We often forget the level of education in Gaza and Palestine. With a literacy rate of 98% (UN), Palestine has one of the highest rates in the world. With 12 universities and dozens of secondary schools, Gaza can compare itself to any developed country. Israel has understood that to dominate a country, you have to destroy its education system, and so, from the very beginning, it has systematically and completely destroyed the three universities and everything related to education, along with health services. Teachers, journalists and healthcare workers are specifically targeted by Israeli strikes. Three university presidents, hundreds of professors and thousands of students have been killed, and the education of 90,000 students has been brutally interrupted.
Yet… the people of Gaza have understood that they must continue to study at all costs, even in the rubble. As Professor Rabdo el Anzi, head of the political science department at Al Azhar University, says, ‘Studying allows them not to think about death all the time. We live amid blood and torn bodies, and everyone wonders if they will be next. Education gives them at least some hope, some sense of life.’
So in the spring of 2024, Al-Azhar, Al-Aqsa and the Islamic University formed an emergency committee and published an open letter reaffirming their existence: ‘Our buildings have been demolished, but our universities are still alive.’ Thanks to the support of international partners and the creation of an emergency fund called ‘Isnad’ (‘support’ in Arabic), classes were able to resume remotely. Students can now be seen learning remotely in makeshift spaces amid rubble and widespread destruction. The difficulties are numerous, as one can imagine: little or no internet access, students sometimes having to travel miles to find a place with internet, teachers not being paid and living in tents with families who have lost everything, etc.
An organisation founded by a teacher from the University of Lille (France) has joined forces with other universities to organise these classes, which has involved considerable difficulties, such as the need to buy SIM cards, internet connections and equipment, and to find volunteer teachers. https://academicsolidaritywithpalestine.org/
More than 4,000 volunteers have signed up, including well-known figures such as Carlo Rovelli, and I invite anyone who thinks they can help to register. I have offered to talk about on my domain of expertise – motherhood, brain development and the treatment of neurological and psychiatric diseases. I also invite anyone who wants to (and is able to) support this initiative, which encourages the well-known resilience of the Palestinian people at a time when they need it most.
- https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2025/05/27/a-gaza-etudier-permet-de-ne-pas-penser-tout-le-temps-a-la-mort_6608755_3210.html
- https://academicsolidaritywithpalestine.org
- https://pchrgaza.org/
- https://www.scientists4palestine.org/
- https://aurdip.org/en/
- https://scotpalhp.org/
- https://www.alhaq.org/
