Winter Holidays and End-of-Year Realities & Reflections

 

Today my morning messages from friends in Gaza were filled with kindness and warmth; supportive, encouraging, and generous words from people to whom I feel everything is owed. This past week, I have been telling local friends who are here in Bellingham, that it isn’t me who is giving support to the families in Gaza–it is they who are giving support to me. They are the ones who have taught me what it means to love, to persist, and to keep searching for light in the darkness. And my heart is overflowing with love and appreciation for them.

As 2025 winds down, I find myself wondering how it can possibly be that this is the third winter holiday season since the intensified, accelerated, genocide against the Palestinian people began? How has another year passed, another year of human-made famine and forced starvation, forced displacement, violence, destruction, loss and suffering– all of which have not yet ended, despite what some in the United States might want you to believe?

I have no answers to these questions, but a lack of answers does not change this harsh reality. Another year has passed. And the genocide has not ended.

There is still no safety, rest, or reprieve for the families in Gaza who are still struggling to survive. There is still no assurance of when or how things will improve. And there is still an overwhelming need for us to do more than what we have been doing. Because everything we have done so far has not been enough to change this.

To those who are somehow able to celebrate the holidays with friends and loved ones, I wish you well, and I hope these times bring you comfort and joy. And I also hope you will keep room in your hearts for the families in Gaza who are still doing everything they can to survive, to be here, to keep going, even in the midst of extreme hardship and suffering, hardship and suffering that is being deliberately inflicted upon them, with the violence also still ongoing, and with the United States bearing the responsibility for this, not just by allowing it to continue, but by actively participating and expanding the scale and the scope of this genocide. Those of us who are living in relative comfort, safety, and security in this country also bear responsibility because of this, even though we did not choose or want this.

The winter weather is intensifying, and another major storm is predicted to hit Gaza this weekend, while shelters, caravans, construction materials and supplies are still being deliberately and actively blocked by the U.S. and Israel from entering into Gaza. Meanwhile, Israel is continuing to destroy, demolish, and bomb the few remaining structures that are still standing, and damaged buildings are also collapsing as conditions worsen.

"The United States’ shielding of Israel has led to exposing civilians in the Gaza Strip to a heightened risk of death under coercive living conditions. In December alone, around 18 civilians died as a result of severe storms, including five children who died from extreme cold. During the same period, wind and rain destroyed more than 27,000 tents and caused the collapse of over 20 homes previously damaged by bombardment, where residents were forced to live due to the absence of alternatives. Israel continues to block the entry of temporary shelter solutions, including caravans, and prohibits the entry of equipment and materials required for reconstruction and rubble removal.

Israel is exploiting the current situation to continue implementing its policies in the Gaza Strip, having directly killed nearly 400 Palestinians since the ceasefire was declared on 10 October. In parallel, the Israeli army is accelerating the systematic destruction of what remains of buildings east of the Yellow Line through bulldozing, demolitions, daily airstrikes, and artillery shelling, intending to consolidate effective military control over around 53 per cent of the Gaza Strip, reshaping its geography and demography in a manner that serves genocide and leads to the physical erasure of Gaza’s population as a protected group.” (from Euro-Med Monitor’s Dec. 22, 2025 article, "United States’ shielding of Israel perpetuates status quo and genocide in Gaza.”)

There is no ceasefire. There is no safety. There is no justice. And the genocide has not ended. So as we look ahead to 2026, I hope it is with the understanding that much much more is required of us. More support for the families who are trying to survive and being forced to endure what no one should ever have to, and much more in terms of our commitments and actions for justice and accountability to prevail.

Thank you to everyone who is reading this, to all who have been giving your support, to everyone who has reached out to me with your kind words, your encouragement, your emails, your messages, your donations for the families, and also with your friendship. I end this year grateful to have met so many amazing people these past 12 months, in Bellingham, in Washington State, in Gaza, and throughout the world. And it is this community of compassionate and caring people who give me the hope and strength to keep going and to never stop trying, to keep doing everything I can, alongside so many of you.

