Prominent aid worker for Palestinian causes drums up support during Monroeville visit

A prominent figure in Palestinian humanitarian aid circles visited the Pittsburgh region Thursday, the first stop on a national tour to drum up support for a new nonprofit formed in the wake of the latest Israel-Hamas war.

Steve Sosebee, the co-founder and former president of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, spoke to more than 200 people at the Muslim Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in Monroeville.

Sosebee, an Ohio native who has lived in the West Bank, said 70% of all homes in Gaza have been destroyed, and 80% of people are living outside of their homes in schools, tents, camps, and other buildings. He said virtually the entire 2.4 million population of Gaza is suffering some form of post-traumatic stress.

“The scale is absolute,” he said.

Sosebee said one reason for starting his new nonprofit, H.E.A.L. Palestine, is to capitalize on a groundswell of support for a Gaza ceasfire that is building in places like Pittsburgh and other regions of the U.S.

Before appearing at the community center, Sosebee met with several pro-Palestine groups in Oakland and other locations.

“The responses have been very favorable in Pittsburgh,” Sosebee said. “There is a desire to do more, and take action.”

Sosebee launched the relief fund in 1991. It bills itself as a “nonpolitical humanitarian relief focused on healthcare for children in Palestine.” Its latest available tax filing with the IRS in 2022 showed nearly $27 million in net assets.

This week, the Palestinian death toll eclipsed 25,000 from Israeli attacks on Gaza. Sosebee said that more than 60,000 wounded people are in hospitals that lack medical supplies.

Beyond the immediate health crisis in Gaza, Sosebee said there are longer-term needs for Palestinians in Gaza like education, housing, and mental healthcare. He said the aid fund is focused mainly on healthcare, and he started H.E.A.L. to move beyond that scope.

Bakr Younis, an electrical engineer from Monroeville, is a Palestinian born in Syria. A U.S. citizen, he attended the event and said it was important to try to take some kind of action to increase aid to Palestine because he feels the U.S. government has not responded adequately.

“It is frustrating and crippling,” he said. “I want to go help rebuild, but I can’t enter. I can’t send money because the banks are destroyed.”

Younis said he has extended family in Palestine and has lost multiple cousins in the conflict.

Karim Alshurafa, a local Palestinian with family in Gaza, said there are about 10,000 Muslims in Pittsburgh, and they are being supported by a growing number of advocacy groups.

“The urgency is growing,” he said.

Alshurafa said the increased urgency is in response to worsening conditions in Gaza. He said he has already lost numerous family members in the bombings. Recently, Alshurafa said, his family was informed that their building in Gaza would be targeted. They escaped shortly before a missile hit the building.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas has been ongoing since Hamas attacked on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 Israelis and taking hundreds of hostages. Israel has responded with bombings and ground strikes in Gaza, killing tens of thousands.

According to the Associated Press, the Israeli military said it has killed around 9,000 militants, without providing evidence. It blamed the high civilian death toll on Hamas because it positions fighters, tunnels and other militant infrastructure in dense neighborhoods, often near homes, schools or mosques.

As the conflict continues, more stories of violence and loss are impacting families across the globe, including Pittsburgh.

Kate Daher, of the Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee, said Sosebee’s visit is just one of several examples of calls to action in the region. She said groups are demanding a ceasefire and the end of U.S. aid to the Israeli military.

Daher said there has been a protest, meeting, or other demonstration just about every other day in the region during December and January. Daher visited Gaza in 2003 and has been an activist for decades. She said her group is getting calls from people in Beaver County, Mt. Lebanon and the Mon Valley seeing if they can join an action.

“People I have never known before were asking about how they can help,” she said.

Political pressure for a ceasefire and reducing aid to the Israeli military has been mounting as the death toll rises.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, was among the first people in Congress to call for a ceasefire — and the return of the Israeli hostages. Her chief of staff, Wasi Mohamed, attended the Muslim Community Center event.

Only a handful of legislators Lee’s were calling for a ceasefire in October, but now the number has grown to 65.

Other local members of Congress have been hesitant to call for a ceasefire, most notably Pennsylvania’s U.S. Sen. Jon Fetterman, who has been one of the strongest Israel allies in the Senate.

Fetterman has said that Hamas must be eliminated before he will support a ceasefire.

Some U.S. cities like Detroit and Atlanta have passed non-binding resolutions calling for a ceasefire; Pittsburgh and Allegheny County have not.

Nick Marco, of the Pittsburgh branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, attended the Monroeville event and advocated for continuing to protest.

‘We are out here week after week,” Marco said. “We need to look to the future.”