UM student Nour Zaquot offers a window into the reality of family separation in the Gaza conflict, and creates a GoFundMe campaign to help evacuate her family members.
Many of us are just beginning to recover from a festive season full of gatherings, and the storage space in our phones must be running out with all the cheerful photos taken in the presence of relatives, friends and loved ones. That bonding and feeling of togetherness is what makes us human. It’s also nice to get to stop and scroll through the happy moments, in a few months’ time, to relive the good times and maybe check in on some of the people who made them so.
For Nour, that is not the case.
At 27 years old, in September 2023, she left her country and family behind, and moved here to study at the University of Malta. The friendliness of the people, and the sea in Malta, she says, remind her of her home.
A peaceful seaview in Gaza
Nour is studying Humanitarian Action, and her motivation for this was the displacement of her grandparents from their own cities. “I really wanted to work in addressing humanitarian crises around the world and the needs of vulnerable communities, especially where I live”, she tells Newspoint.
Unbeknownst to her, a war was brewing, and the geographical separation from her relatives would have no arbitrary end date in sight. A terrifying uncertainty that is wrecking homes, families and whole regions.
The unrest in Gaza
The unrest and subsequent imposition of a blockade have been ongoing since 2007. This has led to economic hardship and high levels of unemployment and poverty. The region has been struggling to provide basic services such as healthcare and education due to the restricted movement of goods and resource limitations.
“We had a good life in Gaza, but the amount of hardships we’ve already had to endure is of great proportion”.
Happier times: Nour's younger sister posing next to a colourful flower arch
The breaking out of the war made life more unbearable and untenable.
At the earlier stages of the war, Nour’s family’s house became a sanctuary for around 50 of her relatives, as they had no place to go to after their own houses in the northern part of the country got demolished. “Now that the war has advanced, the house where I was raised has been demolished too, and my relatives made a frenzied escape to the southern part of Gaza. They are finding it hard to find food, water, gas, and all of life’s basic necessities. There’s no internet, because internet and telecommunications have been cut off, and we keep in touch via messages through e-sim cards. Miraculously, they’re still alive!”
Some of Nour's female relatives
In the case of war, the old adage about distance making the heart grow fonder cannot be further from the truth. “I do look back at happier photos, but instead of wondering which course my friend enrolled into, or which job my cousin ended up in, I wonder whether they’re still alive or they’ve been wiped out. Observing from afar is hard; as is not being able to do much except pray for their safety. I’d much rather be there with them.”
Which is why Nour has started a – to raise enough money to evacuate as many of her relatives as possible.
Their last resort is to leave Gaza with a special permission from the Egyptian government, given upon the presentation of $10,000 for each person.
The funds will be sent by Nour to her family in Gaza to facilitate their payments to travel from Gaza to Egypt through Rafah.
“I lost so many people already, I don’t want to lose my family as well. There are worst-case scenarios playing in my head every single day."
If you can spare any financial contribution to help Nour evacuate her family from the devastating war, please .
