YALLA VOTE ‘08 Our Voice. Our Future.

Students from Gaza who are the recipients of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship have just found out, through an email, that the State Department is canceling their scholarships. The reason? They cannot obtain exit visas from Israel and are unable to leave Gaza.

The New York Times first published the story about these students in the front page news today, emphasizing the surprising lack of action on the U.S.’s part in helping them obtain exit visas from Israel. They have since published additional articles, the latest predicting that Israel will reverse its decision.

U.S. officials, including Condaleeza Rice, have expressed surprise and disappointment at their own decision to withdraw their scholarships. Rice has promised to look into the matter and has said that “If you cannot engage young people and give complete horizons to their expectations and their dreams, I don’t know that there would be any future for Palestine.” However, the State Department has thus far not made any progress in helping the students obtain the necessary exit visas from Israel.

One of the recipients, Abdulrahman Abdullah, neatly summed it up when he said, “If we are talking about peace and mutual understanding, it means investing in people who will later contribute to Palestinian society…But who will build that state if we can get no training?”

The Fulbright Scholarships, according to their website, are given to individuals “chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential” and are intended to promote international education and cross-cultural understanding.