Palestinian Americans Experience Anguish as Relatives in Gaza Face Life-Threatening Conditions

33

For the foreseeable future, Laila El-Haddad is committed to a singular cause: amplifying the stories and urgent calls for assistance from her fellow Palestinians to the international community.

Operating from her home-based office in Columbia, Maryland, El-Haddad has been ardently managing a flurry of phone calls this week. She’s been contacted by journalists seeking insights into the situation in Gaza, as well as by Palestinian Americans who are attempting to engage their local elected representatives.

Amid this frenetic activity, the 45-year-old author and mother intermittently checks WhatsApp for any messages from her relatives in Gaza. They can only communicate during brief intervals when electricity and internet are available. Israel has cut off electricity, and frequent internet disruptions have hampered communication.

El-Haddad states, “I am endeavoring to maintain my composure by doing what is within my power to assist.”

The emotions of many Palestinian Americans range from helplessness to despair as they find it increasingly challenging to connect with family members in Gaza. With shortages of fuel and water, an absence of electricity, and forced evacuations, delivering aid to civilians in the embattled region has become almost unattainable.

Israel has relentlessly launched airstrikes on Gaza for several consecutive days, and there are threats of a ground invasion in retaliation for Hamas’ attacks on Israel, which resulted in 1,300 fatalities last weekend. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the death toll in the besieged territory has surpassed 2,200 in recent days, including 724 children and 458 women. The figures are expected to climb amid the unfolding humanitarian crisis.

Even prior to the recent escalations, visiting family in Gaza was a taxing, arduous, and often fruitless endeavor for Palestinian Americans, most of whom cannot leave Gaza. Unlike their Israeli American counterparts, Palestinian Americans argue that they have never been granted the liberty to extend direct aid to their relatives in times of turmoil.

Mohammad AbuLughod, a resident of a Milwaukee suburb, has received fragmented updates from his family in Gaza via a solar-powered cell phone. The grim updates depict a dire reality: deaths due to airstrikes, damaged schools, and destroyed buildings. “There’s no feasible way to send assistance; even if we could send money, there’s nothing to purchase,” he laments.

Deanna Othman, based in a suburb of Chicago, received what could be a final message from her young nephew in Gaza via Instagram. “What can one possibly say to someone confronting the prospect of their own demise?” Othman ponders.

Haneen Okal, a Palestinian American currently in Gaza with her three children, found herself trapped when Israeli airstrikes rendered the Rafah crossing with Egypt inoperable. Her pleas for evacuation assistance from the U.S. State Department have thus far gone unanswered. Her husband, Abdulla, is desperately petitioning the U.S. government for his family’s safe return to New Jersey.

Several Palestinian Americans have expressed their agony over being unable to directly assist, unlike Israelis who have the option to join reserve units or provide ground aid.

This leaves those with family in Gaza feeling impotent and isolated, as they are unable to do anything but watch as their loved ones struggle for safety amid hazardous conditions.

“It’s emotionally traumatizing to recognize that American citizens have been accorded privileges and access to my homeland that are denied to my Palestinian husband, whose own family was forcibly displaced,” remarks El-Haddad.

The ordeal of many Palestinian Americans is tinged with loss, yearning, and a sentiment that their historical and familial roots are being effaced. This is all exacerbated by the unfolding human tragedy in Gaza, leaving many to grapple with a harrowing reality they feel powerless to change.

---

Noreen Nasir is a New York-based journalist specializing in Race and Ethnicity issues. She can be followed on social media at twitter.com/noreensnasir.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Palestinian Americans

More about Palestinian Americans

• Understanding the Israel-Gaza Conflict
• UNRWA: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
• Gaza Health Ministry Reports
• Humanitarian Situation in Gaza
• The 1948 Nakba
• Palestinian Americans: An Overview
• Communication Challenges During Conflicts
• Israeli Occupation and its Impact