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Oxford Brookes Scholar fighting for his life in Gaza

July 24, 2014 at 11:19 am

A former Oxford Brookes scholar is fighting for his life in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza after his sister’s flat was bombed by Israeli forces in the latest assault on the besieged Strip. The third recipient of the annual Gaza Oxford Brookes Scholarship, founded in the aftermath of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in 2009, Hassan Alhallaq lost his eight months pregnant wife, his two young children, his mother and his sister along with her family in the explosion.

Hassan and his family left their home in Al-Karama neighbourhood hoping they would be safer in Shuja’iyya. As the Israeli ground troops carried out an intensive operation in Shuja’iyya on 19 July, Hassan had to evacuate once again, this time heading to his sister’s flat in Rimal, in the centre of Gaza City. Without any prior warning, an Israeli airstrike targeted the family flat on 20 July killing Hassan’s mother, Suad, his 29-year-old pregnant wife, Samar Yaaqoubi, and his two sons Kenan, 6 and Saji, 4. Hassan’s sister Hala was also killed along with her husband, Hani, and their baby son. His father survived the attack, while Hassan sustained serious injuries and was transferred immediately to the ICU at Al-Shifa Hospital.

Hassan Alhallaq’s two sons Saji, 4 and Kenan, 6 were both killed during the war on Gaza.

The Vice-Chancellor at Oxford Brookes University, Professor Janet Beer, said in a press release: “We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic news. Hassan came to Oxford with his family and became fully embedded into the life of the city and the University. Our thoughts are with him at this time.”

Hassan completed his MSc in E-Business at Oxford Brookes, where he was awarded the Technologies Prize by the Department of Computing and Communication. He then went back to Gaza and worked for the Bank of Palestine.

Sir Iain Chalmers, a founder of the Gaza Oxford Brookes Scholarship, is an old friend of Gaza. He and his wife Lady Jan came to know Hassan and his family during their stay in Oxford. Samar, Hassan’s wife, was very enthusiastic about Lady Jan’s Palestinian History Tapestry Project. She made the first embroidery panel spacer and donated it to the project, before she became an assistant coordinator for the project in Gaza. Appalled by the news, Sir Iain and Lady Jan praised the family’s kindness and joyful spirit. “His two little kids were here last Ramadan, playing with our grandchildren,” Sir Iain told MEMO. This Ramadan, they mourn them. The Chalmers are not the only friends in Oxford who mourned Hassan’s loss. Yesterday, around 200 people attended a memorial vigil at Carfax Tower to pay tribute to the family.

Sir Iain Chalmers speaks at a vigil held for the Alhallaq family in Oxford [Jehan Alfarra/Middle East Monitor]

Back in Gaza, hundreds of the family’s relatives and friends also mourn. Aya Zinati, Samar’s cousin, recounted what happened and said that death followed them in the most horrendous way she could imagine. “My mother and my aunt lost their minds when they heard the news,” she told MEMO. “We still can’t believe it. We don’t know whether to pray for his recovery from the injuries, or for patience over his unspeakable loss.”

Being the fourth Gaza Oxford Brookes scholar myself, I was in contact with Hassan only a couple of weeks before the beginning of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. I had sought his help for a project I am working on, Gaza Digital, which aims to help Gaza’s youth and professionals find job opportunities. Without any hesitation, he offered me his unconditional help. Hassan’s passion for helping his community is one to be admired, and everyone who knew him is praying he will regain his strength and pull through such a daunting situation.

Israel’s military operation in Gaza and the ground invasion continue as the Palestinian death toll exceeds 600, an overwhelming majority of them civilians; 31 Israelis have been killed, 29 of them IDF soldiers. The latest UNRWA figures stand at 118,300 displaced Palestinians in 77 UNRWA shelters, and 3,720 injuries in the last 24 hours alone. Meanwhile, the Israeli human rights organisation, B’Tselem, has called on the Government of Israel “to cease the bombardment of inhabited homes, neighbourhoods and areas in the Gaza Strip immediately.”

Hassan Alhallaq's father and brother attend his family's funeral.

Hassan Alhallaq’s father and brother attend his family’s funeral.