(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Al-Fanar Media).
In October 2023, Israel’s latest assault on Gaza began not as an isolated event, but as a continuation of decades of aggression against the Palestinian people. This time, however, it was a deliberate attack on the pillars of society: education, healthcare, and freedom of expression. Scholars have now called it a “scholasticide”—the systematic targeting of Gaza’s academic community.
As a Palestinian scientist, I was stunned by the scale of destruction. I felt compelled to act. At first, I believed that raising awareness would mobilise the world to intervene. How naïve that hope was. Despite the reach of social media, the international scientific community largely turned a blind eye.
When I realised that the scientific community was not paying attention, I began contacting colleagues in Gaza to document what was happening firsthand. Israel had imposed a total communication blackout while intentionally bombing universities, killing scholars and academics. By the time the blackout lifted, many of the people I had connected with had already been killed, leaving their stories undocumented.
