“It’s Not All Conflict”: Speaking with an Israeli and a Palestinian Working Together to Aid Gaza

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Good morning, readers.

In Gaza, there’s a small team of volunteers being coordinated remotely by an unlikely pair: Tom Kellner, an Israeli living in Berlin, and Seba AbuDaqa, a Gazan living in Munich.

Kellner and AbuDaqa are visiting Durham this week, where their nonprofit Clean Shelter has found eager collaborators at Duke—Jewish, Christian, and Muslim students earning academic credit by helping the nonprofit with everything from grant writing to communications strategy.

When I spoke with Kellner and AbuDaqa over Zoom on Wednesday (snow kept us from meeting in person), they walked me through Clean Shelter’s rapid growth: Since January of last year, their team on the ground in Gaza has built over 1,000 toilets and shelters; rehabilitated damaged schools; coordinated water deliveries; and established community spaces in camps where children can study and families can gather, among other projects.

While managing emergency aid in a war zone, they’ve cultivated a partnership that transcends the expected narratives.

“Tom’s mentality and mindset is close to mine,” AbuDaqa told me. “We complement each other. There are different things about us, but we have similar mindset and similar motivations, and that allows us to work smoothly with each other, not because of nationality.”

You can hear the pair speak today at 3 p.m. at Duke’s Grainger Hall Field Auditorium, where they’ll discuss their work and vision for dignified displacement solutions. In the meantime, read my full conversation with them here.

Have a good weekend.

—Lena

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