Save And Rebuild Hope For Asmaa’s Family In Gaza

INTODUCING MYSELF

I am Asmaa A. Alfar, from Al Shati Refugee Camp in Northern Gaza, a PhD Student and teaching assistant at Bangor University and a Member of WISERD (Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data); I am also a recent researcher intern at Senedd Cymru (The Welsh Parliament).

I became a new mum to a beautiful baby boy, Noah, during the war on Gaza, Noah was delivered by a C-section surgery which was decided by the doctors at the hospital after 4 days of normal delivery contractions and this was due to severe psychological effects caused by the tremendous stress I have been going through following the war on Gaza and the situation of my family there.

Photo 1 – My graduation ceremony from the University of Sheffield - 2020

OUR STORY

It is painful to explain our story, my family was resisting to leave their home despite the heavy bombing on Al Shatti Camp until their neighbourhood was a target of an Israeli white phosphorus attack which caused them to shelter themselves at the Shifa Hospital only to find out that their house was flattened to the ground along with the entire street.

On 29th January, 2 months after I became a mum, my mum was killed in Gaza by Israeli occupation forces; she was 66 years, disabled in her wheelchair, lost 23kg of her weight during the first 114 days of war due to the starvation, severe coldness in poor tents, the lack of medicines, and 8 times of displacements in the concentration camp called Gaza under the heavy bombardments and was killed without any mercy. Through the 4 months that my mum lived under the war, I had the chance to hear my mum’s voice 3 times, each time less than 2 minutes due to the connections blackout in the Gaza strip. In the last 2 minutes’ call with her, my mum was very happy, regardless of all she had been through, to know that her grandson Noah had arrived safe and sound.

Photo 2 - My mum before the war and during my last video call with her before her death

Our house was previously bombed by an Israeli airstrike in 2012 and my brother killed along with many of our neighbours from Abu Hattab and Algoul families.

Despite the blockade on Gaza since 2007, my family had a decent life, all my siblings are university graduates and were earning their living with dignity, striving to survive the harsh environment they were born in and provide for their families.

Photo 3 – Photos showing my father, one of my brothers and a few of my nieces and nephews

Like most Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip, my family have been direct victims of Israel’s systematic oppression. Currently, they are trying to survive in a plastic tent in an empty, muddy space in Rafah that neither protects them from rain nor the cold weather, their ages range from 76 years old (my dad who is a Nakba - 1948 war survivor and is suffering from Alzheimer's) to 6 months old (my nephew Ismail who was born only 1 month before the start of the war), including my disabled sibling who is suffering from extreme levels of schizophrenia and paranoia following the previous wars on Gaza, and the situation is only made worse through their daily suffering.

Photo 4 – Current photos showing members of my family during their lives in a poor tent in Rafah

Since UNRWA and UNHCR are leaving the Palestinian refugees of Gaza to face their destiny alone and find their ways of individual survival, I am seeking your urgent support as a last resort to save my family from starvation and the indiscriminate bombardment with the uncertainty of the Israeli invasion of Rafah. The funds raised will grant my family a dignified lifestyle and the ability to relocate temporarily to Egypt and then to the UK. Your donations will help me to reunite with my dad and the rest of my family after 6 years of being forbidden from seeing them and will give Noah the chance to see his granddad. If my family does not succeed to escape outside Gaza, the funds will be directed at helping them re-establish their lives from scratch after our family house was bombed along with my 2 brothers flats in Northern Gaza.

Photo 5 – A photo of our house before and after its destruction

OUR PLAN FOR USING THE FUNDS

Bearing in mind that my family are not privileged with any other nationality and the Egyptian authorities are charging enormous amounts (between $5,000 and $12,000 per adult and $2,500 per child) to allow the escape of Palestinian refugees from Gaza and my family consists of 9 adults and 14 children.

Your contributions will inspire our family to strive hard in order to start over and rebuild was once all they had.

We plan to utilise the funds to help escape my 2 brothers who are trapped in Northern Gaza to meet their wives and children in Rafah, evacuate my family to reunite with me, and provide them with a respectable life, following months of agony and hardship in these appalling circumstances.

My family and I would ask for your generous donations to help my family see the bright side of life once more and help them to escape the unimaginable horrors of this war. Together, we can make a meaningful difference to my family members and bring them hope. Your sympathy and contribution will be life changing and would be very much appreciated by us.

If you are unable to donate, I would very much appreciate it if you could share the fundraiser to other people who might be able to help.