Resilience in Education: Gazans still Committed to Learning

• Reporters: Alia Abdelgawad & Nour El Badawi
• Editor: Amira Gamil

Carla Farah watched in horror as dozens of schools were systematically destroyed during Israel’s war on Gaza. One by one, they were reduced to rubble; the dreams of tens of thousands of students buried in the concrete debris.

A year since Israel began its retaliation for a Hamas attack on Israeli settlements, there is little infrastructure left standing.

Farah, however, stands tall saying that she and thousands of students who fled Gaza are determined more than ever to continue their education.

Carrying her books in one hand, and guided by her fierce Palestinian nationalism, Farah runs to class at the New Cairo campus.

Farah, a Construction Engineering junior, is one of several students from Gaza who are on a full scholarship at AUC.

“Since living the October 7 nightmare, I was scared to know that I might not continue my education at AUC. Receiving the news that I was granted the scholarship and able to continue my journey was a dream come true,” said Farah.

Farah explained that she reached out to the university in October shortly after the war began, and was granted the Palestinian Scholarship Fund after meeting with Carrie Johnson, the Executive Director of the Office of Student Financial Affairs, and Associate Provost for Enrollment Management Ahmed Abdel-Meguid. Abdel-Meguid said this marked the beginning of the university’s efforts to reach out to Palestinian students and check on their welfare.

Education for Farah and many other Palestinian students has transcended from being a mere pursuit of knowledge into a form of resilience and a bold act of defiance. They continue to stand strong and pursue their education while their hearts ache for their homeland day by day.

“It was not impossible, I got straight A’s the semester my people were dying in Gaza under air strikes,” Farah said.

According to Al Jazeera, 18 higher education institutions have been utterly destroyed by Israeli forces in the last year, leaving 87,000 university students desperately looking for ways to continue their education.

In support of Palestinian students, particularly those from Gaza, AUC is working on providing continuous funding and supportive initiatives for students to be able to thrive in their educational journey.

“The disaster in Gaza is of unbelievable magnitude and AUC has proactively provided support to students in the form of scholarships that enable them to have access to a high-quality education that will prepare them for their futures. We welcome our Palestinian students into the AUC community during these challenging times,” Abdel-Meguid told The Caravan.

He added that AUC admitted 24 new Palestinian students, the majority of whom were displaced from Gaza. Eighteen students were awarded full AUC and donor-funded scholarships and some received other types of financial support.

Last May, AUC also hosted a student recruitment event for Palestinian students and their families to visit the campus and have the opportunity to meet with office representatives from the Office of Enrollment and Admissions, Student Services Center, and Office of Student Financial Affairs and Scholarships.

Abdel-Meguid explained that there are more initiatives in the works to support students coming from Gaza.

AUC opened its doors for students who were already in Cairo giving them access to computer labs and internet connectivity to be able to take their English placement tests.

As AUC became home to many Palestinian students, the university became more than just a space for education but also a nurturing environment for Palestinian tenacity.

“My resource of resilience is to continue, not only that we as Palestinians are visiting something that is bigger than us, the occupation, but we are also succeeding in continuing our lives,” Farah pointed.

She believes that continuing her education is in itself her “message to the world” and a stance to showcase that Palestinians can thrive in the face of adversity.
In the meantime, supporting Palestinian students has become an area of focus for AUC.

“I know that the President [Ahmed Dallal] is fundraising for them as we speak now. He is working to raise funds so we are able to pay their tuition at AUC,” Provost Abdel- Rahman told The Caravan.

In a recent meeting of the University Senate, Dallal said he is working on getting “an endowment to serve in perpetuity students from Gaza.”

“This is a very tiny thing in comparison to what happens in Gaza and in comparison to the number of people even in Cairo, that’s one initiative, and we’re going to work more on accepting students who come from Gaza to AUC,” added Abdel Rahman.

AUC is also currently working on an initiative in collaboration with MIT, a prestigious Ivy League university in the US, to offer online courses to Palestinian students currently in Cairo.

When the time comes for them to go back to their universities in Gaza or anywhere else, hopefully they will be able to transfer the credits of these online courses and graduate.

“I believe we have an obligation, every one of us, institutions and individuals who have an obligation to help people from Gaza, and that’s what we’re trying to do at AUC,” added Abdel Rahman.

He further explained how the university’s overall academic vision and mission toward education aligns with the Palestinian students’ desire to remain resilient.

“Now we have an opportunity to educate students from Gaza and educate our students about the suffering of others,” added Abdel Rahman.

Yahya Hammoudeh, a Palestinian Computer Science junior and President of the Al Quds Club, believes that education is a cornerstone for societies to develop.

“There is a mass genocide of my people and everyone is acting like nothing is happening. No presence of the fact that anything in the world is different. So when I make my voice heard, maybe a few people end up listening to reason,” said Hammoudeh.

While maintaining his educational journey, Hammoudeh revived the Club a year ago, steering it to advocate for the Palestinian cause and raise awareness on campus.

Through the club, Hammoudeh played an active role on campus, leading various educational activities and arranging protests in collaboration with different parts of the student body, such as the Student Union and other student organizations.

“We are the only voice in Egypt and we should use it,” added Hammoudeh.