Cinema For Gaza has organised a new auction in support of Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP). Initiated by film journalists and filmmakers Hanna Flint, Julia Jackman, Leila Latif, Sophie Monks Kaufman, and Helen Simmons, the auction has donations from actors and actresses such as Paapa Essiedu, Ramy Youssef, Tilda Swinton, Josh O’Connor, Aimee Lou Wood, Brian Cox, Alison Oliver, Peter Capaldi, and so many more.
The auction prizes include a cup of tea on Zoom with Joseph Quinn, a signed The Iron Claw poster with doodles by actor Harris Dickinson, tickets to Ramy Youssef’s live show, afterparty, and a meet-and-greet, and Swinton reading you (or your kids) a bedtime story over Zoom, to name a few.
We are currently in month six of Israel’s attack on Gaza. As of March 5, over 30,228 Palestinians have been killed, with 76 people killed and 102 wounded in the last 24 hours in Israeli air strikes on Rafah, while half of Gazans (more than 1 million people) are expected to be in “catastrophe” or “famine” within weeks. Even with the passing of the UN Security Council’s ceasefire resolution on Monday (March 25), which demanded an immediate ceasefire for the remaining weeks of Ramadan, it has not deterred Israel’s attacks across the Gaza Strip.
In the face of so much death and destruction, it’s easy to feel powerless. That our acts of solidarity are fruitless as the suffering continues. But now, more than ever, we must come together to show Palestinians that the world has not turned its back on them.
MAP, which the auction raises money towards, provides immediate medical aid to those in Palestine. They work for the health and dignity of Palestinians living under occupation.
The auction opens on Tuesday, 2 April, at 9:00 am BST and closes on Friday, 12 April, at 00:00 am BST.
