The situation faced by the civilian Palestinian population, especially in the Gaza Strip, is getting worse. Besides the acute threat posed by the fighting, hunger and disease, the educational infrastructure has collapsed almost completely, jeopardising the educational prospects and future opportunities of an entire generation. The DAAD is now taking a series of steps to counter this.

The Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 hit the country hard, and the DAAD was among those to very quickly declare its solidarity with Israel. “Our deepest sympathies go out to the victims and their families, and we offer our sincere condolences to all those who have lost loved ones or fear for their lives,” DAAD President Joybrato Mukherjee said in a statement just a few days later. “We stand firmly in solidarity with all Israelis, in particular our many friends and partners at Israeli universities.” Ever since, the security situation in the region has also had a major impact on the DAAD’s funding activities.  

During the course of recent weeks and months, it has become clear that Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself entails a high risk to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. Their situation has worsened dramatically in the last few weeks. Besides the acute danger posed by bombing, hunger and disease, there is the medium- and long-term threat to the educational prospects and future opportunities of an entire generation of young people in the Palestinian territories. Conversations with DAAD-funded Palestinians paint a picture of an educational system that has largely collapsed, and many universities have been destroyed. 

Individual funding continues

What does this mean for the DAAD’s funding activities in the areas concerned? “Regarding individual scholarships, we continued to provide our support and funding for Palestinians after 7 October,” explains Dr Christian Hülshörster, Director of the Scholarship Programmes Southern Hemisphere at the DAAD. “Before the war, the Gaza Strip had a relatively well-developed higher education system.” Half of all school-leavers in the Gaza Strip went on to university, and 60 percent of students were women. For many years, the DAAD fostered links between German universities and their counterparts in the Gaza Strip and made student exchanges possible. Currently, however, individual funding is only possible in the West Bank, says Hülshörster. “Our hands are tied at the moment as far as applicants from the Gaza Strip are concerned, as it is virtually impossible for them to leave the country just now.” A total of 22 Palestinian scholarship holders are in Germany at present – they include five from the Gaza Strip who had already left before 7 October.

The situation in the Gaza Strip is also proving problematic for scholarship holders from the Palestinian territories who have been funded to date via the DAAD’s In-Region/In-Country scholarship programme. With funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the idea is to support developing countries with training highly qualified professionals and managerial staff and developing top-quality, cosmopolitan universities. “As there are no longer any functional universities in the Gaza Strip, however, we have had to suspend the programme for this region,” explains Hülshörster.

Additional help planned via In-Country scholarships

Nonetheless, he sees the In-Country scholarships in particular as an important lever when it comes to individual funding for students and doctoral candidates from Gaza and the West Bank. For example, the intensive contact that has been maintained for years with universities in the region, especially in Jordan, could be used to enable Palestinian students to embark on a course of study there. “We have always provided scholarships for Palestinians – both in the West Bank and Gaza – to study in neighbouring countries. We would like to resume these scholarships, which we believe are very valuable, as soon as possible,” says Hülshörster. He and his colleagues are also exploring whether students from Gaza could be given DAAD scholarships to continue their studies within the framework of Transnational Education (TNE) projects in the region. The DAAD uses TNE projects to promote cooperation between German universities and partner institutions abroad. In addition, there are online teaching and learning opportunities, as proved successful during the coronavirus crisis.

Hülshörster believes it is equally important to support those Palestinian students who are in Germany just now – 1,500 of them, according to current figures. Many of these young people are now facing the challenge of not being able to return home initially after graduating. The DAAD is keen to support them in an advisory capacity on the one hand, while easing their situation with short-term financial support on the other. “One could consider whether these people might for example be provided with so-called bridging scholarships to offer them at least some support.”

Project funding at universities resumes

The DAAD is seeking continuity not only when it comes to individual funding but also in the funding of higher education cooperation projects. Having been briefly suspended, cooperation between German and Palestinian universities has now been resumed with the approval of the Federal Foreign Office. That said, the German partners have to understand that the Federal Foreign Office warns against all travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories, and recommends that German citizens who are currently in the Gaza Strip or West Bank should leave.

Academic exchange and cooperation can, this at least is the hope, ultimately contribute to rapprochement between the two warring parties. For this reason, the DAAD naturally remains sensitive also to the perspective of the Israeli partners in academic exchange, which has been practised at a high level for decades. “The central objective must be to continue our academic cooperation with the Israelis at the same high level as before, while at the same time keeping our eye on the situation on the Palestinian side,” believes Hülshörster. “Academic exchange remains important, especially in wartime. That said, we sincerely hope that a ceasefire will be agreed soon and that the suffering on both sides will cease.” 

Klaus Lüber (16 April 2024)