Hope and a telescope enthrall Gaza stargazers

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A Palestinian astrophysicist returns home with a new mission — teaching kids to look up from their blockaded surroundings and into the vastness of the universe.

By KARIN LAUB
The Associated Press





Baraka, 45, is back home with a new mission: teach kids to look up from their blockaded, beaten-down surroundings and into the limitless beauty of the universe.

He has procured the first known telescope in Gaza, a donation from the International Astronomical Union, and plans to introduce astronomy in Gaza's three universities. He also dreams of building an observatory and a geomagnetic-research station.

It seems ambitious for a territory that has been under lockdown by Israel and Egypt for nearly four years. But Baraka is optimistic. In a region torn by political and religious conflict, he looks at what people have in common, not what sets them apart.

"There is a beautiful universe for everybody, no borders, no fences, no wall," he said.

Baraka kept his faith even after he lost his 11-year-old son, Ibrahim, during Israel's war on Hamas more than a year ago.

Baraka was at Virginia Tech at the time, two months into a yearlong research grant from NASA and the National Science Foundation, while his wife and four children stayed behind in his hometown of Khan Younis in Gaza.

On Dec. 29, 2008, an Israeli warplane bombed the Baraka family home. Ibrahim was hospitalized in Egypt, his skull broken. Baraka flew from the U.S. to Egypt, praying. He cried at his son's bedside. Ibrahim never regained consciousness and died a week after the bombing, one of about 1,400 Palestinians killed in a three-week offensive aimed at ending years of rocket fire from Gaza on Israeli towns.

Baraka was barred from entering Gaza while the war was going on and missed his son's funeral. With nowhere else to go, he flew back to the U.S. to complete his research year.

In October he returned to Gaza with a new mission: Get kids excited about space and to honor his son's memory.

On March 12, he held his first "star party." Wearing a NASA cap, he set up the telescope in the courtyard of his son's school in Khan Younis and attracted three dozen pupils, mostly boys but also a few girls in headscarves, and some parents and teachers.

A few adults demanded to know whether space science was compatible with Islam. Baraka won their trust by quoting from the Quran.

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Then the children stepped up to the telescope.

"This is something beautiful," said Abdullah Majaideh, 14, after gazing heavenward. "I never expected to look into the telescope and see the outside world."

Experiencing the vastness of space is a rare treat for Gazans who face barriers wherever they turn. The 140-square-mile strip is one of the world's most densely populated areas with 1.5 million people, sealed by fences, walls and the Israeli navy.

Baraka's fascination with space began in middle school. He said he grew up in a family that treasured learning, even though his parents had little formal education.

After studying physics he went into politics, spent two years in an Israeli prison for belonging to a then-outlawed organization, the mainstream Fatah, and later held Palestinian government positions. But after peace efforts collapsed in 2000, he returned to academia.

He earned his master's in physics from Gaza's Islamic University, a doctorate from the Paris Institute of Astrophysics and, after a brief return to Gaza, was hired by Virginia Tech on a yearlong grant.

He said he's not sure why his house was hit. He tries to pursue his research but misses the daily exchanges with his peers and faces frequent blockade-related power outages.

He said his greatest satisfaction would be to inspire young people, including the university students in an astronomy class he hopes to teach next fall.

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