About this campaign
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This is the second iteration of Wassim Obeid's original fundraiser with a new design by Nova Scotian artist Emma FitzGerald.
This time all funds raised will be split between Wassim Obeid's immediate family and DiMa Taha (Wassim's cousin)'s immediate family to help them escape Gaza and hopefully eventually relocate to Canada.
By purchasing from this campaign you will help contribute to the survival of both families as they dream to one day reunite in safety.
Please note all prices are listed in American dollars (USD).
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It is important to understand that the funds raised are not the same as the full price of each clothing item. A family may only receive approximately $5-10 from each sale.
If you would like to send additional donations, please donate through each family's Go Fund Me pages below. Bonfire takes an 8% transaction fee from donations made on their website in addition to sales.
To follow and further support Wassim's Obeid's family's journey, please see their Wassim's Go Fund Me page.
To follow and further support DiMa Taha's family, please see DiMa's Go Fund Me page.
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After multiple displacements since October of 2023, both the Obeid and Taha families ended up in Gaza City, which is facing a brutal ground invasion and relentless bombardment by Israel. They were forced to once again evacuate for any hope of survival, though there is no safe place left to go (let alone any space itself in the severely overcrowded south).
Displacement in wartime is more than a matter of surviving the extremely treacherous routes between devastated parts of Gaza. It may mean moving without a car. It may mean paying to use a small cart to move basic clothes and blankets. It may mean figuring out how to move people who are elderly and disabled. And later it inevitably means paying for rent - even just to erect a tent.
In July, Wassim's cousin was shot and killed while attempting to get food from an aid truck. Despite this, both families have had no choice but to continue to risk their lives each time they wait in line hoping to bring back something - anything - to their loved ones.
There is almost no cash left in Gaza. As only a few stores accept e-transfers, people are forced to withdraw cash with outrageous fees (40-50%), often losing nearly half the amount just to access money. In other words, someone could pay $1000 to withdraw only $500 or $600 in cash.
Fundraising goals:
Funds raised will go first towards paying for the costly emergency evacuations from Gaza City, that cost nearly $5000 per family. Next they will be put towards meeting the astronomical prices of basic necessities in Gaza. These include food, water, baby formula, diapers, rent, and medical supplies like insulin (DiMa is a type one diabetic).
If funds remain after meeting their daily needs for survival, they will be put towards the cost of evacuating from Gaza, which may require paying for private permits into Egypt (which cost $5000 per person before the crossings were closed), travel, and resettlement costs.
Under the Gaza special measures program administered by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Wassim is legally designated as his family's anchor. This means he must assume full responsibility for meeting the financial needs of the 16 family members he intends to help bring to Canada ? including their evacuation, resettlement, and daily living expenses ? for at least their first year in Canada.
DiMa will likely first attempt to join her elder sister Haya in the United Arab Emirates where Haya currently resides before she applies to bring her family to Canada
The Obeid and Taha families have survived nearly two years of war, starvation, loss, displacement, and untold trauma - in no small part because of fundraising efforts organized from Canada. This fundraising has also given them hope for a better future, reminding them that there are strangers fighting for, and invested in, their survival.
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Illustration drawn and donated by Emma FitzGerald.
Artwork image description:
The sketch-like design depicts a cozy Gazan kitchen drawn with black outlines. Below the kitchen is the phrase "Let Gaza Live" which is bordered by a single olive tree branch to its right.
Inside the kitchen is an oven, countertop, and tiled floor. The oven has a pot boiling on it and a watermelon-embroidered towel hanging from its handle. The space beneath the countertop is hidden from view by hanging fabric with a fish border. On the counter there is a leafy plant, tomato, lemon, and a coffee press. A black and white keffiyeh hangs on one wall, along with a framed family portrait and a house key on another.
Prominent in the design is an unlocked door that opens onto a courtyard. In the courtyard there is lush grass and flowers, a cat peeking its head into the kitchen, a birdbath with a dove perched on it, and an olive tree with a bird feeder hanging from it. There is a stone path leading out of the kitchen door as well.
Message from the artist:
"This artwork is my dear wish for people in Gaza, to live safely with their freedoms and basic human rights respected." - Emma FitzGerald
For more of the Emma FitzGerald's work, please visit:
- Emma's artist website
- Emma's Instagram (@EmmaFitz_Art)
- Emma's Facebook page (@Emma Fitzgerald Art & Design)
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Wassim Obeid (he/him) spent the first twenty years of his life in Gaza, Palestine. Seeking new experiences, he ventured to France where he completed a master's degree in Didactics (French as a second language). He now speaks three languages.
In October of 2019, Wassim settled in Canada where he met his wife and started a family. Wassim now lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
On February 25, 2025, Wassim's son Tamim celebrated his third birthday. Tamim has never had the chance to meet his aunts, uncles, or grandparents from Wassim's side of the family.
The family Wassim is fundraising to evacuate from Gaza includes:
- His father, Samy, and his mother, Sabreen.
- His oldest brother Ramy, his wife Rana, their 21-month-old, Samy, and newborn Yousef.
- His sister, Wesam, and her two children Karim (8) and Abeer (4).
- His sister Rewnd, her husband Mosa?b, and their two-year-old twins, Emad and Elina.
- Wassim?s two younger brothers Hamanda (18) and Qais (13).
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DiMa (she/her) is a translator from Northern Gaza and Wassim's cousin. She loves reading and astrology, and is a vegetarian. DiMa has type 1 diabetes and has struggled to find the insulin that she calls akin to her "oxygen" during the genocide - and has been rationing the little she's found. She was injured in a missile attack which left shrapnel embedded in her shin, for which she has been unable to find treatment. She has been holding educational classes for her young cousins at home in the absence of school. Her family has been displaced and had to relocate seven times since October 2023.
DiMa says, "We deserve to live like other people, and we have so many dreams to live, and so many wishes to make..."
The family DiMa is trying to evacuate from Gaza includes:
- DiMa herself (30).
- Her father Nabil, and her mother Nahla.
- Her older brother, Moutaz (32).
- Her younger brother, Mohammed (24).
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Abeer and Karim are lucky to eat one meal a day. The children still don?t understand why they can?t have bread or a glass of milk. They just know that they?re hungry, and that their father is gone. (Their father, who happened to be in Egypt on October 7th, 2023 and was subsequently unable to return to his family in Gaza, has since made it to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, where he eagerly awaits his wife and children).
On July 19th, 2025, Abeer's mother Wesam traded her phone charger for two packs of pasta. Above to the right, Abeer enjoys some of this pasta.
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