For local Palestinian Muslims, they say the last two weeks have been fraught with emotions as they wait to hear news about their loved ones still living in Gaza.
“There are a few households where aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, children, toddlers have been killed. It’s sad to see civilians on either side of the border at loss from this war,” said Barrie Mosque Imam Shaykh Mouhammad Mateen Butt, who is also the director of religious affairs.
Those congregants are doing their best to find a way to cope with what they are seeing on the news and hearing from their families, he added, but with the situation changing daily, it has been a struggle.
“They are trying to somehow overcome, but the situation on the ground is getting more difficult by the day. In recent days, what’s happening I don’t know, but there were blockades (and) no water, no electricity (and) they are running out of food and fuel,” Butt said.
Attacks began Oct. 7 when Hamas militants stunned Israel with hundreds of rockets and sent gunmen into several locations outside the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,000 Israelis and sparking war within the country.
Billed as the Barrie Solidarity Rally for Palestine, an event is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 21 at Meridian Place in downtown Barrie, beginning at 2 p.m. This follows a major strike by Hamas militants on Israeli territory, which has in turn prompted a counter-attack by Israel.
On top of worrying about their loved ones having access to basic needs, many of the local Muslim-Palenstinian congregants in Barrie — the majority of whom are from Gaza — say they have experienced multiple casualties within their families since bombing of the area began earlier this month.
“Some lost a cousin, an uncle. (One) lost his entire family … wife, three children under the age of 10 … and they are devastated. There’s nothing that can fill that void in their family,” said Butt.
Thaer Almadhoun, who has been in Barrie for about a year, said his family, including his parents, two sisters and their families, are still living in Gaza.
“It’s a humanitarian crisis. It’s a war where a lot of innocent civilians, including kids, are losing their lives. It’s really not safe to be any place in Gaza right now,” he said. “My family has moved twice now and they’re living at one of my sister’s houses, along with my other sister, her kids, their husbands, my brother, his wife and son, and my mother and father … are living in that apartment.”
Their situation is considered better than many living in Gaza, he added, noting they are currently located in northern Gaza.
“Even after they moved, the neighbourhood they’re in, apartments and buildings around them got bombed,” said Almadhoun.
He said he has not lost anyone from his immediate family. His brother-in-law has sustained some minor injuries, Almadhoun noted, and several members of his extended family have died in recent bombings.
Almadhoun said while he's beginning to find ways to cope better with the stress of knowing his family could be in danger, for the first week or so he said he was definitely struggling.
“It’s a mix of worry, sadness, depression, (and) being heartbroken. I couldn’t focus on anything else. I’d be on the phone following up with the news and trying to communicate with them,” he said.
With the lack of dependable cellular and internet service in Gaza, it can often be difficult to connect, Almadhoun added. It can often be difficult to connect regularly.
“I will send them a text message in the morning and a text message at night and then when they are able to be online, they will send me a message," he said.
When Almadhoun is able to get his family on the phone, he admits he is at a loss of what to say.
“I just want to hear their voices and make sure they’re OK, alive and no one is injured. I asked my dad if there’s anything I can do for them? He said ‘not really. Just pray for us.' I can hear that his voice was cracking, because he knows that there’s not much I can do if entire governments and human rights organizations can’t do anything for them,” Almadhoun said.
In Barrie, members of the local community — both Muslim and non-Muslim — are reaching out through multiple platforms offering whatever help they can, Butt said.
“At the moment, we know of nobody to provide that assistance and to get it to Gaza due to blockades," he said. "We’ve recently heard of the opening of the Egyptian border for that government to be able to assist, but other than that we have families in Palestine who haven’t heard from their loved ones for over 10 days. They don’t know if they’re alive or dead.
"The internet is limited there, so there is a lot of fear in the community as to what is going to happen next and how long this is going to continue,” Butt added.
Butt is urging officials to issue a ceasefire and come to the table to talk in order to find a way to put a stop to the war and bloodshed.
“Killing civilians is not the way to go. All we can do is pray … for this war to stop somehow. Our prayers are with the civilians who are at loss due to this war. We pray for them and we pray for safety, harmony and peace anywhere in the world.”
