Friends in Tilehurst hold charity dinner for Gaza after Palestinian friend loses 91 family members to conflict

A group of friends in Tilehurst have raised thousands of pounds in a charity dinner for Gaza.

Their event at restaurant Zyka, in Tilehurst, raised more than £5,000 for necessities and aid for those displaced and injured.

The idea came about after their Palestinian friend lost more and more relatives in Gaza.

The death toll among her family members since October is now at 91, but she says many more are displaced.

“Contact with them is so hard,” said 31-year-old Naema – who attended the event and gave a speech to the 40 attendees.

“I’m here tonight because 91 members of my family were bombed to death,” she told Newburytoday.

“The rest are homeless.

“Our family has a WhatsApp group where – for days on end – they have been messaging just to say we are still alive.”

The mother-of-four said both she and her husband have suffered an all-time low in their mental health as a result.

“We are feeling helpless, desperate and heavily depressed,” she added. “I am so depressed.

“We don’t know how we are going to ever live our lives the same again.

“I feel very let down by the system. What more can we do for them to just call for a ceasefire?”

The organisers worked with the restaurant to offer a formal dinner, with speeches and a fundraising auction.

Auction prizes included beauty hampers, clothes, art and shopping vouchers.

Organiser Shazia Fazal said: “I have run a few charity fundraisers in Zyka for other conflicts and causes around the world, over the past few years.

“With the horrendous devastation and loss of innocent lives in Gaza, I felt I had to do something.

“These funds will be send directly to agencies in Gaza to supply basic necessities for those who have lost everything.”

And the restaurant put together a three-course meal for its attendees.

Zyka manager Abdul Hassan said: “We have seen many innocent children being killed and we thought we need to do something about this.

“When we were asked if we could be involved, we took the opportunity.”

One attendee, Sobhia Yaseen said she heard about the event from some friends and travelled down from Slough.

“I never thought I would see something like this [conflict] in my lifetime,” she said.

“I am just trying to do everything within my power to support people of Palestine.”