When Amal Alhaddad watches the news about the war in Gaza, she sometimes thinks she is going to lose her mind.
She lives in safety in Saanich — having moved to Canada from Gaza in 2018 — but most of her extended family are still in the war zone.
“I’m just monitoring TV, trying to contact them to know who is alive or who is killed,” she said. “During the last few months, I lost many members of my family.”
Alhaddad is now raising money to get her family into Canada through a temporary visa program. Her friend Barbara Hansen is helping in this effort, and volunteered to hold a large garage sale at her Victoria home as a benefit on Saturday (July 27).
A GoFundMe is also active, with over $17,000 raised so far. The goal is $100,000.
As people perused the household wares on the sunny Saturday afternoon, a few kids hawked lemonade and ice tea out front while Alhaddad, her son Mousa Alhaddad, and Hansen all sat down with Black Press Media to describe the harrowing situation the family’s relatives are in.
Alhaddad moved with her three children to Canada in 2018 for a safer life and to get medical treatment for her ailing husband. Now, she is trying to bring along over 27 members of her extended family: Her parents, five siblings and many nieces and nephews. Several of the children in the family have severe health issues.
Hansen became involved in aid work with Palestinians after a trip to the West Bank in 2013 volunteering with a Christian peacemaking organization. She has since become more involved with the local Palestinian community. While sponsoring another Palestinian family she met Alhaddad and struck up a strong friendship.
A few of Alhaddad’s family members have made it across the border to Egypt already, and her parents to Spain, but most of the family is still in Gaza.
The priority at this point is getting her parents from Spain to Canada because their visas have expired.
Getting the rest of the family out of Gaza is more complicated because they must find a way to cross the border into Egypt before submitting visa applications and eventually flying to Canada.
The visa program they are hoping to use is the temporary resident pathway that allows for people in Gaza who are extended family members of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to stay in Canada for up to three years.
The program was announced in January and initially capped at 1,000 applications, though in May it was extended to 5,000.
No time to waste
The whole process of getting across the border and applying for a visa can take months. Meanwhile, Alhaddad said her family members left in Gaza are forced to flee regular bombings, and lack basic food, water and medical supplies.
They are also having difficulty with communication.
“If they have connection, if they have internet, I can connect with them,” Alhaddad said. But this is inconsistent, and she will sometimes lose connection with people for up to two months depending on what part of Gaza they are in. “It’s very difficult.”
Hansen pointed out that sometimes Alhaddad needs to become a communications link between family members still in Gaza because they can reach people on the outside, but not others within the region.
As Alhaddad waits for news, she said that hearing about a bombed house or building — her own home in Gaza that she inherited from her husband was destroyed — is something she can live with at this point.
“The house is the least of what we can we can lose,” Alhaddad said. “But if the people stay alive, this is good for us.”
Though Alhaddad said she feels badly not being in Gaza right now to help her family, she is thankful to be able to spread the message about what is happening there.
She says her mother reminds her of this, telling Alhaddad, “You have another responsibility.”
This includes trying to get her family out and trying to help people to understand the devastation.
“When I saw the videos on the TV, the news, I didn't recognize the area,” she said.
But despite the war and everything else that has happened in Gaza, it is still home.
“To be honest, I dream to live one day in Gaza,’ she said. “I miss everything.”
