Far from home but trapped in the suffering of their people, three young people from Gaza study and live in Catalonia, where they try to build life and hope on both shores of the Mediterranean.

Zaina Qazzaz, Mohammed Alsultan, and Israa Shaker are children of Gaza. Unlike many of their fellow citizens, they do not sleep under bombs or go hungry. The three young people live and study in Catalonia, where they have arrived thanks to university cooperation programs. Zaina wants to be a journalist and studies at the University of Barcelona. Mohammed researches information technologies and networks at the Open University of Catalonia. And Israa has completed a PhD in economics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

But despite the physical distance from danger, their horizon is Gaza. Their minds and hearts constantly travel back to the Strip and its people. They live trapped outside their land, not knowing if they will ever be able to return. Added to this is the anguish for their families and friends who are still there.

Hanging on every phone call, every image on social media, every news report on television, their lives have been suspended by Israel’s genocide against Gaza. With courage and determination, they create life and hope, holding on to small joys on both shores of the Mediterranean.

Every year, dozens of students from conflict zones around the world come to Catalonia thanks to scholarships and support programs from the region’s public universities.

The Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation works for human rights in Palestine — both through humanitarian action on the ground and by offering temporary refuge in Catalonia to displaced people and university students.

Marc Almodóvar Martínez, Oriol Andrés Gallart i Sònia Calvó Carrió

2025

30 minutes

3Cat- Latituds