Yellowknife coffee shop pays for 900 meals in embattled Gaza

The owner of a Yellowknife coffee shop says he was able to pay for 900 meals of chicken and rice for those suffering amidst the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza recently. 

Rami Kassem, a Palestinian-Canadian, had initially hoped the food would be distributed in the city of Rafah during Ramadan, but pulling all the strings together on the operation wasn't easy. Aid organizations are having trouble getting food, water and supplies into the area. 

"There [are] still bombardment[s] in Rafah, but there is some ATM machines that are still working, some banks still working, some people are able to get money to, to send money to their own people in that area," he said. 

Kassem said he put his trust in Rehaam Alammawy, a woman in Rafah who was already doing a lot of cooking for people, and was able to send her the money. 

Photo shared on Javaroma's Facebook page show a woman in black clothing, who Kassem identified as Alammawy, holding up pieces of paper that read "Thank you, Yellowknife - NT Canada" and "Thank you, Javaroma Customers." 

The photos also show huge drums full of chicken and rice being prepared, packed in bags, and distributed to people in the streets. Kassem said he teared up when he saw a photo of a girl with some of the food.

"She was excited, she was smiling, she seemed like she want[ed] to fly and she's hugging that bag, that meal," he said. "There was excitement, there was happiness, I felt like I did something." 

Kassem reached out to Alammawy, on behalf of CBC News, to ask how it felt to distribute food on that day. A screengrab of their conversation, provided by Kassem, shows her response in Arabic: "I was very happy and full as if I was the one eating," it reads. "My heart was so happy."

The fundraiser raised $3000 to cover the cost of the meals. Some of the money raised came from the sale of drinks at Javaroma, and some of it was sent directly by donors via e-transfer, said Kassem. 

He said he felt compelled to help because he, too, has lived through conflict. Kassem was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon in the 1980s, amidst the country's civil war and an Israeli invasion. He remembers moving from building to building in his neighbourhood, and a difficult decision made by his parents to split the family and stay in different parts of the country. 

"My dad was saying that if the building destroy[s] one part of the family, the rest of the family will … continue." 

Kassem remembers waiting long hours for food and water, and spending a month in hospital after being shot at just six years old. 

"I felt it, I lived it. I paid a price and I struggled at that time. I know what does that mean when you're hungry? I know when it's, when you're scared. I know when you're displaced from your family and I know when you're living a nightmare," he said. 

A lot has changed since then. 

"I came here as a refugee. I came by myself. Now I have three kids, I'm married and I have a business. I have a loving community. Good place, good business. I have to pay back. And if everybody, if everybody pay back, we will be living in a good world actually."