​Despite this there is still education going on in tents amid the rubble. Children turn up in tents for classes that are run in the most rudimentary of ways. A teacher from Gaza spoke from the tent she uses. Higher education students also study in tents and do lessons on WhatsApp groups and on tablets powered by solar panels. One teacher said, ‘To teach is to exist.’ Another lecturer from The University of Palestine in Gaza said that there were nine faculties before the genocide, and now there are 11. Education in Gaza has always been seen as resistance.

 

While I felt humbled listening to everyone, there were three students from Gaza studying here who really moved me with their testimonies. Again, all were young women. They have been told since birth to stay strong and study, be resilient. Yet they admitted to their fragility. To attend Edinburgh University on a scholarship, the young woman also had to find £10,000 for her living expenses. Her father sold all the household possessions to pay for this. They all feel guilt at having left their families behind.

 

The saddest part of the day was viewing clips of children in the rubble of Gaza saying how much they miss their old school but they attend the tented classes now. One speaker cried watching this as she saw some of the children she had previously taught.

 

There was also a video of thousands of students graduating from the Islamic University of Gaza all dressed in the gowns of the various faculties. It is a huge celebration. Then there were photos of what now remains of the university. All rubble now, of course.

 

Some speakers left the conference with questions like - what is teacher agency in a time of trauma and genocide? I don’t know how to answer that but they are trying to develop a trauma informed pedagogy to deal with this.

 

The conference is seeking global solidarity and collaboration. Gaza’s hope lies in her children and young people and rebuilding the education sector is considered the way to achieve this.

 

You will all have heard how Palestinian people possess great reservoirs of resilience but it was also interesting how many of them challenged this narrative.  No, they said, we do not passively endure. They are fragile like everyone else but what they all possess is SUMUD. This is a Palestinian term that came from the 1960s and 70s. It means steadfastness. A number of speakers used the term.

 

One speaker responding to the talks said that western feminists have it all wrong when dismissing Muslim women. Most of the speakers in the hall were Muslim women who had been working in the rubble. The conference applauded this, as I did myself.

 

So how can Scottish PEN, Dove Tales and others respond to all this? Surely, we can organise an event of some kind, come together for a new anthology related to Gaza/Palestine and the Middle East? Just as the conference was all about making links, I feel we should be doing exactly the same. How we do this, of course, is up for discussion.

 

All I can say is that I felt privileged to have attended this conference and felt both humbled and invigorated by it. What is happening is unlawful, illegal and criminal. Let us jointly do something and reach out to others, just as the people from Gaza were doing today.

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                                                                                        Jim Aitken, March 2026

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Jim Aitken is a poet and dramatist living and working in Edinburgh. He is a tutor in Scottish Cultural Studies with Adult Education and he organises literary walks around the city. He is an Associate Editor of Culture Matters.

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