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To make a donation to the families in Gaza who are connected to the Whatcom County, Bellingham, and Washington State local and area communities, you can donate directly via their online Chuffed or GoFundMe campaign pages, or you can send or transfer funds to me (via postal mail, Zelle, or VenMo), which I can then post on your behalf. If you would like more information about how to do this, please email me at clarissjanae@gmail.com 

Dec. 20th Winter Solstice Gathering for 'Eight Families in Gaza'

 

Join me at the Bellingham Public Library* Downstairs Lecture Room on Saturday, December 20 between 1 and 4pm for a chance to come together in support of the 'Eight Families in Gaza' who have become important to our local and area communities. Stop in even if it is just to say hello, and then feel free to stay for as little or as long as you would like during the time we have reserved for this gathering. [*required note: This event is *not* sponsored by the Library.]

Those who want to will have a chance to leave a written message or draw a picture for the families in Gaza on a fabric banner we are making, and to talk and brainstorm ideas with me of things we can do in the months ahead to support these families. I will also share more about some of the projects I am working on, in case you are interested in finding out more about hot to become involved and offer your help.

During this time I will share a looped slideshow on the large screen which will rotate through  a series of slides showcasing some of the photos and written words from each of the different families, and I’ll also bring the latest updates which I can share verbally through conversation with those who are interested.

I'll have on hand some of the leftover books and handmade items from previous fundraising events, and a kettle for hot water along with an assortment of teas. If you have funds to donate, we welcome this, but it is not required or essential, so please don’t let that be a barrier for you if you would like to come. Feel free to bring yourself, your friends, your ideas, your questions, or any supplies for making arts and crafts, and together we can create a space for cultivating connection, creativity, and support.

This event is open to anyone but I will admit, I have not had much time to really promote it because I have been trying to deal with a number of ongoing emergencies in Gaza, and to somehow counter the continued slow-down of donations, so I am really not sure if anyone will show up at all, but I will be there regardless and I hope you can make it too!

For Majd - More Than a Writer

I’ve recently found myself reflecting upon many things in my mind and heart and memory of these past two years, reviewing the impressions and stories and connections, thinking about how I met certain people, how one relationship has led me to another. And as I’ve tried to trace back various pathways and intersections, it struck me that my friend Majd is the one person in Gaza who I did not meet through anyone else. He is the only person I can't trace back a connection to other than what first drew me to him, which were his words. His writing. The way his words affected me. How they made me respond, caused me to reach out to him directly with my own words, despite not knowing him and not knowing how he would respond.

When I first messaged him, I was trusting a feeling that was more than a feeling–it was almost as though I was acting without thinking, without analyzing–just moving in a direction that was pulling me, magnetically, organically, naturally. As though carried by a rushing river with the strength of a current that was somehow lifting me forward, bolstering me, keeping me afloat until I arrived in a different place. A place of meadows and flowers and illumination.

Reflections and memories about Majd have been ever-present with me in a particularly strong way these recent weeks, stronger than usual, I should say. He has been collaborating with me on the two recent live reading events for “Read Palestine Week” we hosted in the town where I live. He has done this despite being sick, despite dealing with the innumerable challenges and injustices that are part of daily life and survival in Gaza. I’ve been thinking a lot about how no matter what we see or hear or think we know, for those who are being forced to withstand the unbearable, forced to endure what is beyond my capacity to comprehend–for those who are being asked to demonstrate a faith and persistence and willingness to survive, despite the constant presence of death, loss, and violence– there is a gap we cannot close. As another friend once said to me, "You know what I tell you. But I know what I am living."

I have often said that Majd’s writing is a gift to an undeserving world, a gift for which I am very grateful. His writing is not only clever, powerful, and technically-skilled, it holds depths beyond what is apparent at first glance, containing multitudes, carrying a rich vastness of understanding, emotion, insight, and feeling.

