Finally, Gaza PhD student gets her new beginning in Australia

By Ruth Pollard
Updated April 22 2014 - 11:23am, first published 10:57am
Sameeha Elwan, with her husband Ayman Qwaider.   “Since I was awarded the PhD scholarship, every day [was] a reminder that to be a Palestinian is to be entrapped in a circle of waiting," she wrote.  Photo: Ruth Pollard
Sameeha Elwan, with her husband Ayman Qwaider. “Since I was awarded the PhD scholarship, every day [was] a reminder that to be a Palestinian is to be entrapped in a circle of waiting," she wrote. Photo: Ruth Pollard

It is a new beginning that almost didn't happen. When Sameeha Elwan was awarded a scholarship in November to study for her PhD in Australia, her main worry was whether she would ever be allowed to leave Gaza. With the Rafah border crossing into Egypt now rarely open and the Erez crossing into Israel tightly controlled, it was as if she had been given a gift she was destined never to be able to accept.

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