Help Immigrant Parents Save Their Children in Gaza

Dear Friends,

My name is Nasser Haj Ahmed, a Palestinian citizen and a resident of the United States. My wife and I are proud taxpayers in New Jersey. We were planning to have a happy stable life, and eventually build the future of our six children, Nidal and his pregnant wife Islam, Ashgan, Ali, Mohammed, and Hanan, in Gaza. However, they are currently trapped in Rafah with no way out, facing constant bombardment and lack of basic human rights.

I've launched this campaign to bring them out of Gaza for their safety. Unfortunately, this process comes with significant expenses. The funds raised will go towards covering the costs of their transportation, temporary housing, and other essential expenses related to the evacuation process.

Your support will help reunite our family and ensure their safety during these challenging times. Thank you for your generosity!

Introduction

My children spent six difficult days in western Gaza City under firebelts, phosphorus bombs, and sea boat shells. They had to flee the house twice in the middle of the night, and on October 13 the army called them and ordered them to evacuate to the south. They couldn't carry much luggage with them, they had to leave a lot of things. They tasted the two things to get to Rafah after they had to be displaced three times, they finally arrived at Rafah, which is classified as the last uncontrolled area in the Gaza Strip. Read more about the danger of staying in Rafah here.

Destruction of our home

My children were lucky when they left for the south because on October 21, the army entered the west of Gaza, and they bombed my house where my unmarried children reside, they took the remains of the house as a military barrack and no one could get there to take a photo. Also, On October 30, the building where my son Nidal used to live, who got married three months before the war, was bombed causing severe damage to his apartment. It is noteworthy that the rest of the property was stolen in the two homes.

How my children live in the south?

After fleeing their homes in Gaza and being displaced five times they lived in a small room in our relatives' home with several families before they had to search for a tent because the area is not safe anymore.

Daily life has become impossible for my children because they are suffering from cold due to lack of clothes, constant fear of being bombed, distress, monopoly of goods, high prices, the hostility of residents, airborne illnesses, lack of resources such as electricity, clean drinking water, and hygiene kits. Also, they face malnutrition since they have to reduce food rations so they can all suffice, most days eat canned in the absence of fruits, vegetables, and proteins.

Notably, Hanan, my youngest daughter, suffers from asthma and air pollution has taken a major toll on her health and ability to breathe. That's why she needed to double the doses of asthma medication.

My attempts to save them

I found myself in front of a cruel crossroads between my need to save my children who needed to pay coordination of the Rafah crossing, which cost $5,500 per person, and my principles as a 62-year-old self-made man who lived independently for years and raised his children to take responsibility without asking for financial assistance. More details about evacuation process out of Gaza, including its costs here.

Who were my children before the war?

My children were always professionally successful, financially independent, and able to take responsibility, but the war forced them to spend a lot of their savings under the obscene boiling and monopoly of goods and seven months of suspension, that they had nothing left to help them get out of Gaza.

Each of them had great success in his field of work. They tried to build a decent life without anyone's help. They had so many dreams, plans, and projects that they could not carry out as the war began but they lost their jobs and livelihoods.

My wife and I are in exile

We live alone now, try to take care of each other, and work to support ourselves and pay our taxes. I go to work 12 hours for five days, she goes to work for 8 hours on Saturdays, and then we spend the rest of the time waiting for our children's calls especially when the Internet is cut off, and watching the news while anxious eats our bodies and minds daily of the possibility of losing our children and not seeing them again.

One day, we just had one meal when we knew that our children had divided food between them so that they would suffice, and once we had a whole week of playgrounds because our children ate nothing else but that we were suffering from insomnia and we could not stop feeling guilty and helpless.

Last word

Every donation, no matter how small, will have a significant impact on my children's lives, your generosity can be the lifeline that ensures their safe passage to a more secure environment.

Together, let us make a profound difference in the lives of those who matter most.

Thank you for being the ray of light in my family life.

With gratitude,

Nasser Haj Ahmed