Opinion

Biden’s Israel Waffling Let This Company Scam Refugees

Edith Olmsted
Tue, June 11, 2024 at 3:37 PM MDT·3 min read
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A new report from the Win Without War Education Fund, a progressive foreign policy advocacy group, details how the U.S. government’s failure to intervene in Gaza has allowed an Egyptian company to exploit American citizens and Palestinians desperate to secure passage away from the Israeli military’s ceaseless bombardment.

For nearly eight months, there was only one way out of Gaza: the Rafah crossing, a thin strip of land on Gaza’s southern border. The crossing has since been seized by the Israeli government, preventing the transfer of essential aid and humanitarian workers, as well as blocking the only means of escape. Before Israel seized the crossing, the only way to use it would be to get your name on a list that is maintained by the Egyptian government.

To expedite the process, many families turned to one company, Hala Consulting and Tourism Services, which promised to help get people’s names on Egypt’s list—for a steep price. Hala is part of the Orjani Group, which is owned by Ibrahim Al Arjani, a close ally of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, and one of the most powerful men in Egypt.


By the end of April, Hala had raked in at least $88 million by charging people to cross, according to an investigation from The Times. By the time Israel seized the border crossing days later, the price for a “coordination fee” had ballooned from $4,000 to $10,000 per name.

The burden of this cost was far too steep for most Gazans, who have been forced to leave their homes, families, and friends amid the ruins of their cities. Instead, the price was thrust onto their family members and allies in the United States, who turned to private charities as a last resort for fundraising.

Once Hala received money to add a family member to the list, it would still take up to a month for that person to move to the top of the list. In that time, a lot could change, as the dangers in Gaza are ever present.

Family members of those trapped in Gaza were forced to pay Hala’s exorbitant fees because the U.S. government has refused to pressure Israel to stop its relentless assault. Washington has even failed to expedite the evacuation of U.S. citizens.

Texas attorney Maria Kari, who works with hundreds of Americans who are trapped, or have family members trapped, in Gaza, said that the State Department has been slow and at worst unresponsive to her efforts to secure humanitarian parole for her clients and their families.

One woman interviewed for the WWWEF report, identified only by her first name, Shifa, turned to GoFundMe to raise money to get the names of her 50 family members in Rafah on the list after exhausting all other options.

“We’ve exhausted absolutely every avenue to save their lives,” Shifa, a Palestinian American lawyer, told WWWEF. “We submitted correspondence to the State Department. We’ve submitted all the applications to expedite this process. We’ve reached out to immigration attorneys. We have done it all; no response.”

Because of the high costs, waiting period, and lack of government support, Shifa was forced to make difficult decisions about which family members to prioritize. “Time is of the essence. We’ve exhausted every avenue possible,” she said. “They’re waiting to either leave or die.”

These Nonprofits Are Supporting On-the-Ground, Palestinian-Led Aid Efforts in Gaza

Quispe López
Wed, June 12, 2024 

Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images

Throughout spring and into early summer, Israeli air raids continued over Gaza, with reports of strikes across Rafah that burned Palestinian people alive as they sheltered in tents. This is just the latest assault in Israel's ongoing siege and bombardment of Gaza, which has killed at least 37,000 Palestinian people (including roughly 15,700 children), injured almost 85,000, and displaced nearly 1.7 million since October 7, according to Al Jazeera.

Scenes from the last eight months have been devastating. Israel’s military campaign has completely leveled cities, destroying 80,000 familial homes and wiping out entire bloodlines in the process. Those left to pick up the pieces and grieve the insurmountable losses have been forced to face what the United Nations has declared a “full-blown famine” in the north of Gaza, caused by Israel’s closure of Gaza’s borders, preventing necessary aid from being delivered to Palestinian people. Now, an estimated 1.4 million people — 600,000 of them children — are grappling with extremely limited access to medical care, inadequate shelter, and constant bombardment.

In mid-June, the U.N. World Food Program "paused" aid coming through the American-built "humanitarian pier" off Gaza because of the danger caused by Israel's military assault. Before that, it was operational only briefly due to storms. According to the Associated Press, the aid that is able to get through is rarely able to make it to who needs it most.

