Bridget FogartyMilwaukee Journal Sentinel
Bushra Zaibak is used to bringing families and friends together for fun around food. The Brookfield resident's two-year-old organization Eat Halal Milwaukee helps diversify the options of Milwaukee-area restaurants that are halal, meaning they meet Islamic dietary restrictions.
But the last nearly eight months of the Israel-Hamas war have been challenging and grief-filled for the Muslim and Arab communities of the Milwaukee area, Zaibak said. Especially those like her husband, with family in Gaza.
Israel’s bombardment on the Palestinian enclave has destroyed buildings and killed more than 37,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The war, prompted by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, has led to a dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
With aid trickling into the territory, over 1 million people are facing “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity, the United Nations said. The World Health Organization said June 9 that just 17 of Gaza’s hospitals are partially functional.
"There's no gathering that we go to, there's no event that we're at that you don't have someone who is making a prayer for Gaza," said Zaibak, who is Palestinian with family in Jerusalem.
That's why residents like Zaibak have channeled their frustrations into raising money for aid organizations on the ground in Gaza like the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
The nonprofit provides free and urgent medical care to children wounded in Gaza and the Middle East, and a group of Milwaukeeans have created a local chapter.
What is the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund?
For more 30 years, the nonprofit PCRF has provided free medical care to children in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
The organization typically sends doctors on medical missions to the Middle East, but because those are suspended due to the war, the group is focusing on delivering aid like water, hygiene kits and nutrition for families and infants.
The nonprofit is also transporting sick and injured children to the U.S., Canada and other countries to receive treatment. Four children from Gaza arrived in New York for medical treatment in May.
The organization recently opened a partially-finished field hospital in the south Gaza city of Rafah.
PCRF administers medical care and humanitarian aid in compliance with U.S. laws, according to its website. Independent auditors conduct annual audits on the organization.
If PCRF is not able to provide direct relief, “we're able to coordinate with other parties within the region to provide humanitarian aid and medical relief,” said Mahmood Abdellatif, the new Milwaukee chapter president.
Why a Milwaukee chapter of PCRF?
Abdellatif participated in Chicago’s chapter of the organization and saw a need for a PCRF chapter in Milwaukee.
“There’s a large Palestinian American population here in Milwaukee and there’s a large population of people who, whether they’re Palestinian or Arab or not, just care about Palestine and Palestinian children particularly," said Abdellatif, whose parents live in the West Bank.
Run by seven board members, Milwaukee’s PCRF chapter will sponsor events and build a relationship with medical professionals in the Milwaukee area who want to be a part of medical missions once they resume.
“Unfortunately, there are catastrophic conditions that create a need for organizations like ours to operate,” Abdellatif said.
As Israel, Hamas and U.S. leaders are at odds in discussions over a ceasefire-resolution, money raised by PCRF will go towards relief and recovery in Gaza.
Business owners and Eat Halal Milwaukee raised $50,000 for PCRF at the start of the war
Milwaukee business owners of all faith and cultural backgrounds have already raised tens of thousands of dollars for PCRF, thanks in part to Zaibak and Eat Halal Milwaukee's help in the early weeks of war.
In October, Zaibak wondered how a food-centered organization like Eat Halal Milwaukee could bring people together while recognizing “that guilt of, 'how can I celebrate when folks are suffering?’”
"Within three hours we just cold-called as many people in our network as we could think of,” Zaibak said.
Twenty business owners agreed to donate their profits to the relief organization. Hayat Pharmacy agreed to match the donations. It resulted in raising $50,000 for PCRF.
"So many folks, including non-Muslim and non-Palestinian (people), were out there supporting, and it was so beautiful to see that," Zaibak said.
Shorewood fundraiser for PCRF Milwaukee raised about $5,500
As the summer begins, so does PCRF Milwaukee’s work.
Supporters decorated kites June 8 to honor the victims of an Israeli airstrike that killed 45 Palestinians in a Rafah encampment for displaced people. Funds from a 5k Run/Walk for Gaza and Sudan planned for Sunday, June 23, at Milwaukee's Lake Park will benefit PCRF and the Sudanese Diaspora Network.
One of the first events PCRF Milwaukee took part in as an official local chapter was May 26 at Cloud Red, a bar, restaurant and self-described ‘social house’ in Shorewood. Co-owners Rebecca Loewen and Lis Duggan hosted a Palestinian culture open house featuring art for sale by eight local artists and food from three Palestinian-owned restaurants.
The event raised $5,508 for PCRF Milwaukee.
“As mothers and co-owners of Cloud Red, one of whom is Jewish and a daughter of a Holocaust survivor, we want to provide a safe space to recognize and uplift our wonderful and kind Palestinian community during the current humanitarian crisis touching tens of thousands of innocent families and children in Gaza,” Loewen and Duggan said in an email to the Journal Sentinel.
Palestinian artists, business owners around the Milwaukee area find their own ways to spread awareness during the war
Muna Sharma, the owner of Bint Jamila’s Table, participated in Cloud Red's PCRF event. Sharma, who grew up in the central West Bank city of Al-Bireh, is an event stylist and producer in Milwaukee creating "end-to-end-experiences" with dynamic tablescapes and edible art.
Many Palestinian business owners have shifted their focus in the last eight months from making a profit to using their products and services to educate, uplift and support their communities, Sharma said.
For Sharma, that has meant taking part in fundraisers for PCRF and other aid organizations, as well as hosting cooking workshops with her mother on Palestinian stew and the art of fermentation that teach how Israeli occupation has shaped Palestinian dishes.
"You learn something about Palestine that you won't really learn unless you're in a kitchen with another Palestinian mom, working hand with hand to hand with her," Sharma said.
This summer, Sharma will co-host a book club and supper club fundraiser around the cookbook "The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey" by Laila El Haddad and Maggie Schmitt. She also is planning workshops in support of PCRF Milwaukee that would take place at different houses of worship to highlight the spiritual diversity of Palestinians. Information can be found on the business Instagram @bintjamilastable.
Mazin Hamdan, a local business owner whose parents are from West Bank and Gaza, is encouraged by the new PCRF Milwaukee chapter.
He and his brother Murad Hamdan co-own Señor Gordito's and Chubby's Cheesesteaks, and donated earnings at both restaurants through Eat Halal Milwaukee’s PCRF fundraiser. They also donated meals to the Milwaukee student-led encampment calling for divestment from Israel.
Mazin said he hopes to collaborate with the PCRF Milwaukee chapter for events at Pali Park, a food truck park he and his brother, along with their cousin, Ramzey Huneidi, plan to open this summer.
Mazin said he's waiting for the war to end. He's learned his cousins in Gaza have been displaced to Rafah and are living under blankets.
“All we can do is pray for them,” he said.
Contact the writer at bfogarty@gannett.com
