91�Թ���

In the time of genocide, siege, displacement, and systematic attempts at erasure, writing becomes much more than a personal act of reflection and expression; rather, it appears as an urgent form of witnessing, survival, and resistance. For Palestinian students in Gaza, it is an act of heartbeat, a cry, and a way of bearing witness, preserving memory, and asserting their existence after the world has decided that they are already gone. The poems and stories they produce challenge the efforts to silence them, demonstrating the power of narrative in the face of violence, erasure, loss, and death. They wrote under bombardment, amidst starvation and uncertainty, often by candlelight and under the hum of drones and without knowing if they will survive the night. These texts speak not only of suffering but also of the voices of resilience, defying erasure and refusing to disappear, and the determination that “we are still here," in which the Palestinian students' voices and words document how life is interrupted and dreams postponed (but will never be erased) and futures placed on pause. At the same time, they affirm their “humanity” and refuse to disappear in silence. Their work reveals a deep connection between narrative, land, the right to life, collective identity, and memory, showing how memory and storytelling can serve as a powerful act of resistance, as one Palestinian student in Gaza writes, these words offer “something the world has denied us: a voice to be heard." This reminds us that they exist, and they refuse to disappear in silence. 

Drawing on scholars and literature, poems, and creative expressions produced by the Palestinian students in Gaza, this session of debating development aims to  explore the relationship between storytelling, cultural production, and resistance and how narrative can function as a counter archive of the settler-colonial violence while raising an important question: Does the power to narrate violence eclipse the violence itself, deciding which lives become history and which disappear into silence? To what extent does cultural production resist historical and present erasure (material, social, and political)? Who has the power to define which stories are heard, and what criteria determine whether a narrative is accepted as legitimate, both factually and morally? At the core of the conversation is the idea that the power to tell the story can shape historical memory as importantly as violence shaped the lived experience in which different types of narratives shape whose lives are remembered, whose losses are acknowledged, and whose voices are heard.

Noor Abed

Noor Abed (Palestine) is an artist and researcher who works at the intersection of performance and film, with an urgency to establish a new representational mode of documentary intertwined with the imaginary. Her practice examines notions of social choreographies and collective formations, searching through the connection between the notion of ‘synchrony’ and social action. In 2020, she co-founded the School of Intrusions, an independent educational platform in Palestine. Abed's book 'Stars at Midday' was published by Occasional Papers in October 2024. 

Zahid Pranjol

Zahid Pranjol is an author and academic, Professor of Biomedical Science Education at the University of Sussex, and Associate Dean for Education and Students in its Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine. He holds a PhD in cancer research and has held academic posts at the University of Cambridge and Queen Mary University of London. His work is shaped by a longstanding commitment to widening participation, race equity, and the decolonisation of higher education. In 2024, Zahid co-edited We Are Still Here with Jacob Norris, an anthology published by Daraja Press that brings together writing by 58 university students in Gaza. Published in seven languages, the book documents students’ lives, aspirations and experiences amid genocide, displacement and the destruction of Gaza’s universities. The anthology became the catalyst for We Are Still Here: Education Project, which Zahid founded following a conversation with a student from Gaza about what meaningful solidarity could look like. The project has developed into an international network supporting students and communities in Gaza through education, practical assistance and creative work. Its activities include online teaching and learning resources; an online English-language programme delivered by volunteer teachers in the UK; remote counselling and psychotherapy provided by UK-based professionals; art exhibitions and fundraising; arts workshops and art therapy for children in Gaza; and support for students’ educational, personal and professional development. Zahid’s more recent book, Beneath the Hum of Drones, continues this engagement with the human realities of life in Gaza, bringing attention to the experiences of students, families and communities living through violence, loss and the ongoing struggle to learn, create and endure.

Jacob Norris

Jacob Norris is Associate Professor in Middle Eastern History at the University of Sussex. His work explores Palestinian histories of migration, anti-colonial resistance and social change in the 19th and 20th century. He has published widely in academic and public forums, and has written two books - one on the British Mandate in Palestine and the other on the town of Bethlehem in the late 19th century.

Saad Mohana

A recent Mechanical Engineering graduate aspiring to continue my education and serve my people by addressing critical energy and water challenges.

Hada Mohammad Hemaid

I studied English Literature, and I’m pretty involved in youth and community work too. I’m a writer, and I enjoy working with different youth teams, especially around storytelling and giving young people space to share their voices.

Maria Al-Hawajri

Bachelor’s degree student in English Translation at Al-Azhar University – Gaza. I am interested in translation, languages, literature, theatre, filmmaking, and cultural and youth initiatives.

Rasha Ismail Abu Musabeh

I am a medical student at Al-Azhar University and I am a writer in We Are Still Here book

My motto is: Hope is born between the tents.

Matthias De Groof

Matthias De Groof is an Assistant Professor of Film Studies and Visual Cultures at the University of Antwerp, and a filmmaker at CobraFilms. His movies have been shown internationally at festivals and venues including the Berlinale, IFFR, DocLisboa, Sheffield, and The New York Times’ Op-Docs.