Mahmoud Almadhoun, Chef

Dec 04, 2024

“I dream of a future in which we are not dependent on foreign aid and in which our natural resourcefulness and bountiful land are put to rightful use. In which there is no suffocating blockade — now in its 17th year — controlling the movement of everything that leaves and enters Gaza. Until then, we will keep serving our community, remembering that when all else has failed the Palestinians, the land did not.” - Mahmoud Almadhoun, writing for the Washington Post

I was once told during a meeting, when I asked if our organization could do more to support our neighbours in Palestine, that we should be careful because (forgive the paraphrase) “things change so fast over there.”

I know what they meant: “it’s too complicated,” that common refrain we hear from people who might want to care but have been convinced that the reality is too confusing, too unpredictable, too chaotic. But today, “things change so fast,” has a different meaning to me.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Mahmoud Almadhoun, the head chef and one of the founders of Gaza Soup Kitchen. GSK is a lifesaving resource for our neighbours across Gaza, but particularly in northern Gaza, as Israel continues its annexation and extermination campaign there.

Originally founded by Mahmoud and some of his friends in Beit Lahia at the top of the Gaza Strip, GSK began life as four pots, some firewood, some bare essentials, and tenacity; with that, they were able to feed 120 families on the first day, and since then have continued to feed Gaza’s families, now feeding up to 3000 people each day, all across Gaza. They also supply food to local hospitals, including Kamal Adwan hospital (which you’ll be familiar with from our introduction to Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya), transporting the food on foot through the rubble-lined streets. Gaza Soup Kitchen’s stated goal is “to ensure no one in Gaza goes to bed hungry,” and though this is a gargantuan task in the face of Israel’s intentional starvation tactics, GSK is not giving up.

More than just food, over the past year, Gaza Soup Kitchen has been able to expand beyond just “soup” to offer schools and medical clinics, pushing back against Israel’s repeated, systemic attacks on both of these institutions throughout Gaza. Even after their own school became a victim of these attacks, when it was bombed at the beginning of November, GSK has not faltered in its commitment to the welfare of our neighbours in Gaza. In so many ways, it’s everything I’ve been talking about here on Imago Palestina: a community—not just an individual—taking care of each other, resisting the death-bringing forces of colonialism through mutual aid, and showing the rest of the world how we can also play a part in dismantling these systems of oppression.

I wanted to tell you all this, to highlight this significant, if small scale, win. I wanted to celebrate the ingenuity, resilience and sumud—steadfastness—of our neighbours.

And then Israel assassinated Mahmoud Almadhoun.

On the morning of December 1, as Mahmoud began his daily routine of caring for his neighbours, one he once described as “dignifying and familiar,” he was attacked by an Israeli quadcopter drone, which “killed him and only him.”

Those closest to Mahmoud at Gaza Soup Kitchen believe that Mahmoud was targeted for the same support of Kamal Adwan hospital that I praised earlier; in fact, he was killed on his way to deliver produce to the hospital. As Israel continues its annexation of northern Gaza, it has repeatedly attacked Kamal Adwan, one of the last bastions of support for the people resisting ethnic cleaning in the north by staying in their home.

Of course, I talked about this when I introduced you to Dr. Hussam, but since then the attacks have only increased. Dr. Hussam was shot by a quadcopter drone on November 25, narrowly surviving but being sent into intensive care, on November 29, another quadcopter drone shot and killed Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlout, the head of the Kamal Adwan ICU, and the hospital itself has been bombed multiple times in the past month, including as recently as yesterday.

If you’re noticing a trend, it might be that all three of these men were injured or killed not by large, imprecise aerial volleys, but by targeted attacks from quadcopter drones—the military version of the four-propeller drones you might use for aerial photography. These are weapons with a long history of being used specifically for surveillance, not even considering the many, many, many murders they have been linked to. These are not imprecise machines.

And yet, here I am telling you about attacks on aid workers and doctors. Here, in what should have been a story about celebrating resilience, I’m telling you about our dead neighbour that the Israeli military chose to kill.

So when that person told me that “things change so fast,” they were right. Things do change so fast—this man who was alive last week is dead today, and who knows who’s next? Who knows which of the neighbours we’ve met so far who don’t have big social media followings are already gone? But that person was wrong if they meant that this is chaos. This is not chaos.

We didn’t get ourselves 14 months deep into a genocide by accident; we got here by people making choices. Specifically, we got here by a few very powerful people making choices—to uphold colonialism, to maintain occupation, to keep funding arms, to veto ceasefires, to spin the narrative—and by most of the rest of us, convinced of this myth of chaos, making the choice to look the other way.

Some, like Mahmoud, made the choice to get up early each morning, shake off the day’s despair, and care for their neighbours.

In his final post, Mahmoud signed off with the word “mostamreen” (مستمرين), which means “we will continue.” I know our neighbours at Gaza Soup Kitchen will continue to get up and take care of each other. I wonder what choices the rest of us will continue to make.

To honour Mahmoud’s legacy, the Imago Palestina launch market on Dec. 9 will be fundraising in support of Gaza Soup Kitchen. You’ll find more details at the end of this message.

With your heart: Pray for Mahmoud’s family in Gaza and abroad as they grieve his loss and try to figure out what “continuing” means without him. Pray for the volunteers of Gaza Soup Kitchen, that they will be strengthened by Mahmoud’s memory and remain relentless in their care. Pray for all of our choices; may we find the strength to choose love and solidarity.

With your voice: Tell your MP that Canada should not be supporting a state which chooses to kill aid workers and doctors.

With your hands: Buy a family in Gaza a hot meal at GazaSoupKitchen.org

Join me this Saturday, Dec. 7th at Bay St & Front St at 1pm for a march organized by LiberatePalestine48

Imago Palestina is going to print! I am so pleased to announce the launch of the IMAGO PALESTINA MAGAZINE!

This first volume, which collects my words of introduction from July to the beginning of October, will be launching on Monday, December 9 at a fundraiser launch event hosted at Trinity St. Paul’s Centre (427 Bloor St. W.), from 6-9:30pm. To fill out this event, I’ve asked around a dozen local artists to join me for a fundraiser art market, where all profits (including for the sale of Imago Palestina Vol. 1) will go to Gaza Soup Kitchen, an incredible group doing vital work for our neighbours in Gaza.

Following the launch, copies will be available at svencomics.ca, both individually and in bulk for those of you who might want to introduce your congregations or communities to your neighbours in Palestine. The book is also being printed and distributed through a voluntary payment scheme, so if you’d like to support printing costs you can do so at svencomics.ca/product/imago-palestina-vol-1-pay-it-forward.

Thanks for all your support and I hope to see you at the Imago Palestina Launch Market!

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Mahmoud Almadhoun, Chef

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