jamelah.net

doing a thing

For about six months now, in an attempt to ward off despair over terrible news coming out of Gaza, I started trying to help folks from there by sharing their fundraisers and donating a small amount to those I shared. I did this primarily through the social media site Bluesky (you can follow me here if you’d like), by chatting with Palestinians who contacted me. Nearly everyone I spoke to was friendly and forthcoming, and I was able to feel confident about the fundraisers I was sharing by asking questions and doing some reverse image searches of posts and from people’s fundraising pages. I don’t know how helpful it was, but it was, to me, better than just absorbing news and feeling bad about it, or, like (it seems) far too may folks, just ignoring it entirely.

There is a lot of skepticism from people about the Palestinians doing the fundraising, and I get it. I think we’re fairly conditioned to be skeptical about anyone online asking for money. I sure am. But it turns out that just talking to people like they’re people goes a long way towards relaxing those concerns. I don’t know about you, but I have tried to go back and forth with spam bots on occasion and they can’t actually hold a conversation. Palestinians can.

Anyway, here’s the thing. I am happy to donate to folks as I can, and I do. But fundraising works better when more people do it. So I’m making an offer, if you’re interested: Prints for Palestine. If you make a donation to a Palestinian fundraiser of $10 or more and send me the receipt (info on how to do this below), I will send you a 5×5 print of your choosing from this gallery.

If you want a print, please fill out this Google form. You will need to include your name, email, mailing address (so I can send the print!), a screenshot of your donation receipt, and the URL of the fundraiser you donated to. If there’s a specific print that catches your eye, please include the title of it in the Google form. If you click on the image thumbnails and scroll through the gallery using the left and right arrows, the titles of the images are visible above the image in the gallery and will be something like this:

If you would like a print but have no preference it’s ok to say no preference or leave that line blank. If blank, I will select an image for you!

Once I have a handful of donation receipts, I will make a print order and get them shipped out. I swear to you that I am not going to keep any of your info, including your email (which I will only use to contact you if needed re: shipping). Once I have shipped your print I will remove you from the list.

How do you know who to donate to? I’m here to help!

There are some folks I’ve talked to more than others, and today I’d like to highlight my friend Maha. Maha and I talk to each other a couple of times a week. She is a widow with mostly grown children, currently renting a room with family. In her previous life she was a teacher, though now with no jobs in Gaza she has no way to earn money and make ends meet. Sometimes when she writes it’s about day-to-day stuff, and sometimes it’s with grave worry about what is going to happen next. Today she reached out for help to raise what she needs to stay in the room she has rented. Losing the room would mean having no shelter and potentially having to return to life in a tent. Her need for rent is $500 by next Wednesday.

You can donate to Maha via her GoFundMe, though funds are able to reach her faster via PayPal. (Note: Palestinians can’t have PayPal, so this is someone who receives funds for Maha and wires them. Please list “for Maha” in the memo if going this route; don’t mention Palestine or Gaza.)

Other folks who are real people who could use your help (please click through and read their stories!) are here.

Jamal | Adham | Misk | Tareq | Sakher | Eslam | Imad | Ruaa | Osama | Alaa | Fidaa | Saeed | Noor | Ahmed

There are so many more. I wish I could help everyone, but as of today I’m at a little over 3K followers on Bluesky, the majority of whom are folks from Palestine, and I am no longer able to keep up though I try.

nobody has asked me these questions, but in case you’re wondering

What do you get out of this?

Not a thing, other than knowing I tried to do something nice for other people with no expectation of receiving anything in return. Try it! It’s good for your heart.

How do you know this is not all a scam?

Friend, I wish it were all a scam. Regardless, there is a level of vetting that goes into the creation of fundraisers on sites like GoFundMe. Also the internet exists, and it’s possible to talk to people and get a sense of what they’re like.

Do I have to donate to one of the folks in this post?

No, those are suggestions, though, if you don’t know where to look.

Isn’t it better to give to charities?

Nothing wrong with giving to charities, though note that aid hasn’t made it into the Gaza Strip since early March, so at this time if you want to help people, just giving them money is the surest bet. Folks are using these funds largely to pay for housing and daily needs. The prices of things have skyrocketed since supply has been cut off. Current quotes for a bag of flour are around $200.

Are you crazy?

Possibly, though not for this particular reason.

Not a question, but I have some opinions about what’s happening in Gaza based on the outcome of the 2024 election.

Do you also use “Dearborn” as a slur? Save it or I’ll block you.

How does this work, again?

1. Donate at least $10 to a Palestinian fundraiser. There are several linked above, or you can choose another if you’d like. While you are on the donation page, take a screenshot (Alt+PrtSc, or Clipping Tool in Windows, however you take screenshots on your phone, I don’t know for a Mac but I’m sure it’s similar to Windows) of your receipt and save it, because you will need to be able to attach the file. Copy the URL of the fundraiser.
2. Choose a photo you’d like mailed to you from this gallery and note the title.
3. Fill out this Google form with your info and submit it.
4. Receive a copy of your desired print in the mail! I will do these in batches but I will do them.
5. I think that covers it, really, I just like lists of 5.

a poem, the last line of which I think about all the time

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