The Weeknd has donated $2.5 million towards providing four million emergency meals to Palestinians in Gaza.
The singer, born Abel Tesfaye, is directing money from his XO Humanitarian Fund to benefit the United Nations World Food Programme. The WFP — of which Tesfaye is also a Goodwill Ambassador — is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, and has been helping hundreds of thousands of Gazans in crisis and on the brink of starvation amid their siege under Israel.
“This conflict has unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe beyond reckoning,” reads a statement from Corinne Fleischer, WFP’s Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe Region. “WFP is working round the clock to provide aid in Gaza but a major scale up is needed to address the desperate level of hunger we are seeing. Our teams need safe and sustained humanitarian access, and continued support from donors to reach as many people as we can. We thank Abel for this valuable contribution towards the people of Palestine. We hope others will follow Abel’s example and support our efforts.”
According to a press release from the WFP, Tesfaye’s $2.5 million donation will provide 820 metric tons of food parcels that could feed more than 173,000 Palestinians over the course of two weeks. The food parcels have included things like fresh bread, canned food, pasta, and more, as the WFP rushes to reach as many Palestinians as possible during the humanitarian pause.
You can make your own donation here to the WFP’s efforts in feeding Palestinians.
Hamas carried out a surprise attack at an Israeli music festival on October 7th, 2023 in an act of resistance amid Israel’s decades-long occupation of the Gaza Strip, raids on the West Bank, and violence at the disputed Jewish holy site Al Aqsa. Since then, an influx of celebrities have shared their support for Palestine, including Dave Chappelle, Zack de la Rocha, and actor Melissa Barrera, the latter of whom was fired from the Scream franchise after sharing anti-Zionist content to social media.
