Connecting with Gaza: June 7, 2025
Bearing Witness, Building Solidarity
Dear Friends,
Welcome to our newsletter, Connecting with Gaza, where we share Palestinian voices. For over two years, the families we serve have endured siege, starvation, and relentless violence. Yet their defiance—and your solidarity—has forged lifelines where governments fail.
This newsletter is our shared act of witness.
The Pharmacies That Refuse to Die
Mahmoud’s Story (North Gaza)
When Israeli forces advanced on his neighborhood last month, Mahmoud, a pharmacist, packed his remaining medicines into sacks and relocated overnight—reopening within 24 hours.
In his exact words (April 26, 2025):
"I’m working to secure antibiotics, painkillers, and chronic disease medications—whatever I can source from warehouses still standing. But supplies are vanishing. To prevent interruptions, I need $1,000 weekly. Most patients can’t pay; they’re choosing between medicine and food."
Your donations fuel this resistance:
Multi-vitamins for children surviving on starvation rations
Mosquito repellent for families sleeping in rubble
Painkillers for the wounded denied hospitals
Sameh’s Story (South Gaza)
Sameh (name changed for safety), a pharmacist and writer, lost her father after Israel bombed the Rafah crossing, trapping them in Gaza. Now displaced in Al-Mawasi, she leads grassroots aid efforts.
Her work in her words:
"Parents cover babies with rags and plastic bags. We’ve delivered 160 diaper packs so far—but the need is endless."
Your solidarity in action:
January 2025: 65 diaper packs distributed
April 2025: 95 more packs delivered
Next goal: Help Sameh establish a southern pharmacy
Displacement: A Diary of Terror
This week, Israeli forces escalated attacks in North Gaza. Five families we serve were displaced—again. Two others went silent mid-evacuation.
Real-time messages from Rizek, a father of four:
[3:58 AM] "They’re ordering us to leave. We don’t know where to go—just ‘Ya Rab’ [Oh God]."
[9:15 AM] "We’re on the street now. Tanks are 50 meters away."
Maryam on Israel’s starvation tactics:
"My daughter dreams of bread. We eat tuna ‘shawarma’—not by choice, but because animal protein is gone. Every meal tastes of humiliation."
What Your Solidarity Achieves
Food Runs: $2,000 CAD buys 10-15 families three more days of survival. Last week, our partner navigated bombed-out roads to reach families where Israel blocks aid trucks but not bombs.
Orphan Support: A contact in Khan Younis cares for 150 children who’ve lost everything. Your funds provide milk, diapers, and Eid sweets for kids asking, "Will we celebrate this year?"
Emergency Aid: You’ve covered burial costs, replaced bombed tents, and sheltered a pregnant mother fleeing starvation.
But funds are drying up. We’re treating symptoms of genocide—dig deep.
The Choice Ahead
A father in Gaza writes:
"Our children’s eyes still hold hope. Your kindness could light them up—remind them they’re not forgotten."
This is genocide, hour by hour.
Mahmoud stocks shelves with dwindling meds.
Rizek scans for tanks.
Maryam grinds pasta into “flour.”
This is resistance:
Every diaper delivered.
Every meal cooked.
Every voice shouting "Free Palestine."
How to Stand with Gaza Today
Give: Every dollar delays starvation.
Act: Demand arms embargoes. Educate. Protest.
Amplify: Share #DirectVoices like Sameh’s and Mahmoud’s.
Final Words
Mahmoud’s promise:
"They bomb pharmacies, so we’ll work from tents. They blockade medicine, so we’ll compound our own. However they come at us—we’ll outlast them."
This is the defiance you fuel.
In relentless hope,
The Connecting Gaza Team
Donate | Advocate | Break the Siege
#SolidarityNotSilence
Next edition: Eid under bombs, expanding pharmacy networks, and your role in defiance.
