Phone Calls from Palestine

Jihad is head of the Al-Sabaa family, who are displaced and living in a tent after their home in the Sheikh Zayed Towers in the far north of Gaza was demolished by the occupation. Their youngest is just one year old

“War has changed everything,” says Jihad, a father of five from the Gaza Strip.

“Since the war began, we no longer know peace. Morning doesn’t begin with the smell of bread, but with the sound of shells.

“Night brings no comfort, but rather fear and hunger. We now count time by the number of explosions, not by the number of hours.

“Laughter has disappeared and children’s faces are filled with confusion and exhaustion.”

“Every corner of our city holds a painful memory… a destroyed house, a closed shop, or a street that has lost its people,” Jihad tells me.

And yet all Jihad asks for is support from his Western counterparts in the form of a kind word, prayer or by sharing his story. Any donation is a bonus.

“We live in very difficult circumstances – between war, hunger and disease – and my children pay the price every day,” he says.

“But simply standing with us gives us hope and strengthens us to continue.”

Jihad also seeks refuge in Allah. He never gives up.

And while, at times, my efforts to make a difference seem futile, he encourages me to continue.

“Keep going,” he says. “Because your voice has an impact, and your contributions deliver a message that many are silent about.”

He reveals just what a challenge it is to buy flour and how you can’t trust anyone now. Everyone is so desperate that desperate measures have been called into play.

“Today, I passed by the market,” he tells me. “I went to buy a kilo of flour, like everyone else in Gaza.

“I found a man who wanted to sell two kilos. I asked him how much he wanted per kilo and he said $75. I told him I’d buy them.

“I bought them for $73.50 per kilo and went home, very happy that my children would be eating bread.

“But when I opened the bags of flour, I found gypsum (a material used in paints and decorations) inside.”

Gypsum – otherwise known as ‘drywall’ – contains calcium sulphate which, if eaten in large amounts, can cause abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

“I went back to the market to look for the person who sold me the flour, but I couldn’t find him,” says Jihad.

“I returned home with a heart full of pain and sadness over what had happened, because we hadn’t tasted bread in days.

“By the time we had gathered enough money to buy flour, this person showed us no mercy – even though they were Palestinian.

“I really wish my children had been able to eat.

“So I’ve entrusted my situation in God. May God have mercy on those who wronged them.”

Can you help Jihad and his family buy more flour to make bread?

Thank you and free Palestine.