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)

Disability Justice, Palestinian Justice, Survival Campaigns, & ‘Eight Families in Gaza’

Today I finished something I have been working on this past week, something I have wanted to make for some time now. In a way, it is a version of the presentation I have been giving in my local community, and it contains much of the same information I have shared in the introduction to the in-person program, “Eight Families in Gaza: Amplifying Their Voices.” 

While I don't share specific information about specific families in this video presentation, I do talk about the background, the context, and the reasons for the presentations, as well as my entry way into this, and the origin of my connection to the families I have been trying to connect to my local and area communities. 

The video explains how I met the families I have collaborated with to build these presentations, the families who I have been speaking about and raising support for, and I also talk a fair bit about the relationship between Disability Justice & Palestinian Justice. I explain how supporting mutual aid and survival campaigns are integral to our commitment to solidarity, and how the Principles of Disability Justice have led me to the development of a framework that I think can enhance our media literacy skills and guide our actions. 

This video is also an attempt to answer questions that come up from community members regarding crowdfunding efforts and donations for families in Gaza, and I offer it also as a pathway to help people understand how they can become more involved with these efforts. 

Currently, more support for the families I am trying to support is urgently needed, as donations have slowed down dramatically, and no aid is reaching anyone. Additionally, the winter weather and rain is causing catastrophic disasters, while no one has adequate shelter, protection, or warmth. 

Tonight and in the coming days, I am going to work on updating some of the individual campaign pages for the families I write for or co-manage, and then I also hope to send out an email to my personal contacts list soon, a list which thankfully keeps growing. I am hoping that these efforts will generate more donations, as right now every single family does not have enough coming in to support them, and I am truly worried about their survival if nothing changes soon. 

I will also share a link to this latest video, in case it can address questions, remove any barriers that potential donors might have, or be a source of encouragement for others as they talk to their own contacts and try to generate support for these families. Anything you can do to help with this effort is needed and appreciated. 

In closing, I want to add that I was in the middle of finishing edits to this video when I learned of the passing of Alice Wong, who is someone I always quote during the in-person presentations, and someone whose words, actions, and life have impacted me greatly. Although we never met, I consider her to have been part of my community. Even though she did not know me personally, her presence in my life has been very strong, and I would not be who I am without her. I would not be who I am without having learned so much from her and without having been deeply and profoundly affected by her. And I know I am not the only one who can say this. I mourn her passing, I celebrate her life, and I will always be grateful to her. Thank you, Alice, now and forever.

Celebrating Mahdi's Birthday & The Importance of Community

During these past nine to ten months, as I've sought more connection with my local and area communities, as I've tried to find and create spaces to introduce people here to families I am close to in Gaza, and as I've tried to make the connection between Palestine and Bellingham more clear, I have consistently heard the same message from so many people. It is a message of gratitude, emotion, and relief--it is an expression of words and feelings. It is frequently accompanied by tears, hugs, or a squeeze of my hand. If I had to try and summarize the essence of what I have heard time and time again, it is something like this:

"Thank you for sharing what you have shared, for giving us an opportunity to be in community with other people who feel the same way. Thank you for being here, for making a place where we can name and talk about what is being done and how wrong it is. I haven't known what to do. I have felt this destroying me. I have been overwhelmed. I am grateful for knowing about something tangible I can do, understand, and help with--I am thankful to those who are creating spaces where our feelings are normalized, validated, and understood. And thanks to everyone who is doing this in ways that are public and inviting."  

I am not attributing these words to any one specific person, but rather this is my attempt to capture a synthesis of many many outpourings of expressions that have come to me in so many different spaces from people from all walks of life,  people of all ages identities and genders and religions, from all backgrounds and professions and lived experiences. 

This gratitude and appreciation expressed by so many in my local communities truly belongs to the families in Gaza. They are the ones who have made these conversations and connections possible. It is through them I have found my true community, both in physical and online spaces. It is through them that I have found people and friends who have become more significant and important to me than I would have ever imagined possible, both in Palestine, and also in Bellingham, and even throughout the world. 

I also have come to realize there are many people who are searching for places and ways to support each other, to fight oppression, to transform this world through their love and solidarity. And so it is important that we keep finding ways to create opportunities to come together and connect with this in mind. I feel strongly that this is one of the ways we can understand both what is needed and what is possible.

