Nick Schifrin:
When I spoke with Mahmoud Almadhoun earlier this year, I also spoke to his brother, Hani Almadhoun, who joins me now. He is also the director of philanthropy at UNRWA’s independent American arm.
Hani Almadhoun, thank you very much. Thanks for being here.
Let’s talk about your brother. Tell me about him. Tell me about the work he was trying to do.
Hani Almadhoun, Director of Philanthropy, UNRWA USA: My brother Mahmoud is a great guy. He’s my baby brother. He started a soup kitchen. When we couldn’t figure out how to feed our family, our neighbors, he started cooking, like, for — a dinner or lunch for people that we knew all our lives.
And he cooked. First day, 120 families ate, and then he thought, this is it. But then kids showed up to the house asking for food. And he said, hey, let me figure this one out. So he’s a business guy. He would go. And, like, if he finds potatoes, he would buy whatever the dealer had.
And at the time, there was no pasta or rice or any starchy things, so potatoes was a big deal. He bought it and cooked for the family, for the neighborhood, started serving up to 600 families every day. And it’s just beautiful, because I worked for UNRWA USA, and we couldn’t because Israel banned UNRWA from working in North Gaza early on.
We pivoted to do small shop, soup kitchen, like the Gaza soup kitchen. And, unfortunately, things did not turn the way that should turn.