Brief Encounters Journal

We are overjoyed to announce the release of the first contributions to the Special Issue of Brief Encounters! Centred on the theme of Pedagogical Resilience, Challenges and Adaptive Strategies, this issue is composed of work contributed by students and faculty of the English Department at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza. Since the call for papers in April 2025, submissions have responded to and defied the lived realities of indiscriminate bombardment, enforced displacement, and the systematic denial of vital resources in creative and critical forms of writing and image-making. We invite you to engage with this work in a commitment to Palestinian scholars’ determination to continue teaching and learning despite the mass destruction of higher education in Palestine. Take a look at the first seven contributions by visiting the Linktree in our bio now! We can’t wait to share more posts about our authors in the coming days. We will remain so grateful to each of them – for their determination, patience and open-heartedness. #EducationMatters #Gaza #Resilience #صمود #AlAqsa_University #Palestine #فلسطين

We are delighted to announce that Issue 9 of Brief Encounters is live! Visit the link in our bio to read the full issue, centred on the theme Encounters in Solidarity. Image: A women's handicraft workshop supervisor in Sayeda Ayesha, Cairo. Photograph by Dr Maha Gaad, 2022. #Solidarity #Published #AcademicWriting #Phd

To amplify the voices of students & academics in Gaza, Brief Encounters is collaborating with associates and members of the English department at Al-Aqsa University to produce a special issue centred on Pedagogical Resilience, Challenges and Adaptive Strategies. We are honoured to have Dr Ahmed Kamal Junina, Head of the department and Assistant Professor in Applied Linguistics, join the editorial board as guest senior editor. The special issue affirms the right to education as it extends to our peers in Gaza and is intended to contribute to a deeper understanding of how the global academic community can respond in times of crisis. On 12 April 2025, CHASE-affiliated members of the editorial team, George Clutterbuck and Millie Riddell, were kindly invited to convene with Dr Junina, and current and former members of Al-Aqsa University’s English faculty and student body, to formally announce the call for contributions. Since then, they have been welcomed to an ongoing series of workshops as part of RECONNECT – an initative which strives to restore access to education for students in Gaza, founded and led by Dr Junina since March 2025. * Despite the unconscionable cruelty, criminality and international failure which continues to create unrelenting adversity, our peers and colleagues in Gaza resist. The deliberate devastation of educational and healthcare infrastructure, the purposeful denial of vital resources, and continued indiscriminate bombardment have not prevented our peers and colleagues from continuing to show beyond doubt their intellectual ambitions, strength and compassion. These efforts to efface their existence and shatter their capacity to sustain life give rise to deep anguish. It is our deepest wish that the work we have begun together will continue to develop in ways we cannot yet foresee. To our peers & colleagues in Gaza: thank you for sharing your knowledge with such generosity, thank you for welcoming us into your virtual classroom and for defying continued, imminent threat so that we can convene. We continue to prepare so that we may do so again at the earliest possible time. #FreePalestine

Yesterday, members of our editorial team had the honour of attending the launch event of Resilient Voices. Supported by the @britishcouncil , Resilient Voices is a youth-led digital storytelling initiative, empowering young Palestinians to share their stories, cultural heritage, and unwavering spirit through written pieces, podcasts and videos. At the event, we listened to reflections from participants and organisers, who described their journey of collaboration – persisting through displacement, forced starvation, and grief – united by a common purpose: to champion the voices of young Palestinians and preserve their history. The outstanding quality of work produced through this project not only creates a new precedent for collaboration with storytellers in Palestine, but demonstrates the remarkable successes that can be achieved when compassion, mutual respect and creativity are at the heart of every effort. Follow @resilientvoices2026 to visit the website, share in these stories, and stay connected with this remarkable project as it continues to unfold. Join in a shared refusal of the normalisation of atrocity. A huge thank you to the incredible team behind this project: Dr María Auxiliadora Durán, @mcmorrowmartin , and @heimuoshu , all under the leadership of @ahmed_junina . It has been a true privilege to hear about, and now engage with, the exceptional work created by all the contributors. The chance to celebrate you has given us immense joy, and our love of learning from you only continues to grow. Thank you. #ResilientVoices #BritishCouncil #Palestine #Storytelling #CulturalHeritage

From ‘Learning Under Siege: A Student’s Fight for Education in Gaza’ by Sondos Abdalfattah Sobih In Gaza, education is more than learning – it is a lifeline, a form of resistance, and a statement of hope. Amid war, displacement, and daily hardships, Palestinian students persevere, holding on to knowledge as if it were oxygen. In this article, @sondos_sobih.04 shares her personal journey and the unyielding spirit that drives Palestinians to continue learning, speaking, and documenting their lives, despite impossible circumstances. Sondos wrote this piece between June and September 2025. Visit the Linktree in our bio now to read Sondos’s work in the Special Issue! Biography correction: Please note that Sondos is a student of English Literature, rather than English Language and its Teaching Methodology. #EducationMatters #Gaza #Resilience #صمود #AlAqsa_University #فلسطين #Hope

