Hi Reader,

The first person to tell me that the ceasefire agreement in Gaza was actually going to be signed was Ameera.

(If you're new to my email list, our community has been supporting Ameera, her husband, and her three children for the past year as conditions in Gaza became increasingly horrific.)

Just a week before, Ameera and her husband were trying to decide if it was too late to flee Gaza City. Every time I messaged her I was worried there might only be silence on the other end.

I'm cautiously hopeful that the ceasefire will allow Ameera's family, and all families in Gaza, respite from violence. During January's ceasefire, as some aid was allowed in, food prices began to go down. I'm hopeful that Ameera will be able to buy more with the donations she receives, and that malnutrition will no longer be her family's daily reality.

But I'm also aware of all that she has lost and how impossibly big a task it is for her family to begin again. Their home was completely destroyed during the war. They've had to flee repeatedly and lost so many of their posessions. Winter weather will soon be here, and Gaza's infrastructure in large part no longer exists.

As a Coffees for Gaza volunteer (CFG is the small but might mutual aid group that I met Ameera through), I worry that the headlines might fade and people could forget our families.

I worry that the world, especially the U.S. who gave Israel $21 billion in military aid for this war, will ignore the moral imperative to justly rebuild Gaza.

Peace without justice is not peace. The absence of overt violence, by itself, it not peace.

Those are huge concerns that are outside of my control. So I'm reminding myself of what I CAN do.

1) I can keep up the pressure on elected officials. (If you're not already connected with an activist organization, American Friends Service Committee is my go to resource for advocacy for Palestine).

2) I can continue my knitting fundraiser for Ameera's family.

Because this month is Peacetober, I'm donating an additional $10 per item purchased to Ameera's family. (All the profits from knits sales already go to Ameera, so this is an extra bonus!)

3) I can keep up my work with Coffees for Gaza and keep inviting others to join us.

Coffees for Gaza is an all-volunteer collective of artists and creatives that encourages micro-donations to 25 families in Gaza.

You can sign up for our email newsletter here (written by me, so I think it's a pretty useful resource 😉) or follow us on Instagram here (right now it's full of inspirational Peacetober art.)

And if you're a knitter, I'm hosting a knit-along for Coffees for Gaza this Friday. Check out the details or register here.

xo,

Rebekah

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Rebekah Gienapp (she/her/hers) | rebekahgienapp.com | Connect on Instagram | Coffees for Gaza |

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