He has told me before that he just writes what he feels. And this is something I think about a lot. Beneath everything he says and does, there is also a foundational vision rooted in compassion, integrity, and justice. I am frequently overcome with emotion by what he shares, how he writes, and the way he captures a feeling, a truth, an observation, a devastation, a moment of joy. He is a writer who is more than a writer. He is an educator who is more than an educator. A translator who transcends the limitations of language, who crosses barriers and borders and hindrances of proximity, time, and materiality.

Majd possesses both a mastery of language and an instinct for understanding how to combine what is said with what is left unsaid–how to use words which simultaneously confer and infer. How to combine insight with humor–humor that can sting with a kind of realism that brings home the harshness, reality, absurdity and injustice of a situation–yet still somehow offers a strength that emerges out of this understanding. Always clever and never contrived, Majd’s writing is a reflection of him. And the way he writes emerges naturally, through him, of him, carrying with it a sensitivity and a kind of integrity that is core to his being.

There is also a precision in his writing that is unique and profound, a way in which he offers subtle clarity on a point that needs elucidating, bringing light to something that has not only been obscured, but whose very obfuscation had altogether eluded me before he not only casts his light, but also shows me where the shadows are lurking. I find myself returning to his words, again and again and again, always grateful for this chance to go deeper into an understanding that changes me and helps me stay afloat when the river of the darkness of this world threatens to subsume me.

No matter how much I strive to know, to comprehend, to understand, I know I am still removed. There is a distance. And I miss many things. But I am always changed by Majd’s writing, and his words bring me closer, collapsing that distance. And I have seen first-hand the transformation of other people who read or hear or see his words. And no matter what words I choose now, no matter what I say, nothing will be enough to adequately convey the depth of my regard, appreciation, love, and admiration for my friend Majd, for the connection we have that emerged from his writing, his words, his voice. A connection that is sustained because of our friendship. How grateful I am to him for his beautiful, wise, caring heart, for this love I have the privilege of experiencing.

Majd is a writer who is more than a writer. He is also a colleague, a teacher, an educator. He is a brother, a son, a friend. He is all of these things and so much more. He cares deeply about his family and his community. And his commitment to education and his determination to do all he can to support his students, to counter the many ways the world has betrayed both him and them, is unlike anything I have ever observed in any educator I have ever known. He is a kindred spirit, a beautiful soul, a man who cares and feels things deeply. We have talked before about writing as a means of coping, survival, resistance and resilience. A point of connection. A demonstration of determination to continue, to exist, to keep moving through the darkness towards whatever light can be created or made visible.

And all of these things I share about Majd, these glimpses and descriptions and inadequate attempts to capture so much that cannot be captured–I offer them now as just one small piece of something to reflect back just a fraction of what he has given me. How grateful I am to him for his friendship; how lucky I am to know him. Sometimes the distance of time and proximity does not feel vast. It is as though there is a connection despite these barriers, a magnetic beam of light stretching across these limitations. I feel its gentle pull. I see its shimmer in the darkness. And I know it will remain, now and always.

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If you are reading these words and would like to make a contribution in support of Majd and his family, you can do this via their survival fundraiser on GoFundMe. 

Read, Resist, Rise Up - A Special Encore Reading, Thurs. Dec. 4th at 7PM

 

Yesterday's community event, held in honor of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, offered us a chance to talk, share, reflect and engage, while also raising direct aid monetary donations for writers and families in Gaza, and with additional monetary donations from all food and beverage items going directly to the Sameer Project. I am so grateful to everyone who helped make this event happen, and also to those who gave your support through presence and donations.

I am also grateful to our partners from the Salish Sea Poetry Festival, who participated in the Read Palestine Week reading and also shared their art and creative works made in support of the featured writing from Gaza, and who found a way to integrate writing and poetry into the entire day. I also want to thank both Community to Community (C2C) and the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center (WPJC) for their presence, support, and collaboration.

And finally and most importantly, thanks to the Palestinian writers and families in Gaza, whose words, stories, poetry, reflections, video, audio, and writing were featured during this very special event. You have my deepest gratitude and appreciation.

