Israel’s 14-month war against Hamas has destroyed vast areas of Gaza.
About 90 per cent of the population of 2.3 million people have been displaced, often multiple times.
Amid the violence, a touching story of Professor Ahmed Abu Shaban has come to light, who cannot stop thinking about his students back home in Gaza.
Motivated by loyalty to his trapped pupils and a deep sense of guilt, the professor often wakes up at 3 am to teach them virtually.
‘Guilty for leaving Gaza’
Professor Ahmed Abu Shaban, 50, is the dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine at Al-Azhar University, which was destroyed — along with most university buildings — by Israeli air strikes.
Anticipating Israel’s “massive” response after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, he fled the Palestinian Territory several days later and reached Egypt.
Canadian contacts arranged a posting at Toronto’s York University, where he is a visiting professor in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.
The guilt of escaping the conflict region also weighs on him.
The 50-year-old says he has an obligation to students in Gaza desperate to study in defiance of unimaginable obstacles.
Abu Shaban says he has a “responsibility” to help preserve higher education in the territory, while the world focuses on the humanitarian emergency.
“Guilty for leaving Gaza,” he told AFP. “Like we just abandoned our country, our people, our institution.”
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/gaza-professor-teaching-students-war-torn-region-13842306.html.
