GAZA, (PIC)
From the midst of war, displacement, and brutal bombardment, student Aya Sami insists on fighting and continuing her studies, despite the dire circumstances caused by the Israeli war of annihilation on the Gaza Strip.
Student Aya, who studies at the Faculty of Medicine at the Islamic University in Gaza, continues her university studies through electronic platforms.
She tells the PIC correspondent, “Despite the conditions of war, power cuts and internet outages, we fight in our studies to earn the highest grades despite the annihilation.”
The Islamic University in Gaza and other universities have turned to online study through electronic platforms, in an attempt to compensate students for what they have missed and to continue the educational process despite the destruction of universities.
Education is our weapon
Student Aya adds, “The Palestinian’s capital is education, for the Palestinian has no value without education, as it is our weapon that we wield alongside the weapon of will.”
According to a report by the Government Media Office in Gaza, the occupation has completely destroyed 121 schools and universities, and partially damaged 333, while assassinating more than 120 professors and scholars during the war of annihilation on the Gaza Strip.
Thousands of students were also martyred, and others were arrested during the ongoing war of annihilation, which has deprived students of a full academic year, and the prospects for the second year remain unclear.
Obstacles
The e-learning process does not proceed smoothly, as there are several obstacles, including the absence of the internet and electricity, and the necessity for students to leave their homes to find places with internet and electricity.
Student Khalil Abu Hattab from Deir Al-Balah, who studies engineering at Al-Azhar University, says he has to go to a cafe 3 kilometers away from his home, adding, “The internet is weak and I can barely download one lecture.”
He says the cafe charges him 10 shekels per hour, indicating that it is a financially exhausting matter.
He adds, “We are forced to do so, as we are worse off than all students in the world, we suffer and agonize, in order to earn degrees.”
In a tent on the outskirts of Khan Yunis, student Alaa El-Din Yusuf sits in despair and says, “My university has adopted e-learning, and until now I need a laptop and a smartphone, which are things the occupation forces prevent from entering the Gaza Strip.”
He asks our correspondent, “How will I manage my studies? Is the bitterness of displacement, loss, bombardment and killing not enough? All the details of our lives are pain, oppression and suffering.”
39,000 students from the Gaza Strip were prevented from taking the general secondary exams, whose results have already been announced, and they were supposed to be now in the process of registering at universities and preparing for the new academic year.
The insistence of universities and students to resume studies, even minimally, expresses the determination of the Palestinians to cling to life and hope for the future, regardless of the difficulties imposed by the Israeli aggression.
