My friend Sawsan in Gaza
I first met Sawsan, who is 30 years old, in February of this year and we have been texting almost every day since. Sometimes she shares the more and more outrageous prices of food in Gaza - like a head of cauliflower for $10 or 2 packs of spaghetti for $15 (May 2025)
Food prices in Gaza May 2025
Bottle of Oil $15, Bag of flour $30, head of cauliflower $15, 2 cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers $20, 3 eggplants $10
- or the terrifying sounds of bombings and shootings nearby, or the rain coming through their tattered tent that’s supposed to house them all.
But you should see some of her favorite dishes and sweets Sawsan used to prepare before the current genocide started . . .
Maqluba - a Palestinian upside down rice dish, as prepared by Sawsan before the war.
Sawsan and I connected through Pal Collective, a peer to peer support community, that unites people from around the world in support of Gaza through peer-to-peer donations and direct communication with Gazans. The wonderful and amazing comedian Sammy Obeid (local to the San Francisco Bay Area) founded Pal Collective.
Before October 2023, Sawsan used to have her own business in the village of Khuza’a in Khan Yunis, growing vegetables, keeping goats, rabitts and bees, which was a source of livelihood for her family.
Sawsan’s farm
On the right you see Sawsan tending her vegetables and on the left you see the destruction of her agricultural business.
Sawsan has three younger brothers, and a 16 year old sister. Her older sister with her 4 young children and their parents are also part of her family. I’ve been communicating with Sawsan’s youngest brother Yahya as well; he’s 22 and was a nursing student before this war. Today he is trying to hold on to life and some sense of hope . . .
Since the beginning of the current genocide against Gazans, Sawsan and her family have been misplaced a dozen times, their home and businesses completely destroyed and their whole village has been entirely leveled just a couple of months ago. There are days they go without any food and many other days with barely one meal. They’ve been in desperate need of a new tent for months now, but those are $800 these days, if you can even find one. And medicine for dad’s blood pressure, moments of safety or any relief from hunger are impossible to come by.
With Sawsan’s permission, I’d like to share some of her own words with you:
From a heart under the rubble... from sawsan
the soul that calls you
-I'm not a number, nor a passing news in the evening bulletin.
-I am a human being, living under bombardment, and I resist hunger every day.
-From a heart under the rubble... from the soul that calls you.
-I'm not a number, nor a passing news in the evening bulletin.
-Every day I try to live, not because life is easy...
-But because my heart still has hope, in you.
-We sleep on fear, and walk on ashes.
-Bread has become a dream, and cold water is a blessing,
-And the laughter... I was absent a long time ago.
-Every bite, every donation, every word of support,
-You mean life for us.
-We have hope, dignity, and humanity.
-Help us live... Our bodies don't survive, but our souls live again
Help my family get food, treatment, and afford evacuation to a safe place.
