“Despite the genocide we are enduring, despite the horrors of famine, and despite all obstacles, I choose education. I choose to continue my path”, says Palestinian student Hassan Herzallah.
Finland’s complicity in Israel’s violent apartheid regime is denying a student accepted to the University of Helsinki – Palestinian Hassan Herzallah – his fundamental right to education. After studies carried out in the midst of genocide, forcibly online due to the deliberate destruction of his home university, Herzallah is meant to begin in-person studies in Helsinki on January 7th 2026. However, in practice it is not possible for him to pursue his dream and come study in Finland.
A central reason behind the difficulties Herzallah is facing lies in the impossible requirements imposed by Finnish authorities for obtaining a visa.
Finnish authorities are fully aware of the genocide taking place in Gaza, the humanitarian catastrophe, and Israel’s border control regime. Despite this, they demand that students accepted to study in Finland travel to the embassy in Tel Aviv or the consulate in Ramallah in the West Bank to obtain the required student visa, while knowing this is impossible due to the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza. Palestinian students are still trapped in Gaza.
All Palestinian students accepted into Finnish higher education institutions must be granted automatic visas to Finland. Authorities must also guarantee that students who receive study visas are able to actually leave Gaza and enter Finland.
Condemnation is not enough; Finland needs to take immediate and consistent action to pressure Israel to grant Palestinians their fundamental human rights. We further demand that the University of Helsinki support all students in crisis equally. There are ways to do this, and Palestinians deserve the same opportunities as were offered to Ukrainians after the full-scale invasion.
Finland and Finnish universities have a responsibility to stand for human rights, equality, and the right to education. In addition to ensuring that Palestinians are able to leave Gaza to pursue their education abroad, Finland and Finnish universities must do everything in their power to rebuild Gaza’s destroyed educational infrastructure.
The statement is supported by Students for Palestine Finland, Young Greens, Left Students of Finland, UH Greens, The Independent Left and Humanisticum.
Contact persons:
Students for Palestine
Eugenie Touma van der Meulen
+358403603469
Green Youth
Miro Ilvonen
+358404129904
Left-wing students
Nea Hakala
+358400253898