News Editor Matthew Pellow sits down with Ahmad Titi, a young Palestinian graduate from the West Bank, Palestine, to discuss his experiences growing up under Israeli occupation, navigating the challenges of finding employment in a struggling Palestinian economy and his work at an aid charity.
Amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, international media attention has understandably focused on the situation there, leaving developments in the West Bank largely underreported. However, it is crucial that the struggles of Palestinians in the West Bank are not overlooked, as illegal Israeli settlements in the region expand rapidly.
I first met Ahmad in June 2023, when he led a tour of his hometown, the al-Arroub refugee camp, for the Palestinian Center for Education and Cultural Exchange. During the tour, Ahmad provided powerful insights into the daily hardships faced by the camp’s residents, offering a firsthand account of life under occupation. Our conversations left a lasting impression on me, deepening my understanding of the complexities of the Palestinian experience.
Through my discussions with Ahmad and my visits to refugee camps in the West Bank, my understanding of life under occupation has been profoundly enriched. I hope this interview offers similar insights and perspectives.
Growing Up in a Palestinian Refugee Camp
Following the mass displacement of Palestinians from present-day Israeli territory during the 1948 Palestine War, known as the Nakba, more than 50 refugee camps were established across the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
Initially, the camps were rudimentary, with displaced Palestinians living in UN-provided tents. As it became clear that escaped Palestinians would not be permitted by the Israeli government to return to their homes and resume the lives they had left behind, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) began to replace the temporary tents with permanent concrete structures by 1955.
Today, more than 912,000 Palestinians live as registered refugees in the West Bank, of whom a quarter live in 19 refugee camps, according to UN figures.
In this context, Ahmad and his family have lived in al-Arroub refugee camp since his grandparents fled to the West Bank following the depopulation of their village, Iraq al-Manshiyya, during the 1948 war. Today, the Israeli city of Kiryat Gat stands in its place.
Al-Arroub’s population is comparable to that of a small town in the UK, with around 16,000 residents according to UNRWA figures. However, the population density of that ‘small town’ far surpasses even London, the UK’s most densely populated area. While London has a population density of 5,690 people per square kilometre, al-Arroub’s population density is dramatically higher at around 37,000 people per square kilometre.
“It truly feels like living in a cage if you live in a refugee camp.”
The problem is only getting worse. Due to legal restrictions, expanding the camp’s footprint is virtually impossible. As new generations are born, the only option is to build upwards to accommodate them, leading to an ever-increasing population density.
“The streets are poorly constructed; the houses are tightly packed together which can be quite overwhelming at times,” Ahmad explained.
“The high population density adds to that discomfort and the frequent raids by Israeli forces only exacerbate the situation.”
It is important to note that a third of all residents of the camp are children, who are undoubtedly the greatest victims of the Israel-Palestine conflict on both sides. According to a study by academics at Tel Aviv University, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was identified in 70.2% of the Palestinian population, affecting children most egregiously. The psychological effects of the conflict are not exclusive to Palestinians, with 13.9% of Israeli children living in the centre of Jerusalem alone suffering from PTSD.
Ahmad emphasised the traumatic effect of military raids, which he said occur at least twice a week: “Living in a place that is frequently raided is undoubtedly a traumatic experience, especially for children whose mental wellbeing is deeply affected by the constant fear.
“Every raid brings loud fire and tear gas instilling terror along with the lingering anxiety that homes may be stormed at any time. I know this all well, having grown up with these experiences myself.”
During my 2023 visit to the camp, my tour was brought to a sudden end when Ahmad received a message from friends in the camp that there was an incident at the entrance of the camp. The first sign of trouble was the distinctive smell of tear gas, which brought me back to my experience of the often overzealous police response to the manifs sauvages of Marseille.
This time, however, the tear gas was not aimed at members of a black bloc – who might reasonably expect such confrontations – but at several children from the camp. According to onlookers I spoke to, these children had been mischievously throwing rocks at the bulletproof Israeli military installation at the camp’s entrance. Such an experience is all too common in West Bank refugee camps.
Ahmad shared a similar experience from his childhood, “I still remember one incident vividly when a group of soldiers scared me so badly that I broke down in tears. It’s a memory I’ll never forget and I believe that no one deserves to live like this. No one.”
