Rather than attending protests, Rose, a local northern Nevada ELA instructor, has been writing regular letters to the U.S. administration, local officials and to contacts within the Gaza Strip, including one particular family, trying to help as best they can and stop in their own words the “horror.”
“I think a lot of us are just able to see directly how much damage and pain people are in. It's so visible, especially on social media. And it just felt with us having such a direct connection with the United States providing the military weapons … that you have to do something,” Rose explained to Our Town Reno during a recent interview.
Rose keeps informed about all the ongoing tragic news unfolding in Gaza through local journalists there still active on Instagram, including Mahmoud Al-Awadia, Majdi Fathi, Bisan Owda and Ahmed Maqadema.
The family Rose is trying to help consists of Eman Houssin, 35, who is active on Instagram as well @eman.houssin, her husband Muhammad, 40, her children Tasneem, who goes by Toto, 16, a K-Pop fan with dreams of becoming a lawyer, Taim, 10, who wants to become a pilot, Tia, 4, who loves swimming, her two sisters Sarah, 21, a talented singer, Banan, 17 who was prevented from graduating from high school and her parents Abd, a math afficionado, and Ibtisam, a social butterfly, both in their 60s.
Their family home in north Gaza was obliterated (above before and after) during Israel’s counter attack hostilities, which have killed nearly 40,000 people, mostly civilians, and driven most of the enclave’s 2.3 million residents from their homes. The intensely escalated Israeli attacks immediately followed the Hamas led incursions into southern Israel on October 7th, which resulted in 1,200 people killed and about 250 others abducted.
“Our house … unfortunately got completely destroyed,” Eman writes. “We lost a very special place that is full of sweet memories of more than 24 years of our lives, everything has vanished, form our favorite books and rooms to our comfy little beds to our favorite clothes and many many special and cherished items, everything has vanished like it never existed."
Rose had been in contact with Eman even before the intensified war, with interests in her food blog. “After October 7th, the imagery started shifting to what her immediate experience was,” they say, with the family now stuck in a displaced camp in central Gaza.
Communications have become difficult. “There's not a lot of Internet access,” Rose explains. “They have to go to hubs where there is Internet access. And so it's always certain times of the day that she has it available and can get there. Also, they don't have any consistent way to charge their phones out there. And so they actually have to send it out to places that have like solar powered batteries at the moment.”
Rose has been updating a flyer they circulate about the family, dropping it off around northern Nevada, from car windshields to mail boxes. It includes a link to the family’s GoFundMe (in screenshot above) gofund.me/fb65f434
They’ve also been sending it to news organizations, elected officials, both local and national, and once a week since the beginning of July directly to the White House.
A July update to the GoFundMe indicated: “We are waiting for the Rafah Crossing to be back operational again so I can start to evacuate my family to Egypt where they can start a new life away from danger and the unbearable life that most of the Gazans are living. Your support is critical to reach the target that will secure a safe exit and the essentials for my family to start rebuilding what this war has taken away but it will not take the will of life.”
A YouTube video (above in screenshot and in this link) features Taim standing in a muddy field in front of a large white tent, saying “we are living a very miserable life here, we are living in tents now. The situation here is unbelievable and unbearable. No words can describe what we are living now.”
He describes long lines to use a common bathroom, drinking dirty water, and not having enough food to eat.
Rose says the family’s children have gotten sick repeatedly, including one getting hepatitis and another a bad skin infection. The youngest ones experience constant panic attacks, fearing every loud noise could be a deadly explosion. They say the family hasn’t been able to buy propane to run a consistent fire, to be able to boil water.
Rose said the money sent via the GoFundMe works for some digital and card purchases within the Gaza Strip but that the overall total is meant for the entire family’s departure.
However, as Rose points out, the Rafah crossing into Egypt has been closed since May. Previously, Israel had permitted tens of thousands of Gaza residents to leave through Rafah. Many dual nationals got out, some with assistance from their other country, while others paid expensive fees to cross. Eman’s brothers left Gaza years ago, one relative is in Greece, and the family would desperately like to reunite with them.
“I wish if we all could escape this nightmare and to start a new life together away from this traumatic place,” Eman writes.
Asked why they spend so much time to try and help this family, Rose says “there's something to be said about just giving some people back their humanity by being willing to talk to them and being willing to hear their story and even just to hear them be upset and be sad. Like I've had voicemails from Eman just crying about how hard it's been and how she's trying to be brave for her children.”
If others want to help another individual or family, Rose warns of being careful and avoiding potential scammers.
“I would say the main thing for me is that if it's very sudden and there is inconsistent information coming out from them, or if they're just repeating or sending the same kind of photoshopped looking image over and over like that, it's going to be a red flag.”
They suggest the Operation Olive Branch (in screenshot above) which can be found on Instagram to contact Palestinians in need.
“It can feel really hopeless when you see all this information and when you think, well, I'm over here, you know, across the world and I can't do much,” they concluded, “but I don't think that's ever true. I think you can find ways to contribute, even if it's small, you know, even if it's just raising awareness, even if it's creating art or even if it's, you know, reposting things that you see online.”