From ‘Where Fear Hides, Hope Shines: Gaza’s Children in the Shadow of War’ by Dana Hamdan Combining reportage with personal reflection, @dana.hmmdn sheds light on the impact of the occupation upon children in Gaza. Using video, image and reported speech, Dana preserves the experiences of a young boy, Oday, and his little brother, upholding the dignity of children in Gaza, showing how their stories can be told ethically and with compassion. Dana wrote this piece during July and August 2025. Visit the Linktree in our bio now to read Dana’s work in the Special Issue! #EducationMatters #Gaza #Resilience #صمود #AlAqsa_University #فلسطين #Childhood #ForcedStarvation

From ‘Reflections on Displacement, in Three Parts’ by Menna Saber Abo Salem Through a series of three dispatches, @mennasaber.as recounts her experiences as a university student navigating ongoing displacement. The series traces practices of resilience which have emerged for her in this ongoing crisis, through interwoven vignettes, poetry and photographs. The work meditates on the university as a dual form of shelter, as both physical sanctuary in crisis and symbolic locus of writerly production as resistance. Menna wrote this series in August and September 2025. Visit the Linktree in our bio now to read Menna’s work in the Special Issue! We are also delighted to share the news that Menna’s first zine, ‘Am I Survivor?’, has been published by @zinesfromgaza ! Follow their page or visit the Linktree in our bio to find out more and get your hands on a copy. #EducationMatters #Gaza #Resilience #صمود #AlAqsa_University #فلسطين #Displacement

From ‘Life as a Student in Gaza Under Siege’ by Maryam Sharif Abed Amid Gaza’s sorrow, a small light still fights to shine among the ruins. Pain grows every minute, but the people who have endured – and resisted injustice – cannot be silenced. In this piece, @mariam.___.55 chronicles the endurance of a resistant spirit, among the tragedies and trials of displacement and war, in devotion and dedication to her brother, Abdulrahman, and her close friend, Dima. Maryam wrote ‘Life as a Student in Gaza Under Siege’ around August 2025. Visit the Linktree in our bio now to read Maryam’s work in the Special Issue. #EducationMatters #Gaza #Resilience #صمود #AlAqsa_University #فلسطين #Remembrance

From ‘Burning Footsteps’ by Alaa Ashraf El-Qarra Alaa provides a detailed and powerfully personal account of the events immediately surrounding an attack on the Bani Suheila neighbourhood of Khan Younis on 22 July 2024. Following the narrator as they navigate intense chaos and destruction, this piece reveals the devastating human cost that the attack created, yet also the remarkable resilience of those dealing with its fallout. Alaa began writing ‘Burning Footsteps’ soon after the events, completing it in April 2025, shortly after the RECONNECT initiative was founded by Dr Ahmed K. Junina. Visit the Linktree in our bio now to read Alaa’s work in the Special Issue! #EducationMatters #Gaza #Resilience #صمود #AlAqsa_University #فلسطين #Displacement

From ‘A Saturday with No Sunday: The Struggle for Existence’ by Shams Mazen Rajab In reflective and lyrical prose, @shams.m.rajab describes her personal journey living under siege in Gaza, navigating daily hardships, loss, and fear. Yet, despite everything, it is also a story of hope, proof that light can still exist in the darkest places. Through her writing, Shams aims to deliver the unheard voices from Gaza to the world, showing that even amid destruction, creativity and resilience endure. Visit the Linktree in our bio now to read Shams’s work in the Special Issue! #EducationMatters #Gaza #Resilience #صمود #AlAqsa_University #فلسطين #Hope

From ‘A White Stain in Endless Dark’ by Maha Muhammad Al-Farra In a poem written from within the reality of war, @mahalfarra_ crafts an alphabet-based poetic structure to call for justice and send a message of resilience. This poem is written out of an unshakeable faith in the power of words and a refusal to be silenced. Maha wrote ‘A White Stain in Endless Dark’ in April 2025. Visit the Linktree in our bio now to read Maha’s work in the Special Issue! #EducationMatters #Gaza #Resilience #صمود #AlAqsa_University #فلسطين #War

“It is high time; I need to dance to the rhythm of the Dhol”. From “‘Off Leisurely Confrontations’ – a Dhol Reconnaissance by Sehr Jalil and Roberto Prestia. Visit the Linktree in our bio to watch the full piece now in Issue 9! #Kathak #ImperialWarMuseum #WWII #India #DancePerformance