Mohammad Saleh Ahmad Hassouna
Mohammad Hassouna (Muḥammad Hassūna) (محمد صالح أحمد حسونة) was a lecturer at the University College of Applied Sciences in Gaza (UCAS), Gaza City Governorate. He joined UCAS after his graduation with an MSc in Information Science and Multimedia Systems in 2015 from Malaysia National University. Besides teaching, he was a dynamic researcher and promoter of university-business collaboration to qualify students for work in the technology sector.
Professor Hassouna was also a member of a team of researchers in the joint Norwegian-Palestinian Project E-Pal (Equip Palestine with E-Learning). The project is a six-year collaborative initiative (2021-26) between UCAS, Palestine Polytechnic University (PPU) in Hebron, the LINK Centre for Learning, Innovation and Academic Development at the University of Oslo (UiO), and the Oslo Metropolitan University (OMU) Centre for the Study of Professions. Shortly after his murder on 17 December 2023 at the age of 45, the team memorialized him with the following words (excerpted with minor editing for clarity):
“We lost our dear colleague and project member, Mohammed Hassouna, who was brutally killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza together with his wife and his oldest son. Hassouna was the Director of the UCAS Incubator, which supports entrepreneurs with creative and ambitious ideas by providing them with administrative, technical and financial support. He worked hard to assist these startups to become successful businesses. Moreover, Hassouna had a deep engagement in technology-enhanced teaching in higher education and was continuously looking for new ways to use digital technologies to support students’ learning. During the Covid pandemic, he introduced several innovative teaching and learning approaches to support the conversion to online learning for UCAS staff and students.”
“Together with several colleagues at UCAS and the Islamic University of Gaza, he worked on a research and development project in our digital simulations group. They were developing and testing a digital tool to provide students with opportunities for more authentic English language learning, particularly within the domain of oral communication skills.”
“[His co-workers] remember him as a profoundly kind man, who went out of his way to support friends and colleagues both at work and in the local community. With the brutal murder of Hassouna, we have lost both a valued project member and a human being who was a great resource for his society.”
“Hassouna and his wife leave behind three children, who have now been orphaned due to the ongoing genocide perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces. May Hassouna, his wife, and his son rest in peace. May his homeland soon be liberated.”
Launch of the first incubator phase for enhancing the capabilities of female lawyers, sponsored by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)—Insaf (“Equity”) initiative, December 2022. Hassouna, then the head of UCAS technology incubator, is in front row, third from right