This week's Behind the Headlines comes from editor Laura Webster – to receive this newsletter direct to your inbox every week, click here to sign up.
LAST Saturday, fresh from our International Women's Day special edition, we launched our fundraiser for Medical Aid for Palestinians.
It was something we had wanted to do for some time, knowing our readers were desperate to do something for the Palestinian people. After weeks of working out details with the charity, we were ready to kick it off.
I'd never run a fundraiser in my life. None of us had. We had no idea what to expect. How do you set a target? We have around 10,000 subscribers, but presumably they won't all be able to donate. It was all a bit of guess-work, and we eventually settled on aiming for £15,000 over the course of a full week.
What happened last weekend astounded me. Within a few hours, it was clear we would have more than £15,000 by the end of the DAY. In our National WhatsApp we suggested new targets, wondering what would be reasonable to expect. £30,000 was the next agreed amount, and we told Medical Aid for Palestinians that we may need to stretch that to £50,000 by the end of the week. Before long, we realised that figure would need to be £100,000.
READ MORE: Medical Aid for Palestinians: How your money will be spent
Some incredible high-level endorsements then helped us breeze past the next target. We were so grateful to have the support of all of Scotland's main political party leaders. We were speechless when we heard the STUC would be giving £1000. Our columnists rallied around us, and our Foreign Affairs Editor David Pratt was incredible - informing readers of his own experience with the charity while working in the Middle East, helping people see how their donations would be spent.
We also had some big UK names helping to get the word out. Jeremy Corbyn, Momentum founder James Schneider, Owen Jones, all shared donation links and information with their followings.
During the week, the team at Medical Aid for Palestinians told me that there had been multiple donations of £2500, and the average donation was over £50. I didn't know what to say. I know how difficult things are for so many people right now, and so this kind of generosity is mind-blowing.
In our International Women's Day edition, Nadia El-Nakla wrote of women in Gaza going through C-sections with no pain relief. That kept me up that night. I haven't stopped thinking about it since reading it. So many people I speak to have similar stories of videos they've seen and stories they've heard from Gaza, that leave them completely haunted. Our readers write to us about some of the horrific scenes they've been confronted by on their social media. So many people want to help.
What our fundraiser showed us is that regardless of political background, people can see the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. Like me, it keeps them up at night. They can't unsee the clips of bloodied children stuck in rubble, of babies left with no parents thanks to Israel's bombs. Those feelings have translated directly into people donating their hard-earned money, in the hope that they can help at least a little bit in these horrific circumstances.
Once again, I can't thank everyone enough for their help this week. Even if all you did was share a couple of posts, you helped more than you realise.
All the £100,000 raised went straight to Medical Aid for Palestinians via a dedicated link on the charity's website. So the money is already with the charity, and as one of the few aid organisations on the ground in northern Gaza, operating in unbelievably difficult conditions, I trust that they'll make sure your donations can go a long way. Thank you all again. I am amazed by your generosity and care.
Finally, please consider donating to the charity even after the end of this campaign.
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