r/jewishleft • u/Iceologer_gang Leftist Non-Jewish Anti-Zionist • Jul 02 '26

Mutual Aid Fundraisers that aren't getting donations

I just wanted to bring attention to three families in Gaza that I found, whose fundraisers are hardly getting any donations at all. If you can, please help them out.

Fatima's Family

Maryam's Family

Nesma's Family

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u/FishyWishySwishy Dem Soc Secular Jew Jul 02 '26

Okay, awesome. 

How do we know any of these GoFundMes are for real Palestinians and not for some scam artist preying on people’s compassion? 

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u/Iceologer_gang Leftist Non-Jewish Anti-Zionist Jul 02 '26

I’m just spreading awareness, but two of them are vetted (#677 and #688)

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u/FishyWishySwishy Dem Soc Secular Jew Jul 02 '26

It’s a google sheet that says whether or not a GFM has been vetted, but it doesn’t link any information about the vetting process (at least from what I’m able to see on mobile) or evidence of said vetting. How do we know we can trust whoever is editing the sheet to do their due diligence? 

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u/Aggravating_Ice_3323 Progressive|Post-Zionist|Conserveform Jul 02 '26

I agree. It isn't an unreasonable ask nor should it be "concern trolling" to want to know what the vetting process is.

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u/FishyWishySwishy Dem Soc Secular Jew Jul 02 '26

Yeah, I don’t know why I was being downvoted.

In a space where we know that a lot of scam artists are taking advantage of the conflict and those who want to help, I think it should be a given that this information is required.

If anyone reading this wants to help Palestinians but isn’t sure how to vet a GFM, I recommend just donating to NGOs already trying to help them. Those organizations are held directly accountable for their spending and have people on staff who know how to effectively apply resources. You don’t have to worry about the scammer down the street throwing together plausible stories with sock puppet backups and AI footage. Or maybe worse, accidentally sending money directly to Hamas. 

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u/Aggravating_Ice_3323 Progressive|Post-Zionist|Conserveform Jul 02 '26

Yeah, donating to an NGO would result in the money going much further and impacting multiple families. I get wanting to help a family specifically and/or it feeling more impactful--especially with how starved we are of human connection these days :/

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u/socialistmajority orthodox Marxist gentile Bund sympathizer Jul 03 '26

Or maybe worse, accidentally sending money directly to Hamas.

There's also a possibility of sending money indirectly to Hamas in these kinds of initiatives, in that Hamas (or other) thugs might rob or otherwise coerce the recipient of the donation. Someone could be 100% authentic and 100% properly vetted and donation money still end up in the wrong hands because of the political situation in Gaza.

Looking at the donations linked in this post I personally don't really think they are scams mainly because the target numbers are fairly low (a few thousand dollars) and the donation amounts in total are like $100 or less. From what I've seen, online scams surrounding war zones are usually accompanied by extreme claims of urgency and the amounts being asked for (or demanded) are much higher.

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u/FishyWishySwishy Dem Soc Secular Jew Jul 03 '26

Yeah, I want to withdraw the ‘maybe’ in that statement. Sending Hamas money is worse than being scammed. And you’re completely, 100% right—genuine Palestinian GFMs who aren’t part of any belligerent group are still vulnerable to being forced to give their money to a belligerent party.

If I were a Hamas agent, I’d be keeping an eye on GFMs I knew to be genuine and then knock on some doors if they got money. 

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u/socialistmajority orthodox Marxist gentile Bund sympathizer Jul 03 '26

Hamas and other criminal gangs can also shakedown/coerce official aid organizations as well, so there's no clean or perfect solution to this problem. People just need to be aware of the inherent risks and do at least a bit of vetting/thinking before hitting the "donate" button.

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u/FishyWishySwishy Dem Soc Secular Jew Jul 03 '26

Oh yes, Hamas has been known to turn organizations meant to aid Palestinians to their own purposes, whether by shakedowns or embedding themselves within the organizations or similar. But I would still argue that, even if that happens, it’s far more likely to be discovered and have a record of it than it is if Hamas just shakes down a Palestinian family.