Ahmad underscored the problems caused by a lack of crucial public services.
“I can assure you that it is a deeply horrifying and terrifying experience living in a refugee camp. It is incredibly challenging, particularly due to the lack of infrastructure and essential governmental services.”
He also noted, “The absence of hospitals, police stations and fire stations further complicates life in here making it even harder to grow up in such conditions.”
There is one health centre in al-Arroub, with only seventeen healthcare staff serving almost 16,000 residents. Comparing this with Israel’s rate of roughly 3.3 doctors per 1000 people, a back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests a town of a similar population to al-Arroub in Israel would have around 53 doctors.
Across Palestine, for Palestinians with severe conditions like cancer, there is little opportunity for quality healthcare in their hospitals and many have to apply to be treated at hospitals within Israel.
According to UNRWA, in 2023, there were 58 injuries caused by live ammunition in the camp.
Ahmad said, “In the camp, we do not have a place to deal with this type of injuries. So you’ll have to drive to a hospital and the hospitals are located in the cities. Hebron has four hospitals and Halhul has a new hospital.
“But the thing is that you cannot easily go to these cities. You have to flank around the camp, you have to take longer roads and they’re dirt roads. They’re not made for cars to drive on them. So it just makes things even more difficult.”
There is only one ambulance in the camp. As Ahmad succinctly put it, “Believe me, one ambulance is not enough”.
This can have life threatening consequences when there are incidents with the Israeli military at the camp. For example, on 7 October 2024, two Palestinians were shot by Israeli soldiers in a confrontation. Such confrontations are highly common within the camp, yet the shortage of ambulances makes it challenging to provide adequate medical care.
The case of 16-year-old Milad al-Raee is particularly devastating. According to Al-Jazeera, as Milad was returning to the camp on 9 September 2023 after a barbecue outside the camp, he was tragically killed by a bullet fired by an Israeli soldier. The Israeli military said it was retaliating against people throwing molotov cocktails, using tear gas and live ammunition.
Despite the hardships of living in a refugee camp, there are redeeming aspects. There are three schools in the camp, one operated by UNRWA, which Ahmad attended for ten years, and two schools operated by the Palestinian government. Ahmad said these schools provide “some hope and opportunity for education in this difficult environment”.
Ahmad also spoke about the strong sense of community in the camp. He explained, “The close-knit nature of the camp means everyone knows one another, fostering a spirit of friendliness and support among neighbours and friends.
“Here, there is no room for hatred, only genuine warmth and positive connections between people.”
Attending University Under Occupation
Despite ongoing conflict, the standard of education in Palestine remains remarkable. In 2023, over 42.9% of eligible young Palestinians were in tertiary education and around 18% of the population of Palestine hold a university degree. A 2022 report from UNESCO found that Palestinians have one of the highest literacy rates in the world, at 99%.
“In Palestine, people love education.”
Ahmad explained the difficulty of his university experience, “What’s bad about it is the restricted movement between cities. It was never easy to get to the university and come back home from it.
“It was always a stressful experience to me as you had to go through a lot of traffic jams and checkpoints and of course, the traffic jams are caused by the presence of checkpoints and gates. But friends made this experience better.”
Although university enrolment rates are high in Palestine, this does not necessarily translate to a consistently high quality of education.
“The quality of education here is rather weak and I have always aspired to study abroad, especially in Germany where the education system is really strong.
“I knew that attending a Palestinian University would not meet my expectations, especially in my field, computer engineering. The lack of proper equipment was one of the hardest obstacles to overcome.”
The state of education in Palestine is particularly important in the context of the Israel-Hamas War. In what UN experts have called a “scholasticide”, all universities and schools in Gaza have shut and most have been destroyed by Israeli bombing campaigns.
As their peers in Gaza are forced to indefinitely break their university education, one might expect significant protest on campuses in the West Bank. However, protest against Israeli occupation and the war in Gaza is all but impossible for West Bank Palestinian students. They may face arbitrary detention in Israeli prison for demonstrating on campus, as illustrated in a report by Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.
Protest has always been a significant element of the student experience in the UK, particularly in the last year as students protested against Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza. Roar has covered the protests for a ceasefire in Gaza at King’s extensively.
“It’s not really possible to protest freely as a Palestinian.”
