'I am very scared': Mother of Palestinian-Canadian missing in Gaza pleads for Canadian government to help
CTV
The mother of a Palestinian-Canadian man who has gone missing in Gaza while working as a citizen journalist is pleading for the Canadian government to step in and help find her son.
The last message that Mai Hussein received from her son before he went missing in Gaza was an expression of care: "good night Mama, I love you, talk to you tomorrow. I know you are asleep."
"In the morning, I sent him a message," she said. "He didn't receive it."
It's been nine days now since Hussein has heard from her son, Mansour Shouman, a Palestinian-Canadian who stayed behind in war-torn Gaza, after his family fled, in order to document the devastation around him and aid the 2.3 million citizens displaced amid Israel's bombardment.
Over the last four months, Shouman has been sharing his experiences with international media outlets and through social media as a citizen journalist, as well as working to dispense humanitarian aid.
But loved ones and team members who work with him say they haven't heard from him for more than a week. Unverified reports that he was taken in by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have only increased his loved ones' concerns for his safety.
Now, his mother is pleading for the Canadian government to step in and help find her son.
"He is a very good man," she told CTV News Channel on Monday from Abu Dhabi. "He wasn't hired by anyone. He was working by his heart. And then he tried to help people as much as he can, with his voice, trying to make them steadfast, trying to make them have hope. Even me.
