Help Haythem and His Family Rebuild Their Home in Gaza

Hi everyone,

My name is Tariq. I'm a Palestinian-American based in NY with family and friends in Gaza. I'm fundraising on the behalf of my friend Haytham and his family who, like so many others, have lost so much and are now raising funds to survive.

Haythem's story is a familiar one - Haythem, his wife, and his two daughters, 13-year-old Nirvana and 3-year-old Milad, were forced to flee their home, which was completely destroyed by Israeli attacks. They have lost everything. Their family business, a small sweets shop, was destroyed by Israel's onslaught. Now, Haythem and 9 other members of his family are sheltering in tents wherever they can find shelter with nothing but the terrifying sounds of Israeli fighter jets and tanks. Haythem's eldest daughter, Nirvana, had been studying at the American International School in Gaza before Israel's invasion and hopes to be able to go back to school some day. Haythem's brother Ramez joined them after his wife and children were all killed in an Israeli air strike. Now, Haythem and his family have no choice but to find a way to evacuate to Egypt. In Haythem's words: "the ultimate goal is to escape the spectre of death and search for a glimmer of hope in what remains of our life."

Before and after of the sweets shop:

Our original goal was to raise enough money for Haythem and his family to evacuate to Egypt, a process that had become extremely expensive, costing $5,000-$7,000 per person. But now, Haythem is trying to raise money to rebuild his apartment after it was completely destroyed.

At this point, I'm sure most of us have seen dozens of fundraisers like these. To many of us Americans, this may sound like yet another far away problem. a tragedy that we just can't do anything about. Gaza may be far away, but it is our duty as Americans do do everything we can to help, whether it's calling our representatives to push for a ceasefire or contributing to fundraisers, because our tax dollars are being used to create this calamity. While contributing to this fundraiser will not fix everything, it is one small step we can take to help Haythem and his family.

Thanks in advance for your support - it truly means the world.