£40,000.
Looking at my phone, I couldn’t consider strangers had donated to us. Our family had finally met our goal.
For a moment, every part went quiet inside me. I hugged my husband, after which I began crying, not only out of relief, but out of disbelief. People we didn’t know had chosen to support my dream to check within the UK.
We ordered a cake, celebrated, sang and danced. My three children, all under five, couldn’t fully grasp the size of it, but understood something life-changing had happened. They thought it was a birthday cake, so we let or not it’s one.
After every part we had survived fleeing Gaza in May 2024, we were celebrating the brand new life we had just secured – in defiance of the hateful trolls who desired to see us fail.
My dream was at all times to pursue my MA in Britain. In 2016, at 24, I received three unconditional offers, but I couldn’t secure a scholarship or funding.
I put my dream on hold as I began my profession as a teacher, getting married, and having children, but I never forgot about it.
Our life was good before the war broke out, despite the recurring Israeli attacks. We had stable jobs and had built an exquisite home for our family.
Then, through the war, we fled to Egypt, where we’re currently based, to guard our kids. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, where I worked as a teacher, placed my colleagues and I on forced exceptional leave, but we continued teaching our students in Gaza online.
My husband and I then began teaching Arabic online to students all over the world to support ourselves and help our families back home. At the identical time, I began writing articles, sharing my experience of the conflict in Palestine.
I actually have around 2,000 subscribers the world over on Substack. My followers often reach out, telling me there’s something powerful and rare in hearing directly from Gazans about what we’re enduring.
Before the 12 months of outstanding leave ended, my contract was terminated in January. The war had already taken our home, now it had taken our jobs, alongside any sense of stability we had left.
That was the moment I made a decision to go after my dream again.
I started researching universities in Britain, and located myself drawn to media and communications. Goldsmiths felt like the proper place.
Inside every week, I took the International English Language Testing System, preparing intensively for five days, wrote my personal statement and research proposal, and received an unconditional offer for a Master’s by Research.
It was demanding, especially as a parent, but I used to be driven by an unbreakable determination.
To fund my MA and canopy living expenses for my family, I created a GoFundMe on March 13, which raised around £600 in three days. I shared the page on X on March 17, hoping I could raise a couple of thousand.
A number of hours later, Reform MP and former Home Secretary shared my post, saying universities should stop ‘selling immigration as an alternative of education.’
She questioned my right to bring my family with me after I got here to check, insinuating that I used to be abusing the system.
What made her words so cruel was she made it seem to be an optional luxury.
Soon after, awful attacks and hateful messages flooded in, saying we were ‘not welcome’, ‘95% of the country’ didn’t want us, and so they hated people like us.
Thankfully, this negative online attention resulted in a surge in donations from those that did help us, pushing the entire to about £16,000.
I received many kind messages, corresponding to ‘Good luck together with your studies,’ and ‘For each horrid comment, there are ten more individuals who will probably be delighted to welcome you and your loved ones here’.
But I used to be still shocked and devastated by the amount and intensity of the hate. I had no selection but to delete the X post, which had reached over 6.5 million views in 10 hours, and temporarily deactivate my account.
Those sending hate even reported my fundraiser, claiming it was a scam. GoFundMe paused the transfer of funds. I needed to undergo an exhausting verification process and direct confirmation from Goldsmiths of my MA, to maintain my donation page up.
On March 29, Owen Jones interviewed me and I spoke in regards to the attacks and my experience. The response shifted, and donations got here flooding in.
Two days later, I finally reached my goal of £40,000.
I actually have now paid my deposit to Goldsmiths and am waiting for my confirmation so I can apply for my student visa. I’m hoping to maneuver to London in August 2026, a couple of weeks before my MA begins.
We plan to support ourselves fully while within the UK. My husband will give you the option to show full time and, as a world student, I can work as much as 20 hours per week.
Once my master’s is complete, I hope to progress onto a PhD, and keep writing and speaking about Gaza.
For months, my life had been shaped by uncertainty, waking up every day not knowing what would come next or how we’d keep going. Now it seems like we will finally breathe again.
It jogged my memory that even within the darkest moments, there are people on the market who select kindness, and champion you, despite never having met you.
That feeling will at all times stick with me.
Do you’ve got a story you’d wish to share? Get in contact by emailing jessica.aureli@metro.co.uk.
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