Gaza visa application center destroyed, halting processing – UDI confirms the local visa application center in Gaza was bombed and is no longer operational, forcing applicants to submit documents in Amman or Cairo, per UDI email [1].
Professor Nazmi Al‑Masri cannot obtain biometric visa – Al‑Masri, a scholar at the Islamic University of Gaza, needs to provide fingerprints for a Norwegian visa, but the destroyed center means he must travel out of Gaza, a risky and difficult journey, according to USN lecturer Anders Davidsen [1].
USN describes Norwegian authorities as overly bureaucratic – Davidsen, Al‑Masri’s contact at the University of South‑East Norway (USN), says repeated talks with UDI have yielded no solution and criticises the lack of flexibility in the rules [1].
Previous similar case required two‑year effort – Professor Khamis Elessi, a Palestinian medical professor, eventually arrived in Norway on 12 February after a two‑year campaign by UiO colleague Espen Bjertness under the Scholars at Risk program, as reported earlier [2].
Recent killing of USN partner heightens tensions – Ibrahim Al‑Astal, dean of teacher education at the Islamic University and colleague of Al‑Masri, was killed in an October 2023 bomb attack, underscoring the volatile environment affecting academic cooperation [1].
Norwegian‑Palestinian academic collaboration funded by HK‑dir – USN’s long‑standing Norpart Palestine project, developing early‑childhood pedagogy, is financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, illustrating ongoing institutional ties despite visa hurdles [1].