Grant Eben

Zain is still suffering from stomach issues. His stomach surgery is said to cost $5,400. There was an attempt by French activists he collaborates with to help him with this but they failed to raise enough money. The money that was raised was instead used to cover rent and avoid moving to a tent. Living in a tent increases exposure to rodents and insects and this has the potential to worsen his mother's condition and impede her recovery. None of us can afford to cover the cost of his surgery alone. Zain has gotten medicine as treatment but, like like his brother Taha, it requires refills. We don't know how long Zain can do without this surgery. This is why this fundraiser is still vital. Since the last update, Taha went into a stress-induced coma that lasted at least eight days. Prior to that, he had his visa application rejected and had been working at the pharmacy as a volunteer in shifts that exceeded 12 hours. He worked this hard because, instead of money, he is paid in medicine that his family requires to treat various health issues arising as consequences of the siege they've had to endure for the past three years. Taha regained consciousness September 22 and has been in recovery. Taha requires expensive medicine in order to prevent epileptic seizures or comas from befalling him again. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) has agreed to help with this, but we still need help for what MAP will not cover. We've learned this medicine is essential for Taha's survival such that he cannot afford to miss taking it everyday without taking on severe personal risk. I ended up donating $3,560 out of my own pocket so Taha could refill his medicine for September and October because (once again) this fundraiser isn't raising enough money. At this rate, I cannot afford to make donations in these amounts indefinitely. I will run out of money by next year. While Taha was being treated in the hospital, he was confronted by hospital security who accused him of fraud and demanded immediate payment of medical debt. He ended up getting assaulted and jailed for three days. He still owes the hospital fees for his treatment while he was in a coma. Somehow the absurd irony is lost on hospital security that their enforcement endangers the lives and treatment of the very same patients cared for by the hospital they protect. We're still waiting for news on the appeal that was filed for Taha's visa application. Taha's girlfriend Seham received the second surgery she needed to prevent her legs from being amputated and it was successful. She's now able to walk without crutches again. This surgery was necessary to address complications from injuries she received when she and her family were bombed almost two years ago. This medical care cost me $2,500 out of my own pocket. I donated this because I could afford it and the importance of not having to live the rest of her life under severe disability in a place under siege far exceeds the importance of having that money remain in my bank account. Plus, as I've said before, I am forced to pay taxes living in a country that directly arms and supplies the people who have commit the violence against her and her loved ones that caused her the need for this medical care in the first place. Every tax-paying American shares some responsibility for the death and injuries that the people of Gaza have faced by the Israeli military. The same goes for many taxpayers living elsewhere in the world like Germany, France, the UK, etc. What so many fail to understand is that the destruction of Gaza's healthcare system by the Israeli military has been leading to mass indirect death and suffering. People who die due to lack of access to proper healthcare are not counted among the "70,000+" number that people have been throwing around for more than a year when describing the number of those killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023. And this number alone fails to describe the true scope of the devastation that the people of Gaza have faced everyday for more than three years, even under the so-called ceasefire which continues to be violated constantly by Israel, who continue to curb aid and target civilians with their weapons. It may be years before we know the true number killed, but we should also recognize that death count is not the only metric indicative of the appalling injustice and suffering that is taking place in Gaza. Gaza's economy still relies on donations from abroad. This is why we must assist. The healthcare system in Gaza is already severely compromised. Without the kinds of assistance that people abroad like us provide, it risks collapsing entirely. Zain and his family feel guilty that they are relying so much on my personal contributions for financial assistance. Please show them that this is a collective effort and donate!

On August 17th, the Irish embassy in Tel Aviv informed Zain's brother, Taha, who's been accepted for admission by the University of Limerick, that he has had his student visa application rejected by the Irish government. Tens of thousands of dollars had already been paid to the university for his first year of tuition and accommodation. Months of research and organizing preceded the preparation of his application. This news caused Taha to have an epileptic seizure. I had a panic attack. Taha's student visa application contained in it an English requirement waiver that was issued to him on May 26th on official university letterhead by an Assistant Dean at the University of Limerick. The university accepted him for admission and did not require him to demonstrate his English proficiency. Despite this, the official reviewing his application cited "Insufficient recognised level of English shown" as one of the reasons for his rejection. The Irish Department of Justice affords us two months to file an appeal of the rejection. With the start of the school year being September 7th at the University of Limerick, we effectively have much less time than that. I've been trying and failing to help with this appeal despite how expensive and difficult it is. Taha's application is 169 pages long. A huge portion of it is in French, which I don't understand. I'm told that part of the appeal process will cost around $3,500 USD. We also expect that appealing is extremely unlikely to succeed. Though, we must appeal this regardless. We must push back and let it be known that this rejection and its reasoning are an injustice. Zain's mother required additional hospitalization despite her seemingly successful recovery from her last surgeries. Zain had to get more expensive medication for treatment of a chronic stomach issue. Zain's youngest brother came down with appendicitis. Taha's girlfriend is currently undergoing followup medical care to prevent her from having both of her legs amputated. I've been trying to help Taha and his family evacuate Gaza for more than two years to anywhere that would take them. He and his loved ones have faced unbelievable danger over the past 35 months while they have waited for the Israeli military to stop denying them the ability to travel freely. They have faced starvation and dehydration by the Israeli military's occupation and blockade in Gaza and almost died several times by Israeli bombing, shelling, and gunfire.  The millions of people of Gaza are being annihilated in a slow, calculated, and methodical fashion. For 35 months most of them have been forced to live under tarps in a variety of weather conditions among mountains of rubble and trash and walk kilometers everyday just to access basic necessities like clean food and water. They are routinely denied access to the resources normally available to people elsewhere in the world. Medical care has been severely limited. What medicine exists is prohibitively expensive. My friend Taha volunteers at a pharmacy and is only paid in the medicine that he and his family require to treat their health complications from the environments they're exposed to and from the bombings they've personally survived. On top of that, the millions of innocents just like my friend and his family are discussed, accused, and labeled under the foulest terms in public discourse to justify their destitution and annihilation, to justify the denial of their human rights and dignity. The only people helping are like those who have donated to this fundraiser. But support has waned significantly again. This fundraiser continues to fail to raise enough money to cover this family's expenses. I continue to hemorrhage savings in order to make sure their living conditions are as bearable as possible. Please donate if you are able. If you're not able to donate, if you take away anything from this, let it urge you to show mercy to people. Care. Because there are too many merciless and bigoted people in this world who only care about their immediate surroundings, who only care about senseless paperwork, who have no qualms with allowing the people of Gaza to continue to endure endless injustice and abject suffering.