The AbuKhaleds face new struggles in Gaza

Reports of massive starvation and pending famine in Gaza have circulated in the news. The situation has become dire for the AbuKhaleds, a family local grass roots organization, the Social Justice Collective, has been trying to assist.

“My new grandson he is in the ICU now for the third day after the bombing of the area with Gaz bomb. He is 12 days old,” Mahmoud, the father and grandfather of AbuKhaleds, wrote to the SJC in August. The infant suffers from breathing issues. “Please do your effort to pull us out of [here]. Life here is unbearable. I am going to lose my mind, life is so full horrible, scary, no hope, generations will suffer a lot.”

Glenn Hendrick, a SJC member, told the Journal that she has noticed a change in Mahmoud’s tone since they first began contact. In the beginning, the family wanted to stay, insisting that Gaza was their home. Over time, he has become more adamant they must leave, and he has grown more desperate.

The cost of passage is $5,000 per adult and $2,500 for children under 16 years old. The high cost is at least partially, if not primarily, a result of the fact that this transport is in the hands of a private company, according to Hendrick. To complicate issues further, the border is currently closed. “No one has been allowed out for a long time,” Hendrick explained to the Journal. “There’s a perception that people can’t get out because neighboring countries won’t take the Palestinian refugees, but it’s Israel who is preventing anyone from leaving, it’s a total lockdown.” The SJC has been raising money for when it opens. Through fundraisers, rummage sales, movie nights, dance parties, potlucks, and GoFundMes, the non-profit raised over 25,000 for their visas.

Meanwhile, the family continues to survive in the middle of the war zone, experiencing births, deaths, and relocating again and again. Airstrikes caused them to abandon their tent, forcing them to return to the ruins of their home, Collective member Amanda Lynn wrote in an Op Ed. The AbuKhaleds are in the process of building a new shelter. According to Hendrick, while the AbuKahleds wait to evacuate, they continue to need funds for food, water and now shelter, all of which are currently exorbitant. To make things more challenging, his wife Eman now has an injured leg from an explosion. It had gone untreated, making it difficult for her to walk.

“Eman is in big pain and very worried about her limb. Me too – very worried about her condition,” Mahmoud wrote to the Collective Sept. 2. A few days later, he wrote that a “very massive attack took place in Gaza City. Also, in our area, Khan Younis was very hard in the morning. We visited Eman’s brother at the field hospital.” Eman, he continued, remains in ICU in very serious condition.” I have checked about Eman’s issue, unfortunately, they don’t operate internal Surgery for the knee, only out of Gaza.”

According to Hendrick, Eman’s brother did not survive, and recently er nephews Mohammed, 18 years old, and Amer, 17 years old, were shot in the back by Israeli soldiers while trying to get supplies.

Mahmoud himself was in the Nasser Hospital in Gaza City when it was bombed, not once but multiple times by the Israeli army, killing doctors, patients, and journalists. “I was there when it happened inside the building which was attacked. Yes, the ground floor, and the attack was on the top 5th and 4th. Thanks God I was inside with my sons. I get bad flu,” Mahmoud wrote.

Hendrick told the Journal that Mahmoud let the SJC know that there are new militias forming and roaming around scaring people where they are currently located, in Khan Younis. “I don’t know much about the nature of these groups yet. It’s the first we have heard about them, and it seems to be a disturbing new factor in their lives,” Hendrick clarified. In a recent update, Mahmoud told the Collective that “The militias that are creating chaos are Palistinians being paid for by the Israli army.”

Meanwhile, the family has been able to procure some lumber to build the frames for their new shelter, but they now need tarps, which currently cost about $180 each on the black market, Hendrick said, noting that, according to Mahmoud, just for the barest of shelters, the tarps will cost $4,500 US dollars. They will now need to find new land for their shelter. Hendrick told the Journal that “Mahmoud and his family have been forced off the land they had secured by the landlord, who found people who could pay higher rent. They are still looking for land to set up camp on.”

When the Collective asked if the family was able to get rest, Mahmoud responded, “We can’t sleep because we are scared Aziz, we are not giving up hope.”

The Collective will be at the Fairgrounds “Great Island Garage Sale” on Oct. 4 and 5. For those who would like to donate any items, email SJC at sanjuansocialjusticecollective@gmail.com. To donate toward their evacuation GoFundMe, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/urgent-aid-for-the-abukhaled-familys-evacuation or, for their daily needs, go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-them-survive-gaza.

To learn more about the SJ Social Justice Collective, visit their Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sjsocialjustice/ or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563357340354.

Islanders can also visit members of the Collective at their booth at the Farmers Market.