The Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza and Taawon’s ISNAD Initiative have received the 2025 Academic Freedom Award granted by the Middle East Studies Association (MESA). The award recognizes their pivotal role in safeguarding the right to education, ensuring academic continuity, and sustaining higher education in Gaza despite the extensive destruction that has devastated the education sector and university infrastructure.
The award was received on behalf of the Initiative and Committee by Abdel Razzaq Takriti, a member of ISNAD’s Steering Committee, during MESA’s annual meeting held in Washington, D.C., from November 22 to 25, 2025.
This international recognition reflects the collective efforts led by the Emergency Committee, which includes deans, university presidents, and chairs of the boards of trustees of Gaza’s three non-profit public universities: Al Aqsa University, the Islamic University, and Al-Azhar University. The committee played a central role in coordinating the resumption of online education, setting academic priorities, ensuring continuity of the teaching and learning process, and advocating for the university's needs before international institutions.
The ISNAD Initiative was launched in November 2024 in response to the severe destruction inflicted on Gaza’s higher education sector. It aims to enable students to resume their university studies through online learning and to cover tuition fees to ensure academic continuity. Since its launch, ISNAD has successfully supported more than 5,000 students during one of the most challenging periods Gaza has faced in recent years.
Taawon emphasized that this achievement represents “an international acknowledgment of the resilience of Palestinian universities and of the tireless work carried out by the Emergency Committee and the ISNAD Initiative to prevent the collapse of the academic pathway despite bombardment and destruction.” The organization added that the award serves as a motivation to continue joint efforts to protect students’ right to education and to support academic institutions, so they remain standing and able to contribute to rebuilding society.
The partnering institutions expressed hope that this recognition will strengthen international solidarity with higher education in Gaza and open the way for new academic, research, and financial partnerships that support both students and universities in their ongoing journey of resilience and recovery.