And all of this also makes me think of yesterday. Yesterday was a very special day, the birthday of sweet Mahdi, the son of Leila and Yanis, my dear friends and beloved family who I have written about before,  and who I speak and share on behalf of during the community presentations. During the recent 'Pizza for Palestine' event hosted by the wonderful Goat Mountain Pizza, I was very worried because Yanis had told me earlier that morning that Mahdi was very very ill. He had a respiratory infection, and I could hear his labored breathing during a sweet voicenote they sent me that day, as Mahdi was still eager to send me a greeting despite being so sick. 

The fundraiser that evening was focused on trying to raise emergency funds for families in Gaza to buy warm clothes, tents, and blankets to help them get through the cold winter. Last year, infants and babies died of hypothermia and exposure, and the harsh winter weather caused an outbreak of illness and disease among many people. Another dangerous season looms as families are even worse off than they were last year, and thankfully, what we raised that evening went towards helping the families we are trying to support. 

However, sweet Mahdi ended up being hospitalized later the next morning as his condition worsened overnight and his fever spiked and would not lower. The antibiotics and medicine they needed for Mahdi were difficult to find, as the entry of medical supplies into Gaza continues to be blocked by Israel. But thankfully, after much searching and expense, Yanis secured what was needed for Mahdi. There was a particularly scary 48-hour period when Yanis and Leila remained unsleeping and vigilant by Mahdi's side, and many of us in Bellingham added our prayers to theirs, our feelings of love and concern strong and fierce across these many miles. 

How relieved we were when Mahdi's fever broke, when he began responding to treatment and showed signs of improvement. And when he was released from the hospital and Yanis sent me the good news, I realized I had a chain of people here in Bellingham who I needed to text, to tell them he was doing better-- friends who had been praying and caring and worrying. How wonderful this news was and how happy we all were, many of us shedding tears of joy. 

And while I am very grateful that it was mainly thanks to the fundraising event that Yanis and Leila could afford the medical care Mahdi needed, this also means they are still in need of funds in order to afford the warm clothing and improvements to their tent for which we were trying to fundraise. And it is the exposure to the cold that caused Mahdi to get so sick in the first place, so now we are back to hoping we can find a way to help them get what they need so that they can stay well and survive this dangerous winter.  

And, in the midst of all of this, yesterday was Mahdi's birthday. He turned three years old, which was a reason to celebrate and a most joyful occasion. Together with friends we were able to create a special present for him, which I am also sharing with you now.  The act of creating this video was another example of how families in Gaza are bringing us together, giving us opportunities to find and create moments of joy and connection, understanding and hope. These are the things that sustain us, and I am forever grateful to them for this. 

If you would like to contribute to Mahdi and his family's survival campaign, you can do so online via their Chuffed campaign page, and you can even sign up to make automatic weekly donations. You can also email me at clarissjanae@gmail.com  if you would prefer to give me funds for them instead, which I will send to them on your behalf. I hope to be able to transfer an installment of funds soon, as soon as we have at least $300 built up again. (In case it helps to know, they need between $800-$1000 for their winter protection funds for shelter, blankets, and clothing, in addition to between $100  to $150 per day minimum for food and essentials.) Anything you can give is needed and will help. 

'Pizza for Palestine' Fundraiser at Goat Mountain Pizza, Sunday November 2, 2025

 

Looking forward to this special event happening tomorrow, Sunday, November 2, 2025 from 4 to 8 pm at Goat Mountain Pizza Company, and I want to say a special thank you to everyone who is making this event possible. Thanks to the Whatcom Coalition for Palestine, to Whatcom Families for Justice in Palestine, to my friends who are helping organize this event, and to Goat Mountain Pizza for hosting us. And a huge thank you to Tam Tam Pizza for the inspiration and for the previous fundraiser that was so impactful, beautiful, and life-sustaining.

Tomorrow's event will help us raise funds for these eight families in Gaza who are now personally connected to the Bellingham community, as they try to survive the winter and take care of each other. They are in urgent need of warm clothing, blankets, and better shelter, and your support will make a difference. I will be on hand throughout the entire event to answer questions, give updates about the families, and enjoy being in community with everyone. I hope to see you there! (P.S. There will also be both vegan and gluten-free pizza options.)

Reflections and Thoughts

The eleventh presentation of "Eight Families in Gaza: Amplifying Their Voices" was yesterday, and tonight I am reflecting on that, and on so many other things. I am grateful to everyone who turned out for this event, both returning friends and supporters and also new people too. Thank you for wanting to learn more about these families. Thank you for wanting to help them survive. Thank you for becoming involved in efforts to end the genocide. 

