Israel is waging a "systematic" war on education in Gaza to de-educate and displace

Raed Musa

Student Dina Adwan no longer has any hope of completing her studies and obtaining a university degree this year, in light of the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip for the fourth consecutive month, which has killed, wounded and destroyed educational personnel and infrastructure.

For weeks, Dina, 21, worried about her future, but today she describes herself as "more realistic," telling Al Jazeera, "In this crazy war, I only hope to survive for myself, my family and my loved ones."

The young woman was set to graduate with a degree in Applied Information Technology from Al-Aqsa University in Gaza City, one of the universities in the Gaza Strip that was destroyed by the Israeli bombardment.

Hanging dreams
In the first weeks of the aggression, Dina kept up with her lessons on her own, but her hope for a soon resumption of studies faded and she resigned herself to "losing a year of her life." "These days we were supposed to take the final exams for the first semester," she said, adding, "We were supposed to take the final exams for the first semester.

When the war broke out on October 7, universities had just opened their doors. "The war ate up a year of my life and destroyed my future plans to continue my higher education, but I am lucky to be alive, as many of my university colleagues and friends were martyred, as was the dean of our college, Khaled Sharaf, along with his entire family," Dina says.

Dina excelled among her peers and colleagues, preparing herself for the internship scholarship, teaching for a year as a teaching assistant at the university, and then applying for the Turkish government scholarship like her older sister, Ahed.

"It's all postponed, but for how long, no one knows. This war seems to have no horizon and no time limit, our educational future is hazy, and all we can think about is survival."

Gloomy picture
Ahmed Lafi, director of the Education Directorate in Rafah, said, "The picture is bleak, and no one can predict the future of the educational process until the war is completely over."

"It is impossible to imagine what education will be like when all schools are occupied by displaced people or have been completely or partially destroyed by Israeli targeting." He believes that the greatest danger is for high school students who have only been in school for one month, and "their future is unknown, as they are taking standardized exams in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and Jerusalem."

Lafi believes that it is impossible to envision the scenarios available later to save the educational process, including e-learning, which he considers very complicated in light of the massive destruction of residential homes and facilities, the lack of electricity, and the deterioration of telecommunications and internet services.

Systematic targeting
According to the Ministry of Education, 4,327 students were martyred, 7,819 others were injured, 231 teachers and administrators were martyred, and 756 were injured, as of Saturday morning. In addition, 281 public schools and 65 UNRWA schools were completely and partially destroyed.

According to the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights, 90% of public school buildings were directly and indirectly damaged, while 133 public schools are being used as shelters.

UNRWA says that 151 of its staff members have been martyred since the outbreak of the war, and 1.9 million displaced people live either in or near 154 UNRWA shelters, most of which are schools.

Education in Gaza, with its cadres, facilities and installations, has been at the "epicenter" of Israeli targeting, and human rights organizations classify it as systematic targeting.

The Observatory documented the martyrdom of 94 university professors, hundreds of teachers and thousands of students as part of the "comprehensive genocidal crime" committed by the occupation in Gaza. Among the list of academic martyrs, 17 hold professorships, 59 doctorates, and 18 master's degrees.

According to Rami Abdeh, head of the Observatory, this toll is not final, as it is estimated that there are other numbers of targeted academics and holders of higher degrees that have not been counted due to the difficulties of documentation resulting from the inability to move freely, the lack of communications and internet access, and the presence of thousands of missing persons.

Abdeh told Al Jazeera Net that the targeted academics are spread across various sciences, and most of them represent the pillars of academic work in Gaza's universities.

The human rights activist estimates that it may take years for universities to be able to resume classes in a completely destroyed environment. The Observatory's documentation confirms that the occupation army committed widespread and systematic crimes of destruction that directly affected all universities and through stages.

Deliberate destruction
The first phase consisted of bombing operations targeting buildings at the "Islamic" and "Al-Azhar" universities, then spread to the rest of the universities, until some of them were blown up and completely blown up after being converted into military barracks, as happened at Al-Israa University south of Gaza City, which the Israeli media published on January 17, a video documenting the process of blowing it up 70 days after it was converted into a military barracks and a temporary detention center.

Rami Abdo emphasized that Israel's widespread and deliberate destruction of cultural and historical objects, such as universities, schools, libraries and archives, is part of its overt policy to make Gaza "an unlivable place and create a coercive environment that lacks the most basic necessities of life and services, which may eventually drive its inhabitants to emigrate."

For his part, Salah Abdel Ati, head of the International Organization for Supporting the Rights of the Palestinian People (Hashd), told Al Jazeera Net that the Israeli war has deprived some 608,000 students of their right to school education and halted the careers of 90,000 university students.

According to the commission's statistics, more than 4,000 students, including 438 university students, were martyred and thousands of others were injured. According to the International Monetary Fund, the losses of the education sector - due to demolition and destruction - exceeded 720 million dollars, as 70% schools and universities were damaged.

Abdel Ati added that the occupation's targeting of education has affected about 395 educational buildings, including all university buildings and headquarters, which were completely and partially destroyed, in addition to the destruction of cultural facilities, libraries and printing presses.

He agrees with the head of the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory that Israel's goal is to "make Gaza unlivable and push its residents to emigrate, by destroying infrastructure, education, health and all the elements of life."

Source: Al Jazeera