we are not numbers
emerging writers from Palestine tell their stories and advocate for their human rights
Mohammad Yousef Al-Najjar is determined to become a diplomat or an international legal advocate.
Mohammad Yousef Al-Najjar. Photo courtesy Mohammad Al-Najjar
In the southern Gaza Strip, where bombed-out streets and broken lives have become the backdrop to daily survival, one young man is rewriting what it means to persevere. Mohammad Yousef Al-Najjar, 25, is Gaza’s first blind licensed lawyer.
Al-Najjar has never let his disability define or limit him. “I chose law to challenge stereotypes,” he says. “Many people believe that blind individuals should only pursue fields related to education or religion. But I believe that blind people can study other fields, such as law, information technology and even medicine.”
Al-Najjar graduated in 2023 with a degree in law with honors from the Islamic University of Gaza. The university had adapted to his needs: providing materials in braille, recorded lectures, and screen reader software during exams.
After his graduation, Al-Najjar trained at the office of attorney Maram Abu Shatat. For several months, he helped her prepare legal memoranda, organized case files, and even supported military court cases—some of the most complex legal matters in Gaza.
“She trusted me,” he says. “She believed I was capable, and that belief shaped my confidence.” However, his legal apprenticeship ended abruptly on October 7, 2023. All law offices were closed and courts stopped functioning.
Al-Najjar was only weeks into a master’s degree program in public law at Islamic University of Gaza when the war erupted and access to academic resources vanished. “The university library no longer exists,” he says. Despite these losses, Al-Najjar has not paused his education—he’s currently taking online classes.
On May 30, 2024, the Israeli Occupation Forces launched a heavy bombardment campaign on Rafah, forcing the family to flee their home in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood. Four months later, their house was destroyed completely. “My laptop, documents, my personal library of legal books and references—everything was lost when our house was bombed,” Al-Najjar says. He is now displaced in Deir Al-Balah, yet he continues both his academic and professional journey. Despite the destruction around him, Al-Najjar provides legal consultations to sharia courts that oversee family, marriage, divorce, and inheritance cases and assists in drafting contracts, while steadfastly pursuing his master’s degree in public law.
Encouraged by his former professor, Dr. Tamer Al-Qadi, Al-Najjar submitted a research paper titled “The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Curbing Cybercrime” to a student conference organized by the Faculty of Law at the University of Mosul in Iraq. It was his first international academic participation—prepared entirely while displaced, without electricity or reliable internet.
“It was incredibly hard,” he says. “I had no computer, no screen reader, and the only laptop I could borrow wasn’t accessible for blind users.” He dictated what he wanted to write to his sister-in-law, who helped by typing and formatting his words. “The hardest part was finding sources. Most books exist only in print, and even when I knew someone had a needed resource, I couldn’t reach them because of the military checkpoints.” He had to “rely on limited references…and dig deep into every source” he could find.
Still, his research was accepted and presented, and remarkably, won first place.
“I was happy to win,” Al-Najjar says. “But at the same time, I was heartbroken for not being there in person.” The award, which included a certificate and a financial prize, didn’t drastically change his life, but it became a turning point. “It motivated me to look for opportunities to pursue a Ph.D. outside of Palestine.” The experience gave him a sense of validation and helped him connect—at least virtually—with international legal circles. It was a step forward, even from within the confines of Gaza.
Today, he is determined to become a diplomat or an international legal advocate. “I want to represent Palestine and the rights of our people. I want to bring justice, not only in courtrooms but on global platforms.”
In a place where even hope is targeted, Al-Najjar’s persistence has become a symbol. He is not looking for pity, nor does he describe himself as exceptional. “Many students are continuing their studies under extreme conditions,” he says. “I’m not the only one. From under the rubble, dreams are born.” Al-Najjar adds, “Palestinians can achieve anything—whether inside the Strip or abroad, with sight or without it.”
Mohammad Yousef Al-Najjar graduated in 2023 with a degree in law with honors from the Islamic University of Gaza. Photo courtesy Mohammad Al-Najjar
What Al-Najjar lost in material form—books, devices, a home—he has replaced with something harder to destroy: belief in his mission. He continues writing his master’s thesis despite power cuts, limited mobility, and digital isolation. He still dreams of standing before international courts, not only to represent himself, but also represent a people whose right to justice has long been delayed.
Al-Najjar is the first blind lawyer in Gaza—but he doesn’t want to be the last. His life has been a continuous call to break barriers, defy expectations, and reimagine what’s possible even in the most impossible conditions. His voice, authoritative yet simultaneously softened by experience, is now part of a larger legal conversation—one that refuses to be silenced by rubble or bombs.
“I want to live for a cause,” he says. “Even if everything else collapses, this cause will keep me standing.”
This article is co-published with Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
