Being accepted at the University of Palestine in Gaza provided the "gateway to independence" for Bisan Alkolak. When she received the phone call in September 2021 announcing her admission to the clinical pharmacy degree program, she was "ecstatic," she recalled. Today, her university is nothing but a pile of ruins. The establishment was destroyed by the Israeli army bombing in December 2023, two months after the start of the war launched in response to the Hamas attack of October 7.
According to Palestinian news agency Wafa, the Israeli army has destroyed or damaged all 12 universities in the Gaza Strip, by means of air strikes or bombs. At the beginning of January, around 75% of the enclave's educational infrastructure had been damaged, according to the UN.
"Before October 7, Gaza was a pretty pleasant place," explained Alkolak, now 20. "My university, not far from the sea, was very nice." The young woman was born in Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates, where her father works. In this Gulf state, completing the three-year degree, especially in a discipline like hers, would have cost her family 100,000 dirhams (€25,000), she said: "We couldn't afford it," she added. Hence her relief and joy at having secured a place at a university in Gaza.
At 18, Alkolak left home and moved in with her grandparents in Gaza City, not far from the campus. She has posted numerous videos on her Instagram page, showing her in university classes, in the library with her classmates, in a chemistry lab carrying out experiments and sitting, enjoying the sun, on the campus lawn. "The two years I spent at the University of Palestine were the best for me. Today, I don't know what to do with my life. What will become of my two years of study, of which I have no proof? Has everything gone up in smoke?" asked the young woman who was evacuated to Abu Dhabi at the end of February, along with her mother and sisters.
According to the human rights organization Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, based in Geneva (Switzerland), Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip have wiped out higher education. The organization estimates the damage caused to universities at over €200 million. At least three university presidents have been killed since October 7, and more than 95 deans and professors. Some 88,000 students have had to interrupt their studies, and a further 555 on international scholarships have been unable to travel abroad because of the violence.
Some of Gaza's institutions were first transformed by the Israeli army into barracks or detention centers, before being demolished. This is the case of Al-Israa University, pulverized on January 17 by a bombardment whose images have circulated on social media. According to the management, before the explosion, soldiers had stolen antiquities from the National Museum, housed in one of the establishment's wings.
You have 45.36% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.