For those in the Bellingham area, on Thursday, December 4 at 7pm there will be a special encore reading presentation of yesterday's #ReadPalestineWeek reading at the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center, and I really hope you can make it. Many people told me after the event how much they appreciated it and how deeply it affected them. I am personally humbled and honored to help bring the words, writings, and voices from my friends in Gaza closer to my community here in Bellingham, and I really hope to see you there. 

Special Event for the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

Includes Special Live Reading of Words Written by Palestinians in Gaza at 4PM for 'Read Palestine Week'

Everyone is invited to join us for a special community event, a day of connection and creativity in solidarity with the Palestinian people and in celebration of the first day of #ReadPalestineWeek, to be held at 1530 Birchwood Ave (suites C & D), with a special live reading at 4 p.m. featuring the writing and voices of people in Gaza.

Family-friendly, free, and open to everyone, attendees will have an opportunity to learn more about the connections between our local community and Palestine, while exploring a variety of creative activities, art, and unique handmade items. Stop by, wander, and enjoy this comfortable, inviting, restorative environment, an intentional alternative to the many post- & pre-holiday commercial spaces focused on spending & consumption. There will also be opportunities to offer donations to a variety of Palestinian initiatives or direct aid fundraisers for different families in Gaza, in exchange for books, crafts, snacks, art, and unique hand-made items.

The special program at 4 p.m. will include a live reading by local writers and poets of the poetry, short stories, and the words written by Palestinians who are currently in Gaza, and who are partnering with us on this event in support of #ReadPalestineWeek. Some of the featured writers in Gaza also hope to create audio or video recordings specifically for this event, which if completed in time will also be shared during the program.

Read Palestine Week is an international initiative first established by Publishers for Palestine, a global collective of publishers and others who work in publishing around the world, and who stand for justice, freedom of expression, and the power of the written word. This year’s international focus of Read Palestine Week is on raising funds to support Palestinian writers in Gaza. And here locally, anything donated or raised in support of the reading presentation will be sent directly to the writers and families in Gaza of those whose words are featured during the reading, including those who are connected to the families who have become known locally as ‘Eight Families in Gaza.’

Additionally, on Thursday, December 4 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center, (1220 Bay Street), there will be a second event for Read Palestine Week. Named for Read Palestine Week’s theme, “Read, Rise Up, and Resist,” this combined reading and presentation will touch upon themes related to reading, writing, and education as being integral to Palestinian culture, and to the lives of people in Gaza, even in the midst of the ongoing genocide.

Amjad, Abeer, Hassan, Mohammed, & Their Family

I first met Amjad and Abeer through a relative of Abeer’s, although I have come to know this family primarily through Amjad's eyes, which always shine with love for them. Amjad is the first family among the families I grew personally close to and began introducing to my local community as 'Eight Families in Gaza.'  Amjad's kindness, compassion, and love for his family struck me from the very first moment we ever spoke. We became friends quickly and easily, and it was impossible not to care about him as I grew to know him. And I am honored to have his trust, and touched when he refers to me as his 'big sister.' 

When the intensified Israeli aggression against Gaza began in October 2023, Amjad and Abeer had to flee their home as it was besieged by fire and surrounded by firebelts. It was then completely destroyed, and since that time, they and their family have been displaced so many times, I can no longer count them all.

When they first tried to move south in October 2023, it was too dangerous for Amjad, as Palestinian men were being arrested and taken captive by the Israeli forces at the checkpoints. Abeer left with their son Hassan in search of safety, and Amjad was separated from them for over a year. This was a particularly painful period, and Amjad would often tell me how much he missed his family and how he was worried about their well-being, how he wanted to be there to support them, how he wished he could be with them.  

Towards the end of November 2024, he could not wait any longer and he decided to risk the journey so they could be reunited, and thankfully, he was able to reach them, and this close-knit family has been together ever since, trying to survive the violence, the bombing, the repeated displacements, the forced starvation, and the daily struggles of living in the midst of the genocide.

In addition to Abeer and his sons Hassan and Mohammad, Amjad is also doing everything he can to support and care for many other family members. He also feels responsible for the well-being of his grandmother, his sisters and their kids, in particular his sister whose husband was martyred during the genocide.

