🍉🇵🇸 eSims for Gaza masterpost 🇵🇸🍉

Which eSims are currently being called for?

As of January 29:

Be sure you're looking at the original post, as this will be continually updated. Any new instructions about replying to emails for specific types of unactivated plans will also appear here.

Check the notes of blackpearlblasts's eSim post, as well as fairuzfan's 'esim' tag, for referral and discount codes.

How do I purchase an eSim?

If you cannot download an app or manage an eSim yourself, send funds to Crips for eSims for Gaza (Visa; Mastercard; Paypal; AmEx; Canadian e-transfer; or to me (venmo @gothhabiba; paypal.me/Najia; cash app $NajiaK, with note “esims” or similar; check the notes of this post for updates on what I've purchased.)

You can purchase an eSim yourself in an app, or on desktop (with the exception of Simly, which does not have a desktop site). See this screenreader-accessible guide to purchasing an eSim through each of the five services that the Connecting Humanity team is calling for (Simly, Nomad, Mogo, Holafly, and Airalo).

Send a screenshot of the plan's QR code to gazaesims@gmail.com. Be sure to include the app used, the word "esim," the type of plan (when an app has more than one, aka "regional Middle East" versus "Palestine"), and the amount of data or time on the plan, in the subject line or body of your email.

Message me if you have any questions or if you need help purchasing an eSim through one of these apps.

Which app should I use?

Try to buy an eSim from one of the apps that the team is currently calling for (see above).

If the team is calling for multiple apps: Nomad is best in terms of data price, app navigability, and ability to top up. Mogo has the worst user interface in my opinion. Holafly has the most expensive data, but plans can be topped up. Simly Middle East plans cannot be topped up; Simly Palestine ones can.

How much data should I purchase?

Mirna el-Helbawi has been told that large families may all rely on the same plan for data (by setting up a hotspot). Some recipients of eSim plans may also be using them to upload video.

For those reasons I would recommend getting the largest plan you can afford for plans which cannot be topped up: namely, Simly "Middle East" plans. Note that Holafly plans can only be topped up on desktop, not through the app.

For all other plans, get a relatively small amount of data (1-3 GB, a 3-day plan, etc.), and top up the plan with more data once it is activated.

Is there anything else I need to do?

Check back regularly to see if the plan has been activated. Once it's been activated, check once a day to see if data is still being used, and how close the eSim is to running out of data or to expiring.

If the eSim hasn't been activated after three weeks or so, reply to the original email that you sent to Gaza eSims containing the QR code for that plan.

If you purchased the eSim through an app which has a policy of starting the countdown to auto-expiry a certain amount of time after the purchase of the eSim, rather than only upon activation (Nomad does this), then also reply to your original e-mail once you're within a few days of this date. If you're within 12 hours of that date, contact customer service and ask for a credit (not a refund) and use it to purchase and send another eSim.

How do I top up a plan?

See this guide on how to tell if your plan has been activated, how to top up plans, and (for Nomad) how to tell when the auto-expiry will start. Keep topping up the eSim for as long as the data usage keeps ticking up. This keeps a person or family connected for longer, without the Connecting Humanity team having to go through another process of installing a new eSim.

If the data usage hasn't changed in a week or so, allow the plan to expire and purchase another one.

What if I can't afford a larger plan, or don't have time or money to keep topping up an eSim?

I have set up a pool of funds out of which to buy and top up eSims, which you can contribute to by sending funds to my venmo (@gothhabiba), PayPal (paypal.me/Najia), or cash app ($NajiaK) (with note “esims” or similar). Check the notes of this post for updates on what I've purchased, which plans are active, and how much data they've used.

Crips for eSims for Gaza also has a donation pool to purchase esims, but I don't know about their practices regarding topping them up.

What if my eSim has not been activated, even after I replied to my email?

Make sure that the QR code you sent was a clear screenshot, and not a photo of a screen; and that you didn’t install the eSim on your own phone by scanning the QR code or clicking “install automatically."

Possible reasons for an eSim not having been activated include: it was given to a journalist as a back-up in case the plan they had activated expired or ran out of data; there was an error during installation or activation and the eSim could no longer be used; the eSim was installed, but not activated, and then Israeli bombings destroyed the phone, or forced someone to leave it behind.

