by maureen
Several years ago I received a Facebook friend request from a young man in Gaza. I have friends in the West Bank but wanted to also keep abreast of life in Gaza, and he is a chronicler of life throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories so I accepted his request. He has followers from throughout the world. He often posts or reposts photos and articles about life in Gaza and updates about organizations and groups that oppose the illegal occupation and oppression by the State of Israel. This is an issue I’ve been following and trying to help with for about seven years.
I know how very difficult life is in the Gaza strip, which has often been called the world’s largest outdoor prison. It is difficult, if not impossible, to leave the strip. Many of the people living in the Gaza strip are refugees from towns and villages that were either destroyed or taken over during the 1948 Nakba, which cleansed much of what is now the state of Israel of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The 1967 war added to Israel’s territory and drove even more people from their homes. The illegal settlements built throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem continue to destroy Palestinian homes and drive more people into refugee status. (All of these facts are verifiable and easy to find, though too many Americans are unaware of the truth.)
More than half the residents of Gaza live below the poverty level and unemployment is over 50%, one of the highest in the world. Much of the infrastructure (water, electrical plants, medical facilities, schools, sewage systems) have been repeatedly destroyed by Israel’s bombing attacks, which they call “mowing the grass,” just keeping the Palestinian people at the edge of starvation and desperation. The more desperate they become, the more likely they are to protest, leading to another “operation” that kills hundreds or thousands and destroys even more of the area.
So my friend in Gaza one day almost a year-and-a-half ago asked for help. He told me his sister has diabetes and they cannot afford her medicines. She sometimes falls into a coma. There are eight people in the family and not enough food. The water has salt in it because the water processing plant has been destroyed so that leads to other medical issues. I sent them a little money through PayPal that month, and have been helping them every month since.
I’m not completely comfortable doing this because of, I guess, basically trust issues. There are so many scammers out there taking advantage of kindness and compassion. How do I know he and his family’s needs are legitimate? I don’t. That gives me pause. I do know how difficult life is in Gaza. So I struggle with this. It’s not that I can’t afford to help someone out, to maybe save a life even. I probably spend $50 a month on streaming services, online subscriptions and other “entertainment.” I could easily spend $25 for one dinner on the rare occasions that I go out to eat. I’ve been known to spend close to $50 on a single bottle of wine, for heaven’s sake!! And I think if I can send a little money, perhaps it could keep a child from starving or dying from lack of medicine. It’s been cold this winter, even in Gaza, and the rain sometimes floods what little sewer systems are remaining, leaving raw sewage flowing through streets. Maybe helping them buy good food, heat, clean water, medicine will actually make a difference.
The average wage in Gaza is 682 shekels a month; if I can send them $50, that’s 158 shekels, just under 25% of average income. I don’t know how much it helps, but it’s better than letting them starve. So I weigh the cost of possibly being cheated out of what has probably totaled $1,000 over the last 16 or 17 months versus allowing a legitimate, life-saving need to go unmet when I have the ability to help because of my trust issues.
I wish life weren’t so cruel for so many people. I wish justice prevailed in all the hard places of the world. I wish his family didn’t need to “beg” me for money. But I can’t do a lot about those bigger challenges. All I can do is try to help a little from my own abundant blessings. If I give $1,000 over the course of a year or so to one of the large charitable organizations, how many people does that actually help? Or rather, how much of that goes to make their CEO and other officers even wealthier, able to buy another, bigger yacht? While I continue to have some little niggling doubts, I have to trust that the money is actually helping in some way, making a difference, perhaps saving lives. And isn’t that what we are all called to do, to help where and when we can? I keep reminding myself that if I am being scammed, the sin is on him, and not me, that I am doing the best I can to give a little help to at least one family in a very dire situation.
womenbecoming 