Prior to the presentation, I spent many hours updating it, and I changed a great deal from previous ones, with new words, photos, and videos from almost all of the featured families, including a very special video one of my friends made specifically for this presentation, where he spoke to us directly. His words affected all of us, and it was almost as though he was there with us. 

He spoke about not being able to trust the ceasefire. He spoke about how everyone was shattered. He spoke about how the ceasefire could not bring back his loved ones, his home, his things, his books, his life. He shared his feelings, thoughts, insights and words with us so generously. I carried the feeling of this with me through the rest of the evening, into the night. I have felt the presence of what he gave to us all day today. I will carry it with me tomorrow. 

I am always so grateful to be able to speak about these families, my friends who I care about so deeply, to bring them closer to my local community, to see the transformations that come into being once people feel connected  to them and the distance of time and space is collapsed. I am grateful and honored and moved. And I am also always very very tired afterwards. It takes me a day to recover. I have some chronic health conditions that I do my best to manage, and I always know the day after a presentation will be a day of recovery, where it is difficult to do many things.

Planning ahead based on this knowledge and past experience, I let myself sleep longer than usual this morning. When I finally awoke and checked my phone, there was this message from another one of my dear friends: "They are bombing all around us. The world is unfair, my love." And I felt my heart break into a million pieces. 

I spent part of the intro to yesterday's presentation talking about disability justice, media literacy, and the questions we should be asking when we encounter information from our mainstream media sources here in the U.S. Today's headlines and framing in American media gives us ample examples of how we can apply the things I spoke about yesterday. There is so much I could say about this, about the context of constant dehumanization and anti-Palestinian racism that is so pervasive in our media and our institutions–the constant biased framing and misappropriation of language that seeks to justify the continuation of efforts to annihilate the Palestinian people, and how the media upholds this, and how this supports the ongoing genocide--and this is a subject I will return to in more depth with more resources later. 

But for now, in my heartsick despondency, I will keep my focus on the families who have given us so much, and thank you again for your support, and ask you again to please not let it waver. We must do more to end the genocide. And we must do everything we can to help people survive. I have said these exact words countless times. And I know I will repeat them again. And I look forward to the day when they are no longer needed. 

Archives Month, Libraries, Scholasticide, & 'Rise Up for Gaza' Event

 October is American Archives Month, and the library where I work is hosting an upcoming Open House event at the Archives Building. Later this week, I will be on campus finishing a display to highlight this theme and the upcoming event. And of course, whenever I am at work inside the library building, or whenever I am working on promotions for these programs and events, I can't help but think of Gaza and Palestine, and the relentless Israeli attacks on Palestinian libraries, schools, universities, archives, museums, and cultural heritage sites. 

To quote the Society for American Archivists: 

"American Archives Month is a time to focus on the importance of records of enduring value and to enhance public recognition for the people and programs that are responsible for maintaining our communities’ vital historical records."

This incongruity and disconnect pains me, as does everything about this genocide, especially tonight on the eve of the two-year anniversary of when its acceleration began. I continue to carry Gaza and Palestine in my heart and mind no matter what I am doing. 

In honor of Palestine, of survival, of 'Archives Month,' of cultural heritage, of everything every Palestinian person is doing to keep going and try to survive as we collectively keep trying to end the genocide and also the violent and illegal siege and occupation, I have shared a slideshow video I created for the recent Bookshare Giveaway fundraising event, which features some of the words and images from educators, writers, and book-rescuers in Gaza, as well as information about the libraries, universities, and cultural heritage sites that have come under attack as part of this scholasticide. 

Two of the featured contributors are dear friends and also the primary points of contact for two of the 'eight families.' The other two featured contributors are also very dear and important to me, and it was really through my connections to them and because of all that they generously shared that I developed the relationships I now have with the families to whom I am closest. And my heart will be forever grateful to them, for this, and for so much more. I hope you will take a look at these slides and that they will help you understand how we are connected to Gaza, and how we must do everything we can to support those who are trying to survive.

In closing, for those of you who are in Bellingham, I hope to see you at the 'Rise up for Gaza' rally and march at 5pm tomorrow, October 7, beginning at the Farmers Market and ending at the Maritime Heritage Park.