Between Bombs and Books: The Lasting Impact of War on Lebanese Students | Israel invades Lebanon

The pungent stench of rotting food and burnt furniture greeted 19-year-old Fouad Abou Mrad and his father when they returned home to the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stark reminder of how Israeli attacks have claimed their lives.

A student at the University of Notre Dame – Louaize and his family left their home in Dahiyeh during Israel’s bombing campaign in September.

“Seeing the place I grew up in in that state was just shocking. I’ve never experienced that in my life. It was straight out of [a] A horror movie,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that his home “smelled like dead bodies.”

Abou Mrad said he searched his destroyed home for school supplies – a laptop and other essentials – in early October as his university in the northern coastal city of Zouk Mosbeh restarted classes.

The learning and future of Lebanese students has been disrupted by Israel’s bombing of Lebanon, with almost half of the country’s 1.25 million displaced, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Education.

AND temporary ceasefire Between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, it was carried out on November 27, but only after months of bombings that left a psychological toll on young people like Abou Mrado. He and other students are now trying to get back into a regular routine and focus on taking their exams.

Abou Mrad, a hospitality and tourism major, is just one of hundreds of thousands of young people in Lebanon whose life – and education – has been a conflict.

“Nights from Hell”

November 18 is a day Sajed Salem will never forget.

The 23-year-old originally from South Lebanon lived alone on campus while attending Saint Joseph University in Beirut, located in the capital Ashrafieh.

That week, Israeli forces bombarded Beirut for days, which Salem called the “Nights from Hell.”

Despite the increased bombing, classes continued, and that Monday he was sitting in his culinary arts class when the explosions went off nearby. The explosions shook the building and the desks in the classroom.

“I was with ***. I was crying, screaming,” Salem told Al Jazeera.

‘Immense psychological toll’

According to Maureen Philippon, Lebanon Country Director for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), living through conflicts like these hinders academic progress and psychologically burdens students.

“Constant exposure to violence, displacement and leaves of loss [students] Very stressful and anxious, impairing their ability to focus, learn and retain information,” Philippon told Al Jazeera, adding that the “psychological toll is immense.”

These effects continue even after the end of the conflict.

“In Tyre, I saw that children were scared when they heard a plane, putting their hands over their ears and looking around in panic,” she said, referring to the city in southern Lebanon heavily bombed by Israel.

Exams in wartime

After the explosions shattered the walls of his classroom, Salem fled the same day to Choufa in central Lebanon, where some of his relatives had taken refuge.

“I called my cousin. I told him to come here immediately and pick me up,” he said.

Salem’s village of Dweira in southern Lebanon was among the first to be bombed When Israel escalated the war On September 23, his mother and siblings were trapped in their home due to strikes, Salem said.

Alone in Beirut, he couldn’t reach them by phone until the next day, a harrowing experience he said he wouldn’t wish on his “worst enemy.”

After going to Choufa, Salem’s problems were not over. School continued despite the bombings, and he was forced to travel to Beirut at least once or twice a week for exams.

Salem said that during the constant bombardment, his teacher continued to administer the exam despite students demanding a refund. He, along with many of his classmates, failed the test.

“The exam was not so easy. He [the teacher] He made it difficult,” Salem said. “I don’t know why. We told him, ‘Look at the situation. Please make it easy for us.'”

The right to education

Although Salem was unhappy with his teacher’s actions, experts said educators are key in helping students adapt to the challenges of war.

However, Philippon noted that conflicts also affect teachers, which is why governments and aid agencies are needed to provide support and resources.

According to Ahmed Tlili, an associate professor of educational technology at Beijing Normal University, whose research focuses on education in war zones, international law does not adequately protect education during war.

Although international humanitarian law protects children’s right to education in armed conflict, Tlili said these laws are usually not enforced.

“This underscores the need for concerted efforts to ensure that international laws protecting education, especially in war-torn regions, are not mere rhetorical gestures, but are actively upheld, enabling equitable access to education for all, even in the midst of conflict,” he told AL Jazeera.

International humanitarian law also prohibits attacks on schools and universities, classifying such acts as war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, experts said.

Ensuring that education is provided during wars is the responsibility of those outside the war zones, Tlili said, giving an example of the opportunities afforded to some students from Gaza.

“We can see that in [the case of Gaza]”Several Arab universities have opened their doors to the enrollment of Palestinian students without any restrictions,” he explained.

“We have also seen several international course providers waive their course access fees to Palestinian students and teachers, allowing them to freely access educational resources and teaching materials.”

‘Art, studies, our future’

Abou Mrad believes that the struggle to learn during the conflict was “unfair” to him and his colleagues.

They spent their nights in terror, anxious about seeing each other or their families again when they should be focusing on “art and studies and our future.”

He said he hoped some normalcy would return to Lebanon.

“We don’t know what may come next, … but we have to try to move forward normally,” Abou Mrad said.

Others, like Salem, said life in South Lebanon in particular has not been “normal” since Israel’s war on Gaza began. Even with a truce, The violence has not stoppedand Israel has been accused of violating the agreement hundreds of times.

And now, with the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad In December in neighboring Syria, Salem is even more uncertain about what will happen next.

“I’m happy for our Syrian brothers and sisters who got freedom from the Assad regime and everything,” Salem said, “but we have to pay attention to what’s next. … it’s [going to] affect us as Lebanese. “