Palestinian students to head to Venezuela from Jordan to pursue higher education

AMMAN — A Venezuelan plane laden with humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people arrived in Amman Monday evening and will leave Wednesday carrying 100 Palestinian students who will head to Caracas to study medicine.

The Venezuelan embassy in Amman has coordinated with the Jordanian government to facilitate official procedures and travel of the Palestinian students, who were recently granted scholarships to study in Venezuela, according to Venezuelan Ambassador to Jordan Fausto Fernandes Borge.

Borge made the remark on the sidelines of a meeting that brought together Palestinian and Venezuelan officials on Monday evening to announce the arrival of the humanitarian aid which will be delivered to the Palestinian people through Jordan’s border.

“This is part of Venezuela’s commitment to the Arab cause, especially the Palestinian cause,” Borge told The Jordan Times. 

He noted that Arabs in Venezuela, who number around two million, are well represented in all aspects of Venezuelan society. 

The same plane that carried the assistance to Amman will take back 100 Palestinian students to study medicine in Venezuelan universities, according to Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al Maliki.

“However, 42 students from Gaza have been unable to leave until now because Israeli authorities closed the border crossing to hinder their travel,” Maliki told The Jordan Times, adding that the scholarships were granted to another 42 students from the West Bank and 16 students from refugee camps in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

During the meeting, the minister highlighted the strong relations between the leaders and the peoples of Palestine and Venezuela, citing over 12 cooperation agreements between the Palestinian Authority and the Venezuelan government.

“Venezuela used to offer 20 scholarships annually for Palestinian students to study medicine at its universities, and then increased the number of scholarships to 44, but now we are celebrating scholarships for 100 students,” he said.

“Venezuela will soon offer Palestinian students up to 1,000 scholarships every year, which is more than the 860 annual scholarships that Palestinians obtain in all the world’s countries,” Maliki added.

He praised Venezuela’s “continuous” support for Palestinians since the rule of former president Hugo Chavez, as well as the efforts of the current president, Nicolas Maduro, who offered to send oil and diesel to the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Cesar Trompiz Ceconi, Venezuelan vice minister of presidential agenda and advisory, said the international community must condemn Israeli violations, especially the violation of the Palestinians’ right to education.

“Venezuela’s people and president support you and will always be with you,” he told the Palestinian delegation, noting that the scholarships will carry the name of the former Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat.

Aysar Sleibi, an 18-year-old scholarship beneficiary, said it was impossible for him to study medicine in his hometown of Hebron.

“I am so happy that I got this chance and I will benefit from it by studying hard, learning Spanish and making new friends,” he told The Jordan Times.

Meanwhile, 31-year-old Daniel Monteverde, a member of the Venezuelan group who will accompany Palestinian students and help them adjust, said his love for life, freedom and the Palestinian people are what made him want to help.

“This is what Chavez taught us… and we will prove that Venezuelans and Palestinians are one.”