Ahmad said, “I personally would rather not do that [participate in demonstrations] because I might end up in trouble. And these protests usually end up violent and I personally hate violence. So I always stayed away from these things.”
Prospects for Young Palestinians
Even before the outbreak of the current conflict in Gaza, which has increased unemployment dramatically in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, there was a youth unemployment rate of almost 42% across Palestine. In this context, countless young Palestinians face a difficult choice: either remain in their homeland, often in poverty, or seek career opportunities abroad.
Despite having an undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering, Ahmad has struggled to find any regular work, let alone work in the technology industry.
Until he found a role with the CFJ, Ahmad worked irregularly in construction. He explained that on the days he could find work as a labourer on a construction site, he would only be paid the equivalent of around £15 a day, when in Europe a labourer could expect at least five times that salary.
Ahmad explained that the crux of the issue is related to the fact that Palestine produces large numbers of graduates, but has a very limited sector of highly-skilled jobs. In this highly competitive labour market, only a wealthy and privileged few have the opportunity to get high-skilled jobs.
Another issue with the Palestinian job market is caused by the Palestinian economy’s lack of development, relative to the high levels of education and development within its people.
“My field is computer engineering. I should be working with hardware components of the computers.” He explained, “We don’t have any advanced factories or electronic factories sadly.”
Ultimately, this dire economic situation leads to a ‘brain drain‘ from Palestine, as young Palestinians seek to escape their severely stunted career prospects.
Many Palestinians choose to move abroad to Germany, partly due to its promise of free university education. Ahmad’s decision to pursue a career in Germany stemmed from three main factors: the higher quality of education, family connections and an appreciation for German culture. The educational opportunities in Germany were particularly appealing to him.
As Ahmad explained, “The high quality of education…is the main reason I want to pursue my postgraduate studies there.”
His brother, already studying nanotech engineering in Germany, often shares how much more advanced the education system is compared to that in Palestine. His brother also frequently expresses gratitude for living in a place free from the violence that persists back home. In addition to these reasons, Ahmad has developed an appreciation for German culture, having learnt the language to a B1 fluency, and enjoys the openness of the Germans he has met online.
He said, “They’re [Germans are] friendly and open. Whether I’m connecting with them on Discord or other online platforms, they’re always friendly with me.”
While tuition is free in Germany, the state requires that prospective students have a closed bank account with €12,000 to ensure international students have enough money for subsistence, without the need for state intervention.
This was far less of a problem for Ahmad’s brother, who moved to Germany in 2018. As government school teachers, since November 2021, Ahmad’s parents have seen their salaries halved (explored in more detail later in this piece), meaning that it has been extremely difficult for Ahmad’s family to arrange his closed bank account.
“I’ll be honest with you. Nobody has €12,000, now, in these situations, nobody has that amount of money.”
Facing few other options, Ahmad created a GoFundMe page to raise the money required by his German visa application.
Catastrophe After October 7th
On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched an unprecedented terrorist attack on Israel. During the horrific attack, some 1,200 were killed and 250 hostages were taken to Gaza, where the group is based, according to Israeli figures.
Ahmad described his immediate reaction to the October 7th attacks:
“On the morning of October 7th, I woke up that day at 11 a.m. in the morning after everything had already unfolded. And when I checked my phone and I saw the news, only one thought came into my mind:
‘We are in deep trouble.’ Those were my exact words.
“I knew immediately that whatever had happened that day would bring severe consequences for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. And I can only wish that [the attacks] had never happened.”
In response to the attack, Israel launched bombing raids and a ground invasion, killing at least 44,282 people, including 17,492 children, as of publication, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Even in the brief period between writing and editing this piece, the reported death toll has risen by over a thousand.
Over a year later, Gaza lies in ruin. A UN report suggested that two-thirds of all buildings in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank – an area under continuous Israeli occupation since the Six-Day War of 1967 – violence against Palestinians by settlers and Israeli military forces has intensified significantly.
Ahmad said his life in al-Arroub refugee camp has “drastically changed since October 7th”, taking a “significant downturn”. He explained that since October 7th, the West Bank has “effectively become a closed military zone with roads now filled with checkpoints and gates”, in addition to those at the entrances to refugee camps.
