Help Us Get Najwa's Family Out of Gaza

Update:

Najwa managed to evacuate her family in the very last weeks before the Rafah crossing was closed – leaving behind so many others still trapped in relentless genocidal violence, persecution, and starvation. And yet, families like Najwa’s continue to teach us about resilience, love, and communality – and how we, too, can strive to liberate ourselves from the privileged yet rotten, toxic, hypocritical, and genocide-complicit societies we inhabit.

Since then, Najwa’s family has been waiting endlessly for an interview at the German Embassy in Cairo to begin the family reunification process. In the meantime, Germany has stopped family reunification for people with subsidiary protection – leaving her husband and four children stuck in Egypt, suspended in limbo and uncertainty.

Please contribute to the fundraiser we started to help cover the costs of their evacuation and support their basic needs while in Egypt.

Dear friends around the world,

we were fortunate to get to know Najwa Juma during our art fellowships at the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany. We have become friends and fellow publishers of the collection of her short stories and poems. Najwa is the bravest person we know and a brilliant poet. We want to help her get her family out of Gaza.

In solidarity, and with gratitude,

selma banich and friends

Najwa's Story:

My name is Najwa Juma, a Palestinian currently residing in Germany. I am a writer and woman activist who has always fought for human rights and women's rights. I worked as a teacher, translator, and writer in Gaza for years, but then I had to leave Gaza as I received a fellowship for writers at risk in Germany. Due to the political situation in Palestine and the ongoing violence to which Gaza is exposed, I have decided to seek asylum in Germany.

Unfortunately, my husband, and my four children; Layan, Nissan, Ahmad, Omar, and Luna (our cat) are now all stuck in Gaza due to the blockade forced by Israel and Egypt on the borders. Since October 7, I have been praying for my loved ones to survive Israel's ongoing attacks, as well as the lack of food, water, and medicine.

I tried to evacuate my family through the General Consulate of Germany in Jerusalem, but unfortunately, I was informed that in my case this is not possible until I receive a decision on family reunification, which could be soon as my lawyer informed me.

My family survived death many times and had to evacuate to the southern of Gaza, where they took shelter in my father's house, and soon after they had to evacuate the entire area minutes before my father's house in the city of Khan Younis was destroyed.

While my family took refuge in one of UNRWA's schools in Khan Younis, the school was targeted and they survived death for the third time. Meanwhile, I struggled to evacuate my family and they struggled to find shelter and food, we lost our house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood. The house was targeted by Israeli tanks after they invaded our neighborhood.

The process of getting out of Gaza is expensive. The cost of crossing from Gaza to Egypt is more than $7,000 per person. I had no choice but to ask for your help to cover the high costs of getting out of the dragon's mouth. We appeal for your solidarity! Your donation can help my family find safety and start their lives again. All funds raised will go directly towards the cost of moving my family from Gaza to Egypt. Other accommodation costs in Egypt, German visa fees, and other basic needs will be covered by ourselves.