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Gaza is Drowning, and so is my Friend's Family

​Dianne Monroe​

On Sunday, Nov. 16, my friend Rolla Alaydi wrote on her Facebook, “Gaza is drowning… and so is my family. Ninety-three percent of tents are damaged. One and a half million people displaced again. My own Alaydi family is among them . Soaked, freezing and with nowhere safe to stand. Their tent is collapsing. The rain is inside. The cold is unbearable. Winter is here and they have nothing.

Please, I am asking you directly, Help the Alaydi family survive.

Donate, share, amplify. Your support is the difference between life and death this winter.”

To see the full update and donate: https://savemyfamily.link/

As you are reading this, it is still winter, which in Gaza means cold and freezing rains. Rolla’s family (21 people including 13 children) will still be in urgent need (along with all Gazans).

I met Rolla over 20 years ago, when she came to the US from Gaza to study. She is now a US citizen, a PhD and a mom – and I’ve been helping her support her family for over two years now. Her family in Gaza, like Palestinians in general, is amazingly courageous, resilient and generous.

This past year the family has done so very much, and given so very much – even though they have so little and, like all Gazans, do not know if they will live to see the next day.

In 2025, Rolla’s brother Medhat and his family started a community garden, helped to run a soup kitchen and, recently, helped to build and run a community school with over 200 students in their new tent neighborhood. Medhat’s oldest children, Salem and Amna, both graduated from online schools – Salem with his high school diploma and Amna with a two-year degree in graphic arts.

Salem (an incredibly talented photographer and writer) has published two books of his photos and stories from Gaza. All this with fragile and uncertain internet connections due to the war.

You can purchase his books here:

Shadows of Gaza: Stories I Couldn't Let Die
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FXRC6ZPX

When Home Becomes a Tent: Gaza’s Journey of Evacuation, Starvation, and Survival
https://www.amazon.com/When-Home-Becomes-Tent-Evacuation/dp/B0FRZ6NFFJ#

You can visit Salem’s Instagram and Rolla’s Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/salem_alaydi_/

For updates on the Alaydi family and stories from Gaza
https://www.instagram.com/alaydi2023/

See the new Alaydi family website for family photos, stories, to donate and much more
https://savemyfamily.link/
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So please, donate as you are able. Consider becoming a monthly donor. And share this story widely.
I have learned so much from the Alaydi family over the past two years – about courage, resilience, generosity and more. I feel honored to stand with them and support them through this terrible time, and invite you to join with me in their continued support until they can rebuild their lives in a safe place.

This article is published in partnership with the Peace Press Collective.  Minor formatting and typographic adjustments have been made for web presentation; the content and meaning have not been altered.

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