Donors have raised more than $100,000 for an incarcerated man in the U.S. who earns 13 cents an hour cleaning and porting jobs at a California prison and is donating his $17.74 salary to Gaza relief Work.
Los Angeles-based filmmaker Justin Mashouf, who has been corresponding with the 56-year-old, known only by his first name, Hamza, shared on social media that October A photo of the time log and a check for $17.74 that read: “California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.”
The time log shows a workload of 21 days, totaling 136.50 hours.
Mashouf wrote on May the Creator double his sincere giving.”
Mashouf’s post about Hamza’s donation immediately went viral, garnering more than 24,000 likes and more than 8,200 shares.
On Instagram, the grassroots organization Palestinian Youth Movement shared Hamza’s story, writing: “The deepest American-Palestinian solidarity exists in the prison system — not just today, but historically… America and the Occupation The Palestinian system of incarceration is ultimately an extension of the same imperial project – designed to criminalize the existence of the oppressed, render them invisible, and eliminate their threat to the dominant social order.”
Hamza was convicted of one count of second-degree murder in 1986 and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, according to legal records reviewed by The Washington Post. Hamza was a teenager when he confessed.
In a GoFundMe page he set up for Hamza, Mashouf wrote: “In the 1980s, Hamza accidentally shot a loved one and died.[ed] Victims, resulting in his imprisonment for more than forty years. For decades, he lived with the pain of losing loved ones due to his mistakes every day. In prison, he had become a devout Muslim and had been petitioning for parole for decades. “
Hamza is scheduled to be released at the end of March, Mashouf wrote in a statement on his campaign page.
Since its inception, the campaign has raised $102,187 for Hamza’s return to Earth. The funds will be used for rent and utilities, clothing, job search and training, and cell phone service, according to the campaign.
In a statement released to X by Mashouf on Wednesday, Hamza announced the decision to suspend the event.
“I sincerely thank you all for your generosity and kindness in donating these funds to help me after I am released from prison,” Hamza wrote.
“However, I must now ask each of you… to pay attention and consider the suffering children, mothers and fathers living in inhumane conditions in Palestine, Yemen and Africa.[e] Conditions, being bombed every hour, without water, shelter, medicine and food… They are ordinary people and citizens, like all of you, living a life that has nothing to do with politicians, but are suffering [in]Humanely,” he added.
Hamza’s donation to relief efforts in Gaza comes as Israel continues to attack the narrow strip. Israeli forces have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israeli attacks also injured more than 60,000 people, mostly women and children, and sparked widespread international outrage.
Some 2 million people have been forcibly displaced by Israeli attacks on the narrow strip, with 1.5 million Palestinians seeking refuge in the southern town of Rafah.
Aid agencies have repeatedly warned in recent months that Palestinians are being pushed to the brink of famine due to shortages of food, water, fuel and medical supplies. Meanwhile, U.N. experts warned that “serious violations committed by Israel … indicate a genocide in the making.”
