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go through Noor Aliakubi
As life in Gaza came to a halt for more than eight months, students were among the worst affected.
The ongoing war has made education inaccessible to people living in Gaza and those who have fled abroad.
Among them is Abdul Rahman, a third-year dental student at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, whose dreams have been shattered since Israel launched its genocidal war on October 7.
Foreign challenges
“When school started in September 2023, I bought the equipment I needed for the first semester, which cost me NIS 1,000 ($300) in addition to the semester’s fees,” he told The Palestine Chronicle.
Abdulrahman had high hopes for the year ahead, as he looked forward to putting theory into practice and working with patients. However, his future was suddenly shattered when Israel launched a brutal attack on Gaza.
Abdul Rahman and his family lived near Al-Shifa Hospital, an early target of the Israeli army. Despite their determination to stay, the relentless bombing and threats forced them to flee to the south, mistakenly believing it was a “safe haven”.
After a month in Khan Yunis, Israel announced a new operation there, forcing another group of refugees to flee to Rafah.
On the way to Rafah, Abdul Rahman’s father suddenly made an unquestionable decision: Abdul Rahman and his mother would go to Egypt immediately.
“I didn’t want to leave my family and travel, but my father left me no choice but to pack my bags and get ready,” he recalled. “My father was thinking about my future.”
With the help of Abdulrahman’s sister in the United States, their names were submitted to the American consulate and they were allowed to leave, but his father, brother and brother’s family remained in the country.
His father was most concerned about Abdulrahman’s education. “My father thought that I could easily complete my studies outside Gaza,” Abdulrahman said disappointedly. “I thought so too, but the reality is completely different.”
Gaza’s universities have been severely damaged by the continuous bombing and their servers have been paralyzed.
“I could not get a registration certificate or transcript. Therefore, no university in Egypt has accepted me yet,” he commented. Faced with two difficult choices, Abdelrahman had to start over and give up two years of dental studies, or continue his interrupted studies at double the cost without guaranteeing credits for previous courses.
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“Since I came to Egypt, I have moved from one university to another and applied for several scholarships online, hoping to receive a hopeful email soon,” Abdulrahman said.
He thought fleeing Gaza would allow him to move on with his life, but now he and his mother rent a house as they await their fate, which remains tied to the war in Gaza. His story is emblematic of the plight of countless students still in Gaza.
Despite his ordeal, Abdulrahman appears to have been lucky in that he escaped the genocide in Gaza. In contrast, hundreds of thousands of students remain trapped in Gaza, living in fear and with their studies interrupted. Their futures hang in the balance, as do Abdulrahman’s, victims of a relentless conflict that shows no signs of abating.
Genocide
Nabila was supposed to be a fourth-year medical student this year. Instead, she finds herself forced to face a brutal war that derails her plans and puts her and many others in dire straits.
During the eight-month war, Nabila’s family was besieged by the Israeli army three times, and miraculously survived each time. In addition, they suffered from famine and continuous bombing.
Nabila’s family refused to go south, feeling that “those who go don’t come back for a long time, and we don’t want to leave our home,” she explained.
“Before the war in Gaza, my life was amazing. I had my university, my classes, my colleagues, and my healthy lifestyle,” Nabila recalls. “But now, I’m almost forgetting what it’s like to be a student.”
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Nabila sometimes determinedly studied for only one to three hours at most, using an electronic SIM card to access the internet, which allowed her to watch some medical videos and courses.
Nabila held on to a glimmer of hope and did everything she could to find a suitable scholarship to complete her medical degree. However, every possible path to success for Gazans is fraught with obstacles.
“All scholarships required us to start over, which meant I should give up the three years I had spent in medicine,” Nabila told us.
Nabila is worried about the future being very uncertain and as a student, her mental state is very bad. “I don’t want to study and I can’t do anything, but I try and hope that God will make me better,” she shared.
Abdulrahman and Nabila’s experiences reflect the suffering of hundreds of thousands of students.
Some should be starting their freshman year of college, while others should be celebrating years of hard work.
Their story reflects the wider tragedy of a generation whose education, aspirations and futures were taken away by war. Their resilience and hope in the midst of chaos and uncertainty bear witness to the enduring power of the human spirit.
(Palestine Chronicle)
– Noor Alyacoubi is a Gazan writer. She studied English language and literature at Al-Azhar University in Gaza City. She is a member of the Gaza writers’ collective “We Are Not Numbers.” She wrote this article for The Palestine Chronicle.
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