In the midst of a crowded camp of displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza, a gate with a disturbingly cheerful poster of a bright red cartoon race car sticks out. Inside, the walkway to the tent classroom is decorated with children's drawings that more closely reflect real life.
One depicts an orange and yellow house, green grass, and an olive tree above handwritten text that says, “I had a house, but today I have nothing.”
Twelve-year-old Rashir Al Shaar stopped to tell visitors how happy he was to be able to study with other children again at Al Mawashi. “I'm safe here,” she says. “No drones, no bombs. The best thing is to sit at your desk, look at the blackboard with your teacher, and pick up a pencil again.”
Despite considerable risks, a network of free private schools for war orphans and other children has quietly sprung up in the Gaza Strip. The schools, called Academy of Hope, are the brainchild of Dr. David Hassan, a Palestinian-American neurosurgeon who first traveled to Gaza on a medical relief mission shortly after Israel invaded Gaza in the wake of the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.
Although he has not returned to Gaza since early 2024, he has built partnerships with local humanitarian organizations, hired Palestinian staff via WhatsApp, and raised funds from mostly Jewish donors in the United States and Israel to build facilities.
Approximately 9,000 students from grades 1 to 9 attend classes at five campuses in southern Gaza. They cycle through the school in three-hour shifts and receive hot meals and medical and psychological care.
Running a school in any war zone is difficult enough, and schools across the enclave are struggling to rebuild. But Dr. Hasan's challenges are even more complex. He revamped the much-criticized national curriculum and sought to prevent Hamas from endangering schools. He also acknowledged that his staff had no links to armed groups, an accusation Israel has made against U.N. agencies and some international aid groups that support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
These schools teach a modified version of the Palestinian Authority curriculum taught in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, but none of the lessons demonize Jews or glorify perpetrators of violence against Israel. Dr. Hasan said the curriculum changes were made without permission from the authorities, raising the threat of retaliation from the Ministry of Education. A ministry spokesperson did not respond to repeated messages seeking comment.
Israel, the United States and the European Union have long complained that the authorities' textbooks inculcate hatred and anti-Semitism. Authorities say schools adequately teach Palestinian nationalism, history, and culture.
Excerpts from before and after the curriculum show the changes.
A math problem comparing the number of “martyrs” killed in the first and second intifadas was replaced with a question about participation in soccer matches in the West Bank.
A reading comprehension selection celebrating Dalal Mughrabi, the woman who led the genocide that killed 38 Israelis, including 13 children, in 1978 was replaced with one about pioneering Palestinian educator Hind al-Husseini.
And in Islamic studies classes, readings about the attempted murder of the Prophet Muhammad by Jews were replaced with readings about the Prophet's demonstration of respect for Jews.
Dr. Hasan's team also added new weekly lessons on “Peacebuilding” that teach ideals such as tolerance, respect for differences, the Golden Rule and conflict resolution.
A video recorded by school staff during a recent class shows a boy drawing the Palestinian and Israeli flags side by side. “I hope there will be no more wars so we can live,” he says.
Dr. Hassan acknowledged that his peacebuilding curriculum is politically charged and that some teachers fear a Hamas counterattack that would re-establish Hamas control over large parts of the Gaza Strip. Some teachers have reportedly quit or been fired over these concerns.
He said the school is also considering installing cameras in classrooms to ensure curriculum changes are supported.
On social media, some Gazans have questioned whether Dr. Hasan's policies are too aligned with those of Israel. Some resent Hamas and counter that it is better to teach children tolerance than to teach them self-sacrifice.
Discomfort with the subject was also evident in interviews with faculty, most of whom were first-time teachers or retired principals, rather than those hired from other schools. They insisted they were using a standard Palestinian curriculum, but when pressed they admitted there were some deletions.
Alaa Sabbar, 35, who was teaching a class on the basic building blocks of cells, said she wasn't just teaching science.
“We teach respect, tolerance and acceptance of others,” he said. “We teach children how to rise like phoenixes and come back from under the rubble. We teach them to love people and socialize.”
When the first school opened last July, Dr. Hasan said he provided the coordinates of the school to the Israeli military in hopes of protecting it. In August, staff were evacuated after warning of an Israeli attack. Shortly after, airstrikes hit neighboring insurgents. Dr. Hasan said the school suffered little damage, but a new location was quickly found.
That first school had space for 200 students, he said. On the first day, 500 people visited. “Some people hadn't eaten for days,” he said.
“The kids were so excited. It was their first time growing up,” he added. “And they didn't want to go home. We had to kick them out in the evening.”
Dr. Hasan said that last summer, when malnutrition was widespread under Israel's lockdown, he bought large quantities of flour on the black market for people living in Deir al-Bala. He said he gained the gratitude of local elders and convinced them to give him space to build the school.
Since then, he said, leaders of Gaza's extended families have helped secure space for more schools. “The way we achieved that was by gaining trust,” he said.
One way is to assure Israelis and donors, as well as their families, that his staff has no ties to extremist groups. Dr. Hasan said all employees have permission from Israeli authorities and are checked against the U.S. government's sanctions list.
He also reveals that his donors include Israelis. “I told the elders, 'I am working with the Israelites,'” he said. “They said, 'As long as you don't want to brainwash your children, it's fine.'”
Dr. Hasan, 53, a researcher and professor at Duke University School of Medicine, had no experience in humanitarian work before the 2023 attacks. Nor was he particularly connected to Palestinian life.
Born in Kuwait to a Palestinian family from the West Bank, he left the Middle East at age 18 to attend college in Texas. At age 19, he dropped his first name, Emad, and took the name David.
He said he felt spurred to action by the war. In December 2023, he was in Gaza on a medical mission, performing 20 surgeries in 10 days, often without the use of anesthesia or disinfectants. He recorded a video of maggots crawling out of the unhealed wound. All of the patients he operated on eventually died from infections, he said.
The following April, he returned with more medical supplies and better results.
But he couldn't get over the number of orphaned children – he saw a 10-year-old girl take care of her younger siblings immediately after losing her parents.
“These children, they are the victims of this war. They were indecisive,” Dr. Hasan said from his home in Durham, North Carolina.
He said he had not returned to Gaza since April 2024 because of the suspicions he had raised. When he wasn't operating, he said, he peered into hospital warehouses and asked questions, trying to learn if there were any Israeli hostages on the premises. He reportedly fled after receiving a report that armed groups were searching for him.
He also convinced Jose Andres, a celebrity chef at World Central Kitchen, to provide meals to the students, along with desks, benches and bookshelves.
Mr. Andres said he has also donated $500,000 to Dr. Hasan's project and plans to donate another $500,000.
“Sometimes big problems have very simple solutions that can be solved by people who have boundless energy and don't take no for an answer,” he said in an interview. “It’s okay to dream big, because Gaza needs people like David with big dreams.”
Dr. Hasan's sixth school, scheduled to open east of the southern city of Khan Yunis, will have space for 10,000 children, several university classes and a small zoo. And they hope to keep schools open with the goal of serving 250,000 young people by the end of the year.
For Shireen Mohammed, 34, school has been a godsend for her children.
“This is the best thing that ever happened to us,” she said. “Before this place was built, I was scared to send my kids anywhere, but now it's a safe and productive place for them emotionally, socially and educationally.”
Aisha Abu Marzouk, a 9-year-old evacuee from Rafah, said outside her classroom in Almawasi that she wants the new school to add a playground. But she had no complaints.
“I don’t want to leave this place,” she said. “My first day here was a great start to my life again.”
