Remembering the ‘smiling face’ of a veteran Gaza university security guard | Features

Talal al-Dabash was killed by an Israeli bomb as he prayed. Students at the university where he worked remember a ‘kind-hearted’ man with a love for learning.

Amid the photos of students and lecturers – some on their phones, others attentive – shared on Facebook, one stood out – a man sitting quietly to the side, his eyes focused on the presentation, his face calm.

The science seminar at the Islamic University of Gaza had drawn a gathering of students and academics, but it was the picture of Talal al-Dabash, the university’s veteran security guard, that elicited the most enthusiastic responses on social media.

“The smiling face of the university,” wrote one of Talal.

Messages described him as “respectful”, “kind-hearted” and “humble”.

“The most loving person I’ve ever known,” said one.

That was in December 2022. The same photo resurfaced a few days ago. This time, the accompanying messages announced that the 50-year-old father of six daughters and two sons had been killed in an Israeli bombing as he performed Dhuhr, the noon prayer, on Saturday, July 13 in a mosque in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. At least 21 others were killed alongside him. That same day 90 people were killed in an Israeli attack on the al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza.

Despite Israeli bombings in Gaza City and Israel’s orders for Palestinians to flee south, Talal and his family had refused to abandon their house in Shati.

Within moments of the news of his death being shared, current and former students began to share stories of their encounters with Talal during the more than 20 years he worked at the university – each painting a picture of a man who filled his days with simple acts of kindness and generosity.

“Talal used to smile at me and greet me whenever he would see me, although he didn’t even know my name,” Ibrahim Sharaf, a 27-year-old Masters student at the university, recalled.

Ibrahim described how Talal would allow him to park his car in the university’s parking area whenever it was empty, even though the university rules didn’t strictly allow it. “[He] had the ability to solve problems with calmness and rationality.”

“Any other security man would refuse to help under the pretext of university instructions and laws,” Ibrahim continued, referring to an occasion when he needed to reach the university’s administration at a time restricted to female students. But Talal was understanding and would try to help while respecting the campus rules. “Talal always cared about students’ interests,” Ibrahim said.

Noor Sobih, a former architecture student at the university, remembered how, “Abo Mohammed [Talal] used to come to help me and my colleagues carry the heavy materials we used to hold when heading to our lectures, without even asking for help.”

The appreciation for Talal was shared by academics working at or visiting the university. “I once visited the Islamic University in 2021 after being away from Gaza for years. At the gate, I encountered the kind man in the picture. When I asked him how to get to a certain lecturer’s office, I was met with an incredibly genuine smile,” Thaer Fawzi, a poet who lives outside of Gaza, wrote on Facebook. “He guided me all the way to the office’s door. As we walked that short distance, I noticed how everyone at the university treated him with respect and affection, as if he were the university president.”

Perhaps it was Talal’s passion for learning that made him such a central part of university life. That passion was reflected in more than his job alone – while working at the university, Talal also studied there, gaining a Bachelor’s degree in Islamic law. He was a distinguished student and dreamed of doing a Master’s degree. But he was also a dedicated father who instilled a love for learning in his children. Abdullah Muqat, a former colleague of Talal’s at the university, described how when Talal’s son finished his secondary education and was about to start university, Talal abandoned “his dreams for the sake of his son”.

Talal al-Dabash
Born: September 20, 1974, Jordan
Killed: July 13, 2024, Gaza City
Survived by: His wife and eight children