Shila Razlan, the Chairperson of the organising committee of A Day for Palestine Programme (ADFP) and a fourth-year Palestinian student from the Kulliyyah of Economics and Management at the IIUM, Anas Kamal Abu Alattan, were invited to IIUM.fm to share the inspiring story of assisting Palestinian students in Malaysia, with Anas being one of the students Shila had helped.
Anas expressed with a heavy heart of the situation with the ongoing war now entering its sixth month. The impact of the conflict is devastating, with essential services such as electricity being cut off by Israeli forces, which makes it hard sometimes to contact his family.
Moreover, getting food has become increasingly difficult due to the economic crisis. He also stated that in Palestine a bag of flour weighing 25kg which was RM50, has now increased to RM500. This exponential increase has drastically altered the way people live and shopped, as even basic necessities have become unaffordable for many.
Additionally, the destruction of shops and businesses has further worsened the situation, leaving communities with limited access to essential goods.
“My family-run carpentry business, we built this business for 50 years and it was destroyed in three seconds with just one rocket,” said Anas. This has made the situation unbearable for his family.
In this matter, Shila took the initiative by gathering her 12 friends, all of whom are housewives, to assist Palestinian students.
Together, they brainstormed ideas to locate Palestinian students in the IIUM first. During this search, Shila met Anas and his three friends in November 2023.
“However, the war’s disruption led to the disclosure of banks, leaving families unable to send money. Upon meeting the students, it became apparent that they were experiencing extreme hardship, resorting to borrowing from one another to ease their hunger and financial strain,” said Shila.
With that she successfully raised money to pay the outstanding fees of students, totaling RM100,000 through crowdfunding and an ADFP fund raising event on 26 November 2023. They managed to settle most of the outstanding fees of the IIUM students from Gaza.
Anas, on behalf of the students, was grateful to all Malaysians who contributed to him and the entire Palestinian community financially. “We’ve grown to love Malaysia so much that it feels like our second home country and don’t worry about me because I have supporters,” said Anas.
The IIUM community is encouraged to donate here to support the people of Palestine. If you have inquiries, please contact: 010 2255 457. – IIUM TODAY/BACALAHMALAYSIA.MY