Throughout the past eight months and long before it, Palestinian-led organizations have been working in Gaza to provide food, medical care, and other necessary aid to people in dire need. From efforts to support birthing people to direct ways to fund the relocation of Gazan families, the list of select organizations below supplies vital support to Palestinians right now.

The giving opportunities on this list include global nonprofit organizations partnering with Palestinian-led efforts in Gaza to provide emergency aid, as well as individual funding efforts to help entire families relocate to safety.

MADRE

Months of Israeli bombardment paired with the blocking of essential aid has made Gaza a dangerous place to give birth, according to a report by the World Health Organization. Doctors Without Borders birth workers told Al Jazeera they were forced to flee because oncoming Israeli forces had created “inhumane” birthing conditions for pregnant people by leaving them with no medical support. As a human rights organization that supports climate, gender, racial, and disability justice around the globe, MADRE has made a commitment to support Palestinians in Gaza by supporting local Palestinian-led partners.

“We’re resourcing humanitarian aid and psychosocial support for survivors of the conflict, as well as working with local midwives to address the childbirth health crisis in Gaza, which is currently the most dangerous place in the world to give birth,” Marlow Murphy, a Content Supervising Manager at MADRE, tells Them. “Miscarriage rates have skyrocketed since the attacks on Palestine began, and pregnant people are forced to give birth in hazardous and unsanitary conditions without proper medical support, including pain control.”
Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism

Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism is an organization dedicated to funding feminist activists across the world. They have made an intentional effort to support feminist organizers across Gaza who are working to fill the humanitarian aid gap. Since October, Urgent Action Fund has distributed over $183,000 to Palestinian individuals and organizations, including LGBTQ+ people, journalists, people with disabilities, and displaced refugee communities within Gaza and in the diaspora.

“Our efforts have focused on supporting initiatives led by women, trans, and non-binary activists who have courageously mobilized to meet the humanitarian aid gap caused by political barriers that continue to devastate communities,” Noorjahan Akbar, Director of Communications for the Urgent Action Fund, tells Them. “We have also resourced feminist movements in Palestine, neighboring countries, and geographies around the world where activists face backlash and threats due to their activism against the ongoing genocide.”

Urgent Action Fund is focusing on uplifting organizations that provide on-the-ground resources like hotlines, emergency relocation services, and direct protection to people with disabilities at risk of experiencing gender-based violence. In addition to providing grants to Palestinian organizations distributing emergency relief across Gaza, Urgent Action Fund is also supporting Palestinians in the diaspora who have faced discrimination, including unjust terminations and arrests, since October 7.

Rawa

Rawa is an organization that supports liberatory, resilient Palestinian community work through funding local initiatives and “confronting prevailing power dynamics,” according to their website. The organization provides community-based resources to Palestinian communities in Gaza, the West Bank, ’48 (Palestinians who have Israeli citizenship), and Jerusalem through grants supporting creative community initiatives. These efforts have included grassroots first-aid training, disability organizing in refugee camps, and community-supported agriculture.

“Rawa is a space for participatory, democratic, and independent decision-making,” the organization’s mission statement reads. “Our initiative is led by community committees involved in popular action in historic Palestine.”

Purposeful

Purposeful is an organization dedicated to empowering girls through activism and organizing throughout the continent of Africa. The nonprofit is currently supporting Palestinian-led efforts in Gaza by providing grants to grassroots partners on the ground.
GazaFunds.org

Direct donations can also be a powerful way to support Palestinians and put urgent funds into the hands of those who need it the most. Gaza Funds is a website that connects people who want to monetarily support Palestinians to active crowdfunding efforts from families in Gaza. It is run through a team of volunteers, primarily Palestinian and Arab engineers, students, writers, and academics who want to spotlight fundraisers of Palestinains in need.

According to the Gaza Funds website: “Each time the page is reloaded, a different campaign appears. While the rotation is randomized, campaigns for the sick/injured and campaigns close to meeting their goals are prioritized. We never want any of these campaigns to go stagnant, so we make sure to also prioritize fundraisers that haven't had a donation in a while.”

Gaza Funds says their website is for informational purposes only. GoFundMe provides some tips for evaluating funding campaigns on their website here.

Originally Appeared on them.

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