Palestinian who grew up in refugee camp wins $1m Global Teacher Prize

[email protected] (CD Network)
March 14, 2016

Dubai, Mar 14: "I did it ... Palestine won," shouted Palestinian teacher Hanan Al Hroub after Pope Francis announced her name in a televised statement at the Global Teacher Prize award in Dubai on Sunday. The national flag of Palestine rose high and proud after the winner was announced.

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The Global Teacher Prize, hosted by the Varkey Foundation, awarded $1 million to Hanan, the second person until now to get the best teacher title.

Hanan, who grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp and now is a teacher of refugees, specialises in supporting children who have been traumatised by violence.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, presented the award to a very emotional Hanan after a star-studded event, which was also attended by Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.

With special televised messages from Joe Biden, Vice-President of the US; Bill Clinton, former president of the US; Prince William, Duke of Cambridge; and physicist Stephen Hawking, the event marked a historic moment towards the appreciation of teachers.

Hanan was one among the 10 finalists for the Global Teacher Prize. She took the opportunity to congratulate all her co-nominees and said that as teachers "(we) can build the morals of young minds to ensure a fair world, a more beautiful world and a more free world."

Hanan also took the opportunity to highlight the state of violence in her home country and how only education can change mindsets and bring about a positive change for the future. "There is no doubt that we live in unnatural conditions. Violence and Israeli occupation surrounds us from all sides ... Our task as teachers is complicated as we see daily the suffering in the eyes of our students and our teachers."

In an earlier interview, she said that she faces severe shortages and infrastructural limitations in her classrooms. "Sometimes there are 35 to 40 children in one class and many of the teaching tools we have are outdated ... We have very little infrastructure. With the winning, I intend to change that," said Hanan. "I want to invest more in the education and psychological betterment of students."

Joe Biden said he was impressed to see how the UAE is paving the way for education via a televised statement. He said: "Education is the key to future opportunity and the key to unlocking a life-long journey of learning is a teacher."

Prince William said teaching is an incredible responsibility and that the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry "is honoured" to be partnering with the Varkey Foundation on various schemes that celebrates teachers.

Reem Ibrahim Al Hashimi, Minister of State for International Cooperation, said: "Great teachers are also great artists; they are possibly the greatest because their canvas is the human mind."

She said teachers are the true architects of the future.

Vikas Pota, CEO of Varkey Foundation, said: "Without teachers there is no progress."

Actors Salma Hayek, Matthew Mcconaughey, Abhishek Bacchan, Parineeti Chopra, and Akshay Kumar also made announcements at the prize ceremony.

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Comments

abdullah
 - 
Tuesday, 15 Mar 2016

congrats dear sister ...

Bopanna
 - 
Monday, 14 Mar 2016

Just because she is Muslim she is given an award. Appeasement at its best

Tiger Beary
 - 
Monday, 14 Mar 2016

Hey khaki cheddi naren..
sorry sorry, brown pants naren..
where the hell were you these days???
we badly miss u man!!
We love u so much machcha...

Pokar
 - 
Monday, 14 Mar 2016

thanks for the joke. also thank for mentioning in the beginning of the comment that you are going to present a joke..

Naren kotian
 - 
Monday, 14 Mar 2016

hahaha good joke ... is she a good teacher ? to fund Hamas and islamic jihad , arab milk shakes gives this type of bounty ,just like hawala... may be she was doing her best to create intifada in our israel and judea samaria ( our dearest and beloved friend ),. hahaha ... jai ho israel ... jai bharath mata ... jai indo- isarel relationship ....narendra modiji ki jai ... benjamin netanyahu zindabad ...hahaha

S.M. Nawaz Kuk…
 - 
Monday, 14 Mar 2016

Congrats Sister

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News Network
January 17,2020

Belagavi, Jan 17: Maharashtra Minister of State for Public Health, Medical Education, FDA and Textiles Rajendra Patil-Yadravkar who had come here to participate in the martyrs day programme of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) was detained by the police and escorted back till the state borders on Friday.

MES had organised its annual martyrs day programme at Hutatma Circle here. Its leaders had earlier been asked by the District Administration and City Police to ensure that none of the political leaders from Maharashtra participate and create law and order problems by their anti-state statements.

Patil had managed to sneak into the city through a route which was not manned by the police. He came in an auto-rickshaw to the programme venue.

Police personnel present for security took him into their custody and later escorted him till the state’s borders with Maharashtra at Kognoli on the Pune-Bengaluru national highway.

MES leaders alleged that the police personnel violated protocol while taking the incumbent minister into their custody and they also roughed him up.

All vehicles entering the city from different routes and particularly from Maharashtra were screened to confirm that political leaders from the neighbouring state do not participate in the martyrs day programme and create problems by their statements that also affect law and order along with linguistic harmony.

It was not known if Patil had landed in the city on Thursday and managed to reach the programme venue without getting noticed by using an auto-rickshaw.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Tumkur, Jan 10: A five-year-old boy has been killed by a leopard in Gubi taluk of Tumkuru district in Karnataka.

The local police said today that the incident took place on Thursday evening when the boy was returning home along with his grandmother.

The leopard first attacked a cow and then the boy who was behind it. The feline dragged the body into the forest.

After a search operation by the forest officials, the body was found and handed over to the parents after post-mortem.

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News Network
February 19,2020

Malappuram (Kerala), Feb 19:  children of a couple in a span of nine years has raised suspicion among police personnel here who have registered a case following a complaint after a three-month-old child of the family died on Tuesday and was buried.

Police exhumed the body, which was buried in the morning, and took it to the district hospital at Tirur for post-mortem.

The infant was the sixth child of the couple, police said.

"A case has been registered (for unnatural death) in the matter to verify the death beyond any suspicion raised by locals since five other children of the couple had died in the past nine years," a senior police official said.

The couple had three boys and three girls of which the third girl child lived till the age of four and the rest died before turning one.

"The post-mortem will take place today itself.We are collecting the medical records of the children who had passed away earlier.

We will identify the cause of death after analysing the records and discuss the matter with forensic doctors," Tirur Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) said.

However, relatives claimed that there was nothing suspicious in the death of the children and that doctors have said it was due to some genetic disease.

"The post-mortem of the third child was conducted and the doctors said the death was due to some genetic problems. They said they were helpless," a relative said, adding that the family was ready to face any probe.

According to the locals, the couple had claimed that the children have died due to epilepsy.

Sources said the baby was taken to a hospital but was dead prior to reaching the hospital early this morning.

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