Bring Alaa to Ireland

Hi, my name is James Heaney. I'm a lecturer in English and Irish Studies at Carlow College, Ireland. A few weeks ago (October 2024) I was contacted by Alaa Al-Qaisi, a young woman from Gaza whose university studies and home-life have been devastated by the war in Palestine. Alaa wants to come to Ireland to undertake a master's degree in comparative literature here. Her life is in imminent danger in Gaza. Please help this young woman to rebuild her future. Please help Bring Alaa to Ireland.

Alaa Al-Qaisi was born and raised in Gaza city. She completed her B.A. in English Literature at the Islamic University of Gaza, and subsequently enrolled for a Master’s degree in Translation Studies under the supervision of the internationally-renowned poet, scholar, and humanitarian, Professor Refaat Alareer. Her project was nearing completion when the present war broke out. Her supervisor, Professor Alareer, was killed by an Israeli airstrike on the 06 December 2023, along with his brother, his brother’s son, his sister and her three children. The Islamic University of Gaza where Alaa was studying was destroyed during the first week of the war, on the 10 October, 2023.

Alaa has a deep love of literature. The poetry of Wordsworth, T.S. Eliot, and W.B. Yeats, the novels of Daniel Defoe and Fyodor Dostoevsky, are among her favourites, as are writers from the Arabic tradition such as Radwa Ashour, Ghassan Kanafani, Ahmad Khaled Tawfiq, and Al-Mutanabbi.

I've seen Alaa's academic transcripts, her work references, and read some of her academic work. I've also learned something of the incredibly difficult situation presently facing her in Gaza. Alaa is an extraordinarily resilient person, and a highly-gifted scholar. Her ambition now - the hope that sustains her amidst the death and devastation she endures on a daily basis in her native city - is to start a new master’s degree, in comparative literary studies, here in Ireland. Alaa's project will examine intersections between Western and Arabic literary traditions, with a specific focus on writers whose works grapple with themes of loss of identity, and cultural fragmentation. Alaa’s interest in these topics has been ‘inspired’ by her own traumatic experiences in Gaza. Literature, she believes, “doesn’t just reflect historical reality, it can also influence it, by bridging cultural divides and impelling change.”

Prior to the war, Alaa financed her academic studies through translation work for a number of companies based in the Middle-East, the U.S., and in Ireland. This source of income has become extremely difficult to sustain given the crippled state of the communications infrastructure in war-torn Gaza.

In addition to her academic studies and translation work, Alaa has worked as a volunteer for a range of charitable, and peace-and-reconciliation organisations in Gaza such as: the House of Wisdom for Conflict Resolution and Governance; Free Spectra, an organisation that supports impoverished communities in Gaza; and the Egyptian based Resala Association for Charity. She also completed a course in Sign-language as an undergraduate student.

As you are probably aware, it is not easy for Palestinians to leave their country. The deep emotional attachment they feel for their homeland has deterred many from leaving, despite being surrounded by so much death and devastation. In her video-posts from Gaza you will have heard Alaa explain how she and her family made the ‘Sophie’s Choice’-like decision to remain in Gaza; a city where they are now forced to make their meals from food meant for birds and animals.

Though her family will remain in Gaza, the time has come for Alaa to leave. There are many financial, logistical and political obstacles in her way. It costs between €5000 and €10,000 for Palestinians to escape through Egypt. The funds that Alaa will need to travel on to Ireland, the living and educational expenses she'll incur here, will also be substantial.

Every possible avenue of support is being explored to bring Alaa safely to Ireland. Diplomatic services, politicians, the HEA (the Irish Higher Education Authority), academic bodies and establishments, higher-level funding schemes, trade- and student-unions, charitable and various pro-Palestinian organisations, are all being contacted for assistance.

We are looking for €15,000 in total on this fundraising platform.

100% of all monies received will go directly towards funding Alaa’s departure from Palestine, and subsequent travel, living, and educational expenses. Palestine is not a "supported country" on GoFundme platform, so any funds received here will be lodged into an Irish bank account to be used exclusively for the above-listed costs and expenses. Should Alaa not survive the conflict (she has narrowly escaped death on several occasions already this year), or should there be any surplus funds, they will be donated to Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders.

“In Gaza, there is an old saying”, Alaa wrote to me recently: "If you get lost, head to the sea. It will guide you home.... But now the city is gone, and the sea no longer embraces our lost souls.” Please hear Alaa’s appeal for your help. Please donate what you can to Bring Alaa to Ireland, where she can complete her studies, and start to re-build her life.