My name is Nina Gorman, a psychotherapist and psychology teacher in Philadelphia, PA, USA, 67 years old and  a long time advocate of social justice.  I am doing this campaign to assist my friend Fathi Muhammad Al-Najjar (45 years old) in Khan Yunis, Gaza his  wife Sonia Naji Al-Najjar (40 years old) , their daughters, Israa (10), Tasneem (8), Yaqueen (12), Hoda (17), Jana (15) and their adorable 3 year old son Mohammed so they can survive the brutal war in Gaza. 

  I came to know Fathi Muhammed during the war in facebook messenger when we engaged in many conversations on the plight of his family in the apartheid state of occupied Palestine. I found out later that he is a relative of some very close friends in Gaza.  Before the war when the unemployment rate was 40%. Fathi Muhammed was able to support his family despite the 18 year blockade that limited fuel, electricity and food  but now with the total blockade imposed by the occupation and the USA he is unable to do so (with unemployment at 95%) , leading to his chronic high blood pressure like many men in Gaza  posing risk of stroke and heart attack despite his young age. Because of hunger he is plagued by headaches day and night and cannot afford doctor or medicine for himself or for when the children get sick and get rashes like most children in Gaza do.

   There is now as I write this a blockade of close to two months of all food, medicine, electricity, and fuel while UNRWA and the World Food Program report they will run out of what little is left of flour, food and water. There is now famine and Muhmmed, Sonia and the children are malnourished, hungry and thirsty. With the water infrastructure bombed, they wait in long lines for many hours each day at  to get a gallon of water or a potato or a dish of rice or soup for the whole family to share. .Some days they return empty handed with nothing leading them to collapse in tears.

To make matters worse, there has been bombing everyday with the occupation breaking the ceasefire about two months ago targeting the few homes left, tents burning people alive and shooting those who try to escape and then bombing the hospitals so they cannot be treated. The family hears these explosions daily and wonders if they will be next as the children in tent camp wail in fear.  

  I really fear for their starvation now more than ever and I can do little to assist them since I have given my life savings to help many families in the war and have little left to give to assist the many I still struggle to help.  They family is  in severe trauma and fear death every day with knowing that the blockade the bombs are a deliberate attempt to exterminate them as the occupation does not hesitate to say that this is their aim with no country willing or able to stop them. I strongly urge you to do what you can to assist the family in this hellscape so they can survive, avoid the intense hunger and thirst they now have,  alleviate their fear a little and give them some hope again.  No donation too small.

   Here is Fathi Muhammed in his own words.

     My name is Fathi Muhammed Al-Najjar from Khan Yunis, Gaza .Before the war I was working in electricity and was able to support my wife and six children. Life was struggle with  difficulty in winter and summer with  not getting enough clean water, food and clothes and the black outs of electricity for most hours of most days from the occupation and with war after war with the occupation targeting our homes and hospitals. Now it is unbearable. The whole strip has been destroyed with bombs, 90% of our homes, hospitals, schools, all universities, the water and sewage infrastructure. Bodies and body parts are everywhere from all the massacres with our loved ones still trapped in the rubble. We are bombed waiting in lines for food or if we try to retrieve our dead or wounded. We are living in a tent and have had to move many times to escape bombs after they bombed our home with all of its dreams and possessions.

  The stench from the lack of sewage and no trash collection for almost two years  is obnoxious and makes us sick. There is not even firewood available so we burn old shoes that have been worn and discarded.  The smoke from cooking and bombs makes us sick. I cannot afford shoes or clothes, or food or water, or cleaners or repair for tent that floods in rain, freezes in winter and swelters in summer. The many bugs bite us, snakes crawl in the tent and other creatures  and the contamination gives the children rashes and hepatitis since there is little clean water. .

 We get infections from the few cans of beans available that are expired. We cannot afford flour, our food staple and it is now 25 dollars a kilo which is like 30 dollars for a five pound bag. One vegetable like a tomato or potato is two to three dollars.  There is no chicken, no fish, no green vegetables in the market and what few items are available the prices are sky high.  A pair of shoes is at least 40 dollars and a bar of soap 7 dollars. We sometimes skip meals for days and we are thirsty most of the day.

  The explosions are night and day at anytime and anyplace. No person is safe and no place is safe. My wife Sonia and I are unable to comfort the children anymore. They cry from hunger and they cry from bombs.  They shake and sometimes do not speak, We all hide under the blankets when the bombs come and hold each other. Hoda and Jana, Yaqueen and Israa try to comfort each other and  Tansneem and little Mohammed but there is only so much you can do to distract your children from explosions and an empty stomach or thirsty throat.

We hope you can find it in your heart to assist us. We are exhausted from this constant suffering and we do not want to die and we do not want to be expelled from our land. We will be forever grateful if you help alleviate our pain and help us to live. We just want a normal life like other people and to survive the madness and not die.

 Here is the Budget for the Campaign. 

CAMPAIGN BUDGET

Survival with  Food and Water for

Family of eight  for 3 months (1200  month)

Including for lentils, potatoes, tomatoes,

greens, eggplant, noodles, cucumbers, milk

squash, flour, and if funds permit chicken 3600  

Tent insulation for winter with tarp $200

Battery and fans for Tent $ 400

Clothes and shoes for family of 8 for 3 months

(420   per month) $1260

Gas tube for cooking        $180

Firewood 100 a month      $300

Family Toiletries and cleaners  including

Shampoo, soap, spray & floor cleaners,

deodorant and toothpaste for 3 months

(100 a  month) $300

Medical and dental visits   $1000

Transportation in Gaza for 3 months for

Family of 8  to doctors (120 month) $360

Medicines for High blood pressure and for

Rashes for children for 3 months (140 a month)   $420

Total for Budget: $8020

All funds are transferred from secure USA bank account of Nina Gorman to secure PayPal of Fathi Muhammad Al-Najjar