Zayoon, a lawyer to be.

Location: Gaza City

Hobbies & interests: I’m a human rights activist, and I’m extremely passionate when it comes to seeking justice for those who need it, that’s why I majored in and graduated from the College of Law. Plus, I like watching different videos, listening to music, watching series, and writing. I’m really into participating in voluntary work events and helping to positively affect people’s lives and truly change them for the better.

My chosen Ayah: “Allah does not change what is in a nation unless they change what is in themselves.” (Al-Raad:11).I always put this Ayah in front of me as it’s a perfect reminder for the person that he is the only one who has enough power whether to improve himself or to destroy himself and that he should not be sitting waiting for change to happen and not taking the initiative to change from within. And our condition in the world as Muslims is never going to change unless we change the way we treat our brothers, sisters, families, and communities.

What my motivation and enthusiasm lately led me to participate in was a camp for the young freshmen; I was a leader in this project and I gave these freshmen everything I believe I needed to have when I was a freshman myself. The youth here in Gaza are living in the worst conditions a person can ever imagine, they are full of negative, depressing and bleak emotions; as they believe they’re being trapped in this big prison that kills their hopes and dreams without any warnings. Therefore, the aim of this camp was to give these young people a ray of hope, and a place to let off steam, a new community in which they can make new friends and connections, and just a new way to have fun!

As a fresh graduate from Gaza, like many others, I dream of studying for a master degree outside of Gaza. Unfortunately, we are living in a state of despair where there is no hope, no stable political situation, nor a good general situation of the country; needless to mention the economic situation; and all these circumstances combined to kill the aspirations and the dreams of the young people and force them to look for opportunities outside of their hometowns. Keeping in mind that traveling out of here is almost impossible for the majority of people due to the suffocating siege. Moreover, what adds salt to the injury is being looked at by the Western societies as the bad guys and the terrorists. Of course, it’s all because of the media which leaves aside the good work that Muslims do and only focus on the bad things. I feel like there is this big international conspiracy to make Islam look bad. However, personally, I believe that the image of Islam has a little bit improved that it used to be, and I hope it only gets better, and I hope that people stop ruining the images of any religion with their actions.