Cork photographer wants to get his friend safely out of war-torn Gaza

A CORK photographer has launched a fundraiser to try and get his friend and former colleague out of Gaza, in a bid to save his life.

Ed Godsell, who has visited Gaza and written for The Southern Star about his time there, is hoping to rescue his friend Mohammed Rajab and his family.

Mohammed is a ‘fixer’ in Gaza – someone who organises and helps media teams to be get access to locations and contacts so that they can report on the situation in the Gaza strip.

‘Fixers are vital in the mission to get news out and to the world,’ explained Ed. ‘I worked with Mohammed in 2014 when I was filming after the last IDF incursion in 2014.’

Mohammed has very little access to the internet but has written to Ed via Facebook and this week he managed to send a voice message explaining that he fears for his life and that of his wife and children, as well as his siblings and parents, who have so far managed to escape the constant bombing raids by Israel.

Ed has enlisted the help of his friends in the media to try and get support for his fundraising and get Ed and his family out of Gaza because it is now too dangerous for him to continue his work helping journalists.

Getting him out may involve giving cash to some unscruplous characters, admits Ed, but Mohammed believes there is no other option if he wants to try and get his family to safety.

Helping to co-ordinate the fundraiser in Ireland is Shannen Butler Keane of the Diva bakery in Ballinspittle.

American writer Molly Crabapple is co-ordinating the fundraising in the US, having worked with Ed during her own visit to Gaza in 2014.

Describing him as ‘an extraordinary translator and producer’ she said Mohammed is ‘brave, funny, and utterly devoted to journalism’.

She said he has helped so many foreign reporters tell the stories of Gaza. ‘He also works tirelessly as a translator for international medical organisations but now Mohammed and his family’s lives are at risk from the Israeli invasion of Gaza.

‘They are displaced in Rafah, in harrowing conditions, under inhuman bombardment, with disease and starvation around them. An invasion is imminent. They need to be evacuated to Egypt immediately to save their lives,’ she said.

Ed and Molly are aiming to raise $70,000 to pay for Mohammed, his wife, his four sons, his parents, his sisters and their kids to be allowed into Egypt.

They have so far raised almost $13,000 but still have a long way to go.

For more, search for ‘Evacuate the Rajab Family from Gaza’ on gofundme.com