An eSim that was sent but couldn’t be used is still part of an important effort and learning curve. Errors in installation, for example, are happening less often than they were in the beginning of the project.

Why should I purchase an eSim? Is there any proof that they work?

Israel is imposing near-constant communications blackouts on Gaza. The majority of the news that you are seeing come from Gaza is coming from people who are connected via eSim.

eSims also connect people to news. People are able to videochat with their family for the first time in months, to learn that their family members are still alive, to see their newborn children for the first time, and more, thanks to eSims.

Some of this sharing of news saves lives, as people have been able to flee or avoid areas under bombardment, or learn that they are on evacuation lists.

Why are different plans called for at different times?

Different eSims work in different areas of the Gaza Strip (and Egypt, where many refugees currently are). The team tries to keep a stockpile of each type of sim on hand.

love this image bc what did the princess do to make the crowd shout and throw tomatoes at her. i know it wasnt nothing

went to the fantasy pet store and picked up a few dark elf pixies that they had just sitting in those tiny cups at the front :( ik buying them just feeds the cycle but on my way out I pocketed a few iron fairies to join them for when I get my night orchid terrarium set up at home. Was gonna just reuse my old gnome habitat but it think their strawberry scent is still pretty strong in there and those pheromones are toxic to pixies without a proper mushroom circle enclosure nearby but bc they're known 2 use them to escape/trap their owners inside instead I'll just repurpose my fog fountain to simulate a wood curse environment 👍

Ive been wanting to get gnomes again soooo bad but because my magical hut is only one room that can be glamored to look like more rooms, they'd be able to see right thru it and i already have my pixies enclosures set up and theyre so territorial 😭 i was barely able to solve their riddle before they turned me into a newt last time and i can NOT go through that again 😒.... but i miss sharing the buttercup tea that my last gnome Mr. Bristlebush used to make. He grew raspberries for me for 20 years theres no way i can house gnomes AND night pixies without them spotting each other when they live for like 600 years UGH how do the faetuber channels i spellscribe to do it

Fairies dying their hair in my blueberry bush...gotdam punk pixies playing in my infernal zapper on PURPOSE just to get their hair styled and spiked up 🤬 what's a warlock gotta do to get some GODSdambed peace in my GODSdambed glowcap garden

I know Grimes has some of those like bad dragon snout/tongue vibrators except theyre like the lower half of an elves face that includes the ears so she can like. Idfk hang into them or sonething. She probably chews on them when she gets mad too. Anyway my references are included at the bottom of my resume hope to hear from you soon

Apparently if a warrant is issued, it will be for crimes against humanity

The threat of a warrant might also be delaying a Rafah invasion

That arrest warrant is definitely coming

Cover of Fredy Perlman’s I Accuse This Liberal University of Terror and Violence (Black & Red, 1969).  

Just a reminder for people who may not know, in light of protestors at UCLA being shot in the face with rubber bullets— rubber bullets are not bullets made of rubber. They are metal bullets encased in rubber.

Despite being called “non-lethal” or sometimes “less lethal”, they are well known to cause death and permanent disability.

Here’s a photo showing their size— these are actual rubber bullets used during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

Do not let them downplay the severity of what they are subjecting this students to for standing against genocide. Stay safe and stay educated.

College protestors are braver than any Israeli soldier

Had a woman strike her autistic grandson in front of me today and it's made me break my ignoring streak with my boss because um. I think that warrants. An investigation. Like. He was no older than 13 maybe younger. She hit him hard. Jesus fucking christ

Seriously like idk what to do about this um. I did not handke that the way I wanted to. I finished the transaction as normal and she got me to carry her shit to her car. I should have taken the fuckin license plate. I have her name and phone number at least so maybe that's something, but oh my god, you cannot fucking do that. He was a kid. That wasn't being rude, he was very obviously stimming, he very obviously had no control, he was just being a kid. And she struck him so fucking hard in the face. Holy fucking shit

Annelise Orleck, Professor of History, Chair of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth

"Most of Sudan is only one step away from a full blown famine. In a lot of areas the only thing stopping people starving is the presence of community kitchens. This is why we setup 3 kitchens in Khartoum State and are in the process of setting up a 4th. But there has been a massive drop off in donations after Ramadan. Please help with what you can.

#Sudan"

link to the GFM below: