Mustafa, the youngest member of the NSL team for 2011, is a 20 year old freshman at Millsaps College in Mississippi and his family originally comes from Gaza. Mustafa is specializing in biochemistry but his earlier avocation was computers and that is where he learned not only to become fluent in HTML and C and Delphi, but also trained himself to become fluent in English, in order to read the training manuals.
He was born, into an economically less well-off family in a war zone, and his parents insisted that he dedicate himself to his studies as his way of bettering both himself and the future of his community. He wants to become a doctor and return to serve the people of Gaza and to help them build a new and better future. Mustafa also works at the university in their IT support department and is considering majoring in computer science.
With all that background, he is a keen observer and activist in the on-line revolution that has taken place in Egypt and Tunisia. He recently presented a paper to other students on his insights into these amazing youth led revolutions. He sees the new technology as offering a unique chance for young people like him to “fix the mess inherited from the past” and he is eager to play his part. He is in America on the Hope Fund scholarship program.
Over the summer in 2011, Mustafa worked at Peace Now alongside team mate Maria Ginzberg in the shared work experience with Americans for Peace Now.
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