A GW alumnus living in Gaza City is urgently trying to leave his home and escape the ongoing conflict that has left nearly a thousand dead and many more wounded.
Kamal El-Kafarna, a native Palestinian who received his master’s degree in systems engineering from GW in 2003, said he has been scared to leave his house since the violence between Israel and Hamas began anew three weeks ago. In a phone interview with The Hatchet, El-Kafarna said he has been trying to evacuate the conflict-ridden area with his wife and two American-born children.
El-Kafarna’s two children, ages five and six, were born during his time in D.C. and are therefore U.S. citizens. On Wednesday, he spoke with officials from the American consulate, who told him they have been working to evacuate U.S. citizens.
“They didn’t tell me if my children are on the list,” he said. “I believe we are on the list, but they didn’t confirm it.”
El-Kafarna added that he is frustrated with the American government’s efforts at evacuating its citizens from Gaza.
“The government is late on the evacuation,” he said. “We’re in the third week of war here, and the embassy in Jerusalem just started working on it.”
Compounding El-Kafarna’s frustration are the more successful efforts of other governments to take care of their own citizens in Gaza.
“The Russians, the Canadians, the majority of the foreign citizens in Gaza have been evacuated before Americans,” he said. “The U.S. should be the first to evacuate.”
Andy Laine, a man for the State Department, said about 150 Americans and their families have requested to be evacuated from Gaza. Twenty-seven have been evacuated so far, Laine said, adding, “we are taking necessary steps to help them depart as soon as the arrangements can be made for their safe travel.”
Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, also criticized the American government’s response.
“On the individual level, State Department officials are doing their best,” he said. “But the Bush administration has not lifted a finger to help American citizens under attack from weapons paid for by the American taxpayer.”
The past few weeks have been harrowing for El-Kafarna and his family. His house “shakes with every explosion,” and he is usually forced to go without electricity and running water.
“The bombs have been very, very close to the house,” he said, adding that Israeli tanks are also close. “The best thing to do is stay at home, but sometimes you have to go out, which is a danger.”
El-Kafarna said he has pleasant memories of his time in Foggy Bottom and hopes to return to GW sometime in the future to begin doctoral work. His wife accompanied him to D.C., where she became the sixth Muslim to volunteer at the Library of Congress.
“We were very proud of that,” he said. “She was like a pioneer.”
Upon returning to his home in Gaza, El-Kafarna became a lecturer at Palestine Technical College. In the past few years, however, things have gotten progressively worse, he said.
“I had hoped to apply what I learned at George Washington here in my country, but the situation doesn’t let you improve things.”
Since the conflict began he has been unable to get to his office, he said. And his efforts to return to the United States have been impeded by the ongoing conflict.
“The problem is I can’t get out of Gaza to get to the U.S. consulate and get the proper paperwork,” he said. “All the borders are closed. The only way to leave Gaza is to get someone to help you.”
