TOEFL and Other Stories

When I found out that I was moving to Ramallah, I joined the Palestine network on FaceBook. It seemed like the logical pro-active step of someone moving 6,000 miles away from home to a place where I knew nobody: join a social network.

Shortly thereafter, I started getting Friend Requests from random Palestinians, some of which I accepted. I began the process of "getting to know" them via e-mail and the inane little applications that it offers, and sometimes even talking with people via Skype.

One particular Facebook friend was a guy from Gaza. He lives in Deir al Balah (in the central part of the Gaza Strip) in a typical Gazan home--a multi-family house--with his parents, brothers and sisters, and a few uncles and their families, and he attends the Islamic University of Gaza, where he studies computer science and education.

His family has, up until now, been more fortunate than many. They've had food (although meat is less common than it used to be), and between working odd jobs and borrowing money, he has managed to scrape together the money needed to keep him in school so that he can complete his studies in December. He dreams of going to a graduate school in Europe or the U.S. so that he cam get a MS in computer science and find a good job so that he can get married and start a family, and support his extended family.

Over the few months that I've e-mailed and spoken with him, the situation has deteriorated rapidly.

The summertime was difficult because of frequent power outages, which result in food spoilage and high levels of discomfort, plus the possibility for medical catastrophe if someone required electrical equipment for treatment. The plan to cut off the fuel as well means no cooking and no heat in the winter.

The computer store where my friend used to work no longer can get parts to do repairs, and the computer classes that he used to teach at a local community center have stopped--nobody can afford to pay for classes when more important things - food, bottled water, clothes - take precedence. The center can't afford to donate the lessons because they need to pay rent, and my friend can't afford to donate time because he needs to pay his tuition. Of course, there aren't really any jobs in Gaza any more--the economy is at a standstill because of the border closures. No goods come in. No goods go out.

Stress levels are, of course, through the roof, which exacerbates all kinds of health problems - and creates new ones. Several of my friends' family members have been in the hospital with stroke or other heart/blood pressure related problems, and there is little that the hospitals can do. Medical supplies are allowed into Gaza for now, but pills do little to help when there are Air Force jets flying overhead, and people are traumatized by every sonic boom.

My friend went to Amideast to find out about taking the TOEFL and GRE in order to prepare for graduate school applications, and found out that the exams and prep materials would cost around $400, which in Gaza, may as well be $4,000 or $4 Million. It's too much. And in Gaza, the equation might look like the following: no exam = no continuation of studies = no career opportunities abroad = no future = no hope.

So, can someone tell me again how this isolation of Gaza prevents terror? Because it seems like my friend, and the 1.5 million other people living there, are living in a pressure cooker...and the more people suffer, the more they want to resist. I consider it an act of extreme restraint that 1.5 million people haven't started marching towards the checkpoints to knock them down with handtools.

The isolation of Gaza does not compel the people to give up the fight, and when you have nothing to lose, it's easy to imagine doing something radical.