Amjad has told me before that he is very tired. He wants more than anything just to have a simple ordinary life, where he can make his wife and kids happy and enjoy spending time with them. He misses being able to just be, to have a job and regular routines. There have been times during these past two years when he has volunteered and helped organize and support community initiatives that cook and distribute food in the nearby areas, and these opportunities have always been restorative for him and made him very happy.

Helping others gives him joy. And giving people support, taking care of his family, making sure those around him are ok, trying to give everyone what they need–these are the things that sustain him. At the same time, when this becomes more difficult, when donations slow down and obtaining what his loved ones need is not possible, I think it is the pain caused by his feelings of being helpless and unable to ease the suffering of those around him that wounds him more than the actual deprivation.

In the dozen or so times I have given the presentation in my local and area communities, whenever I have planned presentation updates and asked Amjad if there is anything new for me to share, he always says that he just wants me to make sure people know that his family is the most important thing to him. In all the time I have known Amjad, this has not changed and will not change. Amjad’s love for his family is his touchstone and guiding light.

I still remember the day he was finally reunited with Abeer, and I was so happy when they could be together again. One of the ways I got to know them both was through the public posts they would both make to each other during the time when they were separated. It was clear that their love for each other was strong, and this is another thing that has helped see them through many challenges.

Abeer is lovely, sweet, and kind. And she has an undeniable strength that she has had to draw upon repeatedly, both for herself and also her family, including when her health and the health of her baby Mohammed was at risk. She required daily injections throughout her pregnancy to manage a serious health condition, and ultimately her labor had to be scheduled and induced. She has endured much uncertainty, deprivation, forced starvation, and suffering while still doing everything she can to take care of herself and her family. And thankfully, on August 13, 2025, beautiful baby Mohammed was born, bringing life and happiness to his family and community, joining his dear sweet brother Hassan to become together with him the core of this family.

This family is very special to me, and this past year they have also become very special to my friend Tal, who last spring began co-managing their survival campaign with me, taking responsibility for the financial side of things and the funds transfers. Tal has also been helping as together we try to find more supporters in our communities. And in some ways, having this shared connection to this wonderful family has also brought me closer to friends like Tal, another thing that fills my heart with gratitude.

Amjad and Abeer are a family who brings people together. Being able to build upon the love and care I have for Amjad & Abeer and their family, to see it expand and grow and affect other people who have also come to know and care about them, has brought me closer to them and to others who care, as the kind and loyal hearts of this family have reflected back to me what this world needs more of, giving me hope that a different world is possible.

Likewise, my connection and commitment to Amjad & Abeer has also grown stronger with time, becoming a commitment I vow to keep for the rest of my life. A commitment and an honor. I am grateful for their presence in my life. And I hope you will give them your support.

[For those in the Bellingham area, there is a fundraiser yoga class benefit on Friday, November 21, 2025 at 6pm at Flux Power Yoga, with donations from this class going towards Abeer & Amjad & Their Families.]

SPECIAL EVENT NOV. 29 Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People & Read Palestine Week

SAT. NOVEMBER 29, 2025 / 12PM-6PM

Join us for a day of community and connection in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and in celebration of the first day of #ReadPalestineWeek 📖 Attendees will have an opportunity to learn more about the connections between our local community and Palestine, while exploring a variety of creative activities, art, and unique handmade items.

Family-friendly, free, and open to all: stop by, wander, and enjoy this comfortable, inviting, restorative environment, an intentional alternative to the many post- & pre-holiday commercial spaces focused on spending & consumption. There will be opportunities to offer donations in exchange for books, crafts, snacks, and hand-made items, with donations going directly to support specific families and organizations in Gaza.

There will also be a special program from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. featuring the words of Palestinian writers in Gaza, who are partnering with us for Read Palestine Week to share their poetry, stories, and other writing in support of specific Palestinian writers and ‘Eight Families in Gaza.’

(If you have questions about this event, need more information, or want to contribute your own art and handmade goods for me to use as donation incentives for the Eight Families, please email me at clarissjanae@gmail.com)