I am a Palestinian author, activist, and a PhD candidate in Sociology at Queen’s University Belfast and a NINE DTP Scholar. My research examines systematic attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system, focusing on their sociological impact on healthcare delivery, medical decision-making, and civilian survival, as well as the factors hindering the enforcement of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) protections for healthcare personnel and facilities.
My interest in this area developed during my MSc in Public Health at the University of Dundee, where my dissertation explored decision-making challenges faced by health workers in Gaza during the ongoing genocide. Recognising a critical gap between healthcare sociology and international law, my PhD bridges these fields using qualitative methods and critical paradigm. I also draw on my background in research, writing, and journalism to document and analyse lived experiences of healthcare under sustained violence.
I was recently awarded the 2026 Phil Strong Memorial Prize by the British Sociological Association’s Medical Sociology Group. The £1,200 award will support my participation in the University of Geneva Summer School in International Law and International Humanitarian Law, which directly contributes to the interdisciplinary development of my PhD research on healthcare under attack in Gaza.
The BSA announcement confirming the award can be found here: https://www.britsoc.co.uk/groups/medical-sociology-groups/medical-sociology-medsoc-study-group/prizes/phil-strong-memorial-prize/
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/phil-strong-memorial-prize-share-7505279596876025856-87Y_/
