We are raising money for the Dawabshe family - can you help?The effort has received some media publicity and at the moment they raised over four times their original goal of 80,000 shekels - they have now raised over 350,000 shekels.
On the eve of the approaching Tishrei holidays for the Jewish People, while yet in the month of Elul, the month of forgiveness and compassion, we at the Tag Meir Forum decided to run a crowd-source campaign to raise money for building Ahmed’s future and assisting the Dawabshe family.
Together with you we will attempt to take care of all his needs in three main channels:
- Emergency channel including Ahmed’s treatment and rehabilitation and assistance to his grandfather Ahmed
- An educational and assistance channel for Ahmed’s future
- Channel for State housing and family support
The Dawabshe family doesn't want Jewish money.
Ma'an Arabic says that the family has rejected the offer out of hand.
The brother of the father who perished, Nasr Dawabshe, denied reports that his family agreed to receive help from the organization, saying they will not accept any money and stressing that the family lawyer contacted the Jewish peace activists and told them not to contact the family.
Presumably, accepting Jewish money would be a form of "normalization" that is completely unacceptable to the peace-loving Palestinian Arabs. Jewish money is tainted, even from left-wing peace activists.
Tag Meir writes that it feels compelled to raise the funds because
We hope that together we can prove that this is neither Judaism’s nor the Israelis’ path.That is a message that Arabs do not want to spread. Anything that is slightly positive about Jews or Israelis is verboten in today's Palestinian Arab society. Accepting the money to help Ahmed Dawabshe would mean accepting the idea that not all Jews support the hideous burning of a family - and that message must not be allowed.
Our ways are ways of pleasantness and peace.
It is a sickening kind of hate where the future welfare of a victim of terror is deemed less important than allowing the possibility of Arab society believing that some Israeli Jews are moral human beings.
UPDATE: Chava writes in the comments:
I just read a post on the (Hebrew) site of Tag Meir which responds to these reports, saying that the fundraising was done in full coordination with the family and that the money will not be given to the family but placed into a fund for Ahmed Dabwashe to insure his future - rehab and education