He continued, “The Israeli authorities have successfully isolated Palestinian cities and villages making it impossible for us to move freely between cities and villages due to the closures, many people have lost their jobs and those who still have work are facing significant difficulties including my father himself.
“He’s a high school teacher and he also relies on given private classes and needs to drive to different cities around our camp. Since October 7th, his mobility has been severely restricted [by Israeli military checkpoints], forcing him to stay at my sister’s house, which is located on the outskirts of Hebron so that he can easily move between cities that are outside the camp.
“There’s a city called Halhul where my dad teaches and where my dad give most of his private classes. So if my dad stays overnight in Hebron, he can freely move to Halhul in the morning.
“My dad now has to sleep outside [of his family home] for several days [per week] due to the current conflict.”
Since the State of Israel collects taxes on behalf of the PA, as agreed to in the 1994 Paris Accords, it also has the power to withhold tax revenues. According to a report by UN Trade and Development, revenue withholdings by Israel ballooned to over $1.4 billion (£1.1 billion) between 2019 and April 2024. As the revenue crisis of the PA worsens, the biggest victims are government employees, who have received only half of their salaries since November 2021.
Ahmad explained how this has severely damaged his own family’s financial situation.
He shared, “For the past two and a half years, the government has only paid its employees half of their salaries and both of my parents are still receiving reduced pay until this day.
“This situation has created a considerable challenge for my dad who had invested in a new house. And due to the ongoing conflict since October 7th, he has now found himself in so much debt.”
Bringing Aid to Gaza
Earlier this year, Ahmad took on a role as a Coordinator at the Center for Freedom and Justice (CFJ), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) formed in 2008 to provide aid and development to Beit Ummar, a rural town in the Hebron Governorate. As a Coordinator, Ahmad is tasked with communicating with volunteers and foreign organisations, establishing connections, arranging meetings and presenting projects to the public with videos.
Since the outbreak of the current conflict in Gaza after 7 October 2023, the charity has refocussed to provide aid to Gazan Palestinians, of whom over 1.8 million face extreme hunger according to UN figures.
“One of the CFJ’s key annual initiatives is a relief project that provides food for sale to families in need,” he explained. This program has taken on new urgency since the outbreak of the current conflict.
He revealed, “About three months ago, the CFJ successfully sent 2,000 parcels to Gaza. As of today, over 20 trucks have been prepared with approximately 23,000 parcels, filled with essentials including food, cleaning supplies, and other necessities for Gaza.”
However, delivering aid to Gaza is incredibly difficult. Aid agencies and the Biden administration have accused Israel of blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, representing a war crime according to the Human Rights Watch.
Ahmad emphasised the difficulty the CFJ has faced in delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
“It’s been extremely challenging.” He told me, “The aid we sent three months ago was made possible with support from the World Food Programme and Al-Imdaad Foundation, but these organisations have since paused their activities [in response to alleged targeting by the Israeli military].”
Ahmad explained that the CFJ is considering establishing its own direct aid initiative, “aiming to send aid to Gaza without relying on third parties or intermediaries”. However, delivering aid from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip would require permission from the Israeli government’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.
Ahmad said, “We’ve been working on obtaining this permission for over a month now and, unfortunately, haven’t succeeded yet – but we are determined to keep trying until we do.”
He continued, “With this registration, we’ll be able to secure permissions to send aid to Gaza more easily and efficiently. If successful, we plan to establish a regular flow of 10 to 12 aid trucks per week to Gaza.”
Ahmad concluded, “Looking ahead, we’re also preparing to launch larger relief projects in the West Bank though our immediate priority remains Gaza for the meantime.”
As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza escalates, the work of aid and development organisations such as the CFJ becomes all the more vital.
We concluded our conversation with a particularly challenging question. I asked Ahmad whether he felt optimistic about the future of Palestine and its people, despite the bleak realities of life for Palestinians today. His response was sombre:
“It is really sad to say it but no, I’m not optimistic about the future of this country. I think this place is meant to live through conflicts forever, reshaped by a lot of historical changes along the years – and this will continue.”
“All I want is just a peaceful, free life, away from violence and away from conflicts.”
If you would like to make a donation to support the work of the Center for Freedom and Justice, follow this link. Separately, if you would like to donate to support Ahmad in his ambition to study in Germany, follow this link.
