The lawyer representing a Gazan student stuck in warzone
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Who is Othman and why is his story central to this episode?
The Claire Burnshow on News Talk with Aviva Insurance. We spoke yesterday, if you were listening, to Trinity students who chained themselves to the Department of Justice, and they were protesting over the visas being denied for students in Palestine to come and study in Ireland. I'm joined now by human rights lawyer and bal barrister Queelan Gallagher, who represents Othman, a Gazan journalist who should be starting a new C D this week, but he is trapped. in the war zone. Uh Queelan, you're very welcome to the programme.
Thanks very much for having me on and thanks very much from Othman too. I'm sorry he can't join us because of his communication difficulties.
That's okay and we understand that and and actually that is part of the story because I know it was very difficult for people like Othman to make the application in the first place. But tell us a bit about him.
Yeah, so Othman's an incredible person. He's thirty, uh, he's from the Gaza Strip. He's a journalist. He's uh got a full um he's got a place, an unconditional place in UCD to do a master's in communication and media. And indeed he also got a scholarship, a very talented person. And uh he has had really devastating personal impact uh of the war in Gaza. I'll just give you uh a flavour. He's lost five of his siblings. Uh, two of his siblings, his brother Mohammed and his sister Samaya, were both journalists themselves, aged 35 and 32. They were both killed in August 2024 in an Israeli airstrike that targeted at the Nasserat camp in central Gaza, a refugee camp. And he also lost his brother Ahmed, his sister Anas, who was a nurse, and his sister Noor.
So he's lost five of his siblings, and actually the the other three. Three siblings who aren't the journalists.
How did Othman's personal loss and journalism work shape his visa application?
They were killed in December 2024, so almost two years ago, and to this day their bodies remain under the rubble there. He's been unable to actually retrieve their bodies and give them a proper burial. So he's had a devastating personal impact, and he's one of many journalists who's been particularly targeted in Gaza. The numbers of casualties we've seen of journalists in the Israel-Gaza War. are are totally unprecedented. You know, and he's someone who's been sh he's been one of the uh key people who's been telling the story about what's happening there uh to the world.
Yes, which has been uh very difficult uh for journalists to to be able to access and uh for international um consumers of media to get access to the stories in Gaza because as we know, journalists have not been allowed in there since the start of the conflict. So we have been relying on people like Othman to bring us these stories. Now, how come he was planning to come to Ireland? How was that link established?
Yeah, I mean actually I think many people will feel very proud of being Irish when you hear why, because you know, Athman said, um, for many years he'd carried the dream of pursuing his graduate studies abroad, and uh in his own words he says, My choice fell on Ireland, known for its support of the Palestinian cause and holding a special place in my heart as I've come to love this country and its kind people. You know, and you hear that and you feel proud. I'm also an adjunct professor at UC. UCD and UCD is where I studied myself, you know, also proud that he chose UCD to study and that UCD welcomed him with open arms. And indeed he he talks, he's written recently about his experience. He talks about how UCD helped him and removed obstacles in his way for the application.
And so that makes you feel proud. But then you move, of course, to feeling really quite deeply ashamed by what's happened with how the Irish government has treated his and many other applications, you know, including I'll just give you one example of the inhumanity, a kind of com computer says no or computer says impossible type situation where he and the many other students were asked to file their appeals by post. Now there's no postal system in Gaza. They're living in a war zone. And it's absolutely astonishing that they are being asked to do that.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Othman and why is his story central to this episode?
0:01–1:45
2
How did Othman's personal loss and journalism work shape his visa application?
1:45–3:55
3
Why did the Irish Department of Justice require impossible documentation from Gaza students?
3:55–6:00
4
What legal arguments are being made about the adequacy of the visa refusal reasons?
6:00–8:03
5
How many Gazan students were accepted to UCD last year versus this year, and what does that indicate?
8:03–10:01
6
What specific policy changes are activists demanding for Gaza‑based scholarship students?
10:01–12:12
7
How are lawyers and solicitors adapting the appeals process for students in a war zone?
12:12–14:11
8
What next steps and calls to action are being made to the Irish government?
14:11–15:53