'Schools have been turned into refugee camps': Gaza Tribunal documents systematic attack on education

ISTANBUL

Witnesses at the Gaza Tribunal’s final session in Istanbul delivered powerful testimonies Friday, detailing the systematic destruction of schools, universities and intellectual infrastructure in the Palestinian enclave, calling the attacks more than collateral damage and warning of a lost generation.

Palestinian mother Asmaa Albatash recounted the early effect on children’s education. "They started bombing and targeting schools. Even if the war ended, it would be very difficult to return to schools," she said.

Relief worker Nabeel Jumah highlighted the deliberate targeting of intellectual capacity, saying they attacked "the minds and Palestinian competencies.”

Palestinian mathematician Sevjan Al-Shami spoke on the destruction of Gaza’s premier higher education institutions. "The Islamic University is one of the first universities targeted by the occupation. All of its buildings were destroyed. Only the missiles hit the building. There is a very old central library in the university. It contains hundreds of thousands of books.

"All of it was destroyed. Academic staff was also targeted in the university. One of them was the head of the university. He was martyred. Many of the teaching staff and administrators were also martyred," Al-Shami said.

'We only want one thing; to write and read'

Journalists also testified to the personal toll of the attacks. Abdelrahman Al-Himdiat noted the loss of research and academic resources, saying he lost his books, certificates and academic papers.

Mahmoud Haniyeh, another journalist, stressed the generational consequences. "When we were young, our parents wanted us to be engineers, doctors, astronauts ... "Today, we only want one thing. We want our children to be able to write and read. They should be able to write their name and read."

Fidaa Al-Madhoun, an academic and journalist, recalled the human cost of the attacks. "There was a student named Fatima Ahmed ... She told me that there was a lot of violence around us ... I reassured her. Imagine, the next day ... she had been martyred."

"Some people don't understand this point. The schools that we used to use as schools have been turned into refugee camps. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are here," said Inas Hamdan, director of the media office at the UN Palestinian refugee agency, or UNRWA.

Palestinian Sundus Zaqout, emphasizing the critical role of education in Gaza’s survival, said: "The most important thing is education. They did not study for two years. You know that our weapon in Gaza is education. The most important thing is that they learn."

Gaza Tribunal

The four-day public session marks the culmination of a year-long effort by international jurists, scholars and civil society figures to document alleged crimes committed against Palestinians.

The tribunal featured expert presentations and witness testimonies on Friday regarding starvation, ecocide, domicide and the targeting of civilians and public infrastructure, including the health care and education systems.

Presided over by Richard Falk, former UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, the tribunal aims to produce a comprehensive “people’s record” of what participants describe as genocide, apartheid and systemic violations of international law in Gaza.

The tribunal’s jury of conscience includes Kenize Mourad, Christine Chinkin, Chandra Muzaffar, Ghada Karmi, Sami Al-Arian and Biljana Vankovska.