Minutes (May 2015)