GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – The U.S. State Department has withdrawn all Fulbright grants to Palestinian students in Gaza hoping to pursue advanced degrees at U.S. institutions this fall because Israel has not granted them permission to leave.
Israel has isolated the coastal strip, which is run by the militant group Hamas. Given that policy, the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem said the grant money had been “redirected” to students elsewhere because of concern that it would go unused if the Palestinian students were forced to remain in Gaza.
A letter was sent by e-mail to the students yesterday telling them of the cancellation.
Abdulrahman Abdullah, 30, who had been hoping to study for an MBA at a U.S. university on his Fulbright, was in shock when he read the letter.
“If we are talking about peace and mutual understanding, it means investing in people who will later contribute to Palestinian society,” Abdullah said. “I am against Hamas. Their acts and policies are wrong. Israel talks about a Palestinian state. But who will build that state if we can get no training?”
The letters to the students urge them to reapply next year.
Some members of the Israeli parliament, who on Wednesday conducted a hearing on the issue of student movement out of Gaza, expressed anger that their government was failing to promote educational and civil development in a future Palestine given the hundreds of students who had been offered grants by the United States and other Western governments.
