Watan-An American prisoner, who decided to donate his monthly salary to the Gaza Strip, was surprised by the amount of donations he received after his friend posted a receipt of his $17.74 donation, as he earns 13 cents for his work in prison.
According to The Washington Post, the prisoner, named “Hamza,” works in the janitorial field at a healthcare facility in a Northern California prison.
Hours after his friend posted the receipt of Hamza’s 136-hour wage donation on social media, people began donating to Hamza.
His friend stated that Hamza was “worried and shattered” about the news he was following about Gaza in prison, which prompted him to take this step.
The donations collected for Hamza amounted to over $100,000 before Hamza requested to stop the donations, telling his friend that what was collected was enough for him, and he didn’t want to “distract attention from those who are suffering more than him.”
The 56-year-old man has been in prison for nearly 40 years and is set to be released this month, having converted to Islam in 1989.
His friend said that Hamza will also donate his salary for March to civilians in Gaza, which he hopes will be his last salary from prison.
Regarding the American stance on the Israeli response to the October 7th attacks, a poll conducted by The Wall Street Journal showed that the majority of Americans reject the scale of Israel’s response in Gaza, believing that Tel Aviv has gone too far in its war.
42% of respondents in the poll believe that Israel has gone too far in its response to the October 7th attack, while only 24% believe that Tel Aviv is doing “the right thing.”
The poll also stated that 19% say “Israel did not go far enough,” while 15% refused to answer or did not know.