Posted on 02/14/22
| News Source: i24
NGO Merciful Soul's plan is to build some 3,000 housing units as well as clinics and schools Israel’s Arab minority and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip raised $10 million in less than a month for Syrian refugees, according to activists behind the campaign.
"The idea was to collect 100 heaters for 100 houses. Then we found out that people are helping and we have lots of stuff," said Ibrahim Khalil, a social activist from Nazareth in northern Israel. For the past six years, Palestinian activists have been donating food and other essentials to Syrian refugees in the Idlib region bordering Turkey through the Merciful Souls NGO.
The head of the campaign, Raed Badr, said this winter saw an unprecedented volume of donations. He believes videos that circulated on social media of refugees suffering - especially in the cold and snow - motivated people to join the effort.
In response to the videos, a call for contributions went viral via social media with the Arabic hashtag “houses instead of tents.” Khalil said the videos and images of displaced families resonated with Palestinians who have experienced lives as refugees.
The organization’s plan is to build some 3,000 housing units, Badr said, as well as clinics and schools.