Hanan is another student on the Hope Fund and in her 3rd year at Hollins University where she is studying a BA in Economics and Mathematics. She is 20 years old, a Muslim, and from large family of 8 who live in Bethlehem in the West Bank. As a young teen, she saw first hand her family directly affected by the violence, and watched her 17 year old uncle being chased by the army and imprisoned. She also lost a close friend, killed by the violence.
She is the only Arab-Palestinian on her Hollins campus and she describes her three years as transforming, challenging her beliefs. Living and studying at an all women’s’ college has made her identity as a woman grow stronger. She cares deeply about environmental issues and participated in the USA Youth Climate Summit. Most recently, she has been part of Israel-Palestine Peace groups and found them very challenging. She aspires to go on to study law and become a diplomat for Palestine.
Hanan says that a program like NSL will help her generation meet Israelis not as soldiers but as young people, just like them. She is currently in London for a semester. She writes,” I think that our generation is the one to start the real revolution, and really start working on a solution that satisfies both sides. A solution that is just and human, that makes my life as precious as the life of my fellow Israeli.”
Follow NSL