Let Light Shine: The Canadian campaign for St. George’s College Jerusalem that aims to raise $250,000 to support the college during the current war is a new expression of the close and long-standing partnership between the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.
On a personal level, the partnership also opened the door to a strong friendship that has grown between Archbishop Hosam Naoum and Bishop Shane Parker over the years. At Christmas, that friendship brought another special visitor from East Jerusalem to Ottawa.
Tareq Qirreh is an 18-year-old student who came to the University of Toronto in the fall to begin a science degree as the first part of his plan to go to medical school, specializing in immunology or neuroscience.
Tareq was a student at St. George’s School (adjacent to the college) from kindergarten until he finished high school. In his last year, he was the Secretary General of the school’s model/simulation of the United Nations. When Archbishop Hosam learned that he had applied and been awarded a scholarship to study at the University of Toronto, so far away from his family, he asked Bishop Shane to offer support to him. The bishop met Tareq in Toronto in the fall and invited him to spend the Christmas holidays with his family in Ottawa.
Tareq graciously agreed to a conversation with Crosstalk to share a bit more about what life is like for Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem these days.
How is your family doing back home?
“They’re doing fine, but I miss them. Sometimes it’s really hard. When Iran was bombing East Jerusalem and all of these places, it really felt bad not to be there with my family.
Were you worried for them?
“Not really that worried because we are kind of accustomed to it, but when you are away you feel that you kind of left them and they are experiencing that.”
Do you have brothers or sisters?
I have one brother and two sisters. I am the second youngest. My younger sister is three years younger than me; she’s still in high school. My other sister, she’s studying law, and she’s two years older than me, and my brother is four years older than me.
How did you decide to apply to Canadian universities?
“I was looking for places that can give me a certain type of education in life sciences. … Israeli universities don’t have … immunology as an undergraduate program and not neuroscience. They have really general programs, and I wanted something to be more specific and more rigorous, and I only found that in North America.”
Is your scholarship for all four years of your degree?
Yes, but it only covers about 60% [of the very high tuition for international students].
What is it like to be a Palestinian Christian in East Jerusalem?
I have lots of bad experiences in terms of discrimination. It feels that you always have to prove yourself more than other people would prove themselves just for the same treatment, just because your identity is holding you back. Not only as a Palestinian, but also as a Christian. Lots of people in Canada don’t know that. Christianity is the prevalent religion here, but actually, we’re a small minority in Palestine.
Has discrimination increased since the war started?
Generally, on an average day you will not really encounter that much discrimination, but sometimes things just happen. [One day last year] I saw three policemen. I was going to take a governmental exam, something really significant in … our curriculum, if you fail it you have to repeat the whole year. They stopped me and they asked me, ‘Are you a terrorist? … Mukharrib it literally maybe translates to destroyer. …One of them pushed me to the ground. The other one told me to stand up and then pinned me to the wall and he raised his gun as to intimidate me….One of them cursed me in Arabic, he cursed all Arabs…. I told them I have a test. They held me for 30 minutes and then they let me go take the exam. I had only five minutes, I was running to the school….
After that, whenever I saw a policeman, I would just go the other way…. When I thought about it recently, I thought why is it that a Palestinian Christian has to worry more about the policemen rather than the contents of a hard exam?
“Even at the airport, if you’re a Palestinian. I don’t have, for example, an Israeli passport, despite being born in Israel technically. I have a Jordanian travel document, and I have an Israeli travel document. When you go to the airport, they just hold you for longer, and they do all of the scanning and all of the stuff that they would do for people who hide drugs and stuff like that.
So, you aren’t an Israeli citizen?
I am a permanent resident.
Even though you were born there?
“Yeah, and my parents were born there. My parents’ parents were born there. I know that, for example, my mother’s family, they live in the old city. They’ve always lived there.”
How are you finding your time in Canada so far?
“It’s really cool. People are so hospitable. My friends from back home, they kind of scared me. I took it with a grain of salt, but they told me when you study abroad you’re going to be discriminated against in some sense because you’re Palestinian. But I’ve never experienced that in Canada. Actually, when I first came here and I went to the University of Toronto Scarborough, it’s a big campus, so I was lost. I asked a guy [for directions]. He asked where I’m from. I told him. I was reluctant but I just said it anyway. Then I just saw a big smile on his face, and from that moment I just knew I was welcome in Canada.”
Aside from this trip to Ottawa, have you had a chance to see and do different things in Canada?
“I really studied extremely hard the first semester, but we went to downtown Toronto a lot, me and my friends, and just that I love how diverse it is. You can try any cuisine you want.”
Bishop Shane has established a fund to assist Tareq Qirreh. Please contact the Bishop’s Office if you wish to help out.
Church of the Epiphany, Barry’s Bay — Deanery of the Northwest