Over fifty members of the Philadelphia peace community participated in a dinner on December 28th at the Oxford Circle Community Center in Philadelphia celebrating 20 students from Gaza who finished their first term in American universities.
The dinner event organized by the Philadelphia Palestinian Americans and Prayers for Peace Alliance heard from Gaza Scholarship initiative organizers, community leaders, and some of the students who came from Gaza on a full scholarship to continue their education.

A unique feature of the event was the comradeship that was expressed between Jews and Palestinians along with peace supporters in the Philadelphia area. The Gaza students studying in universities throughout the US came to Philadelphia to spend the Christmas break season. Organizers called on supporters in the Philadelphia area to consider taking students as interns in the summer and to support the effort. Over 100 students from Gaza are studying worldwide as part of the Gaza Scholarship Initiative.

Samuel Kuttab, one of the event organizers, said that the Palestinian community is proud of supporting these accomplished students. “We see in these excellent students the future of Palestine and we are proud to play a small role in supporting them.”

Speakers focused on the importance of humanizing the Palestinian people and the importance of supporting the people of Gaza who are going through an unprecedented war that has not spared civilians and has caused the destruction of academic life in Gaza.