The University of Westminster in London hold their first Virtual Majlis!
Fakhoora Gaza-based students, met for the first time this week with The University of Westminster and Imperial College London students, in a very successful Virtual Majlis.
The VM took place just days after Israel’s weekend bombing of Gaza, in which 27 Palestinians were killed in four days. The Gaza students told how their studies had been affected by the massive aerial bombardment, with many unable to get to their university.
‘We felt they were trying to kill us all,’ said Mostafa, one of the Gazan students.
Haneen, his fellow student, added: ‘When I go to the university, I’m afraid of the bombing.”
Abd Al-Raheem told the UK students about his friend, aged 24, who had been killed in one air strike. He had celebrated his wedding day only the week before.
‘He had a lot of dreams, which are gone now,’ said Abd Al-Raheem.
The Gaza students described how they were surviving on about six hours of electricity a day, with cooking gas running low and no fuel for cars.
‘I can’t study because it’s so cold, so I can’t do my work perfectly and I don’t know how this will affect my work and overall average,’ said Mahmoud.
‘I can’t use my computer. In lectures, the electricity keeps going and it’s hard to focus.’
Mostafa, who is studying medicine, added: ‘I can’t do experiments in the lab – every week we have this problem. We can’t study because there’s no light, and we can’t study in the dark.’
The London students were very moved to hear these experiences. ‘We lost the electricity at home once for two hours, and I cried,’ said Ammanah. ‘I don’t know how I’d survive with only six hours electricity a day, every day.’
Maryam said: ‘I do all my studying on my laptop, I don’t have textbooks. If I didn’t have electricity, I couldn’t do my course.’
The two groups of students also talked about the things they enjoy and like to do to relax, with going to the beach and playing football featuring for the Gaza students, while kickboxing and ice skating ranked high for theLondon participants.
After the VM, the London students said it had been a ‘privilege’ to chat to the Gaza students.
‘Talking to the students in Gaza really brought home the reality of the siege. No amount of reading could do that,’ said Azeem.
