"Bader Slaih is one of many Palestinian scholars from Gaza who had to put down his books amid Israel's genocidal war on the enclave. Slaih, who was displaced multiple times from Bureij in central Gaza with his family, started baking bread to feed them during the war, but he still has dreams to enrich the minds of students in Gaza, who have suffered deaths in their families, a loss of their homes and the decimation of their schools and education."
"Palestinians have always been deeply committed to learning. Before Israel's war, the education sector in Gaza was thriving, and literacy rates were reported to be among the highest in the world. The war was hard on everyone. We were tormented and humiliated, he said. Out of a dire need, we built a brick oven to make bread for our children, Slaih told Al Jazeera. We had to bake to feed our children and others, he added."
Bader Slaih paused his academic career amid Israel's war and was displaced multiple times from Bureij. He baked bread in a brick oven to feed his family and others during the conflict. Slaih earned a master's and doctorate in Egypt, returned to Gaza to teach, and filed his certificates with universities before the war began. His wife and son left Gaza for medical reasons while he stayed with other relatives. Gaza had a thriving education sector and high literacy; the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reported 2.1 percent illiteracy among those 15 and older in 2023. A UNICEF November report found over 97 percent of schools damaged or destroyed, placing the education system on the brink of collapse.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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