One late September evening, as the sun began to set over the sea, Brighton’s Old Palesteine House welcomed Zahid Pranjol. A Biochemistry Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Sussex, Zahid was launching his book – Beneath the Hum of Drones – at the community space, hosting a Q&A and the public speaking performances of three Gazan-Palestinians.
Beneath the Hum of Drones follows Zahid’s journey in supporting and standing in solidarity with Gazan-Palestinian students through the We Are Still Here project, providing displaced university students with educational resources, sharing a truth of survival and courage which is not told in Western media.
But in what sense is this ‘his’ book? Indeed, it is written by Zahid and follows his experiences. However, this book is really a record of what these students taught our author about courage, education, survival, and community, all within the background of a relentless hum of surveillance. In Zahid’s own words: “I may have been the one delivering, but in the end, I was the one who learned. The students in Gaza taught me far more than I could ever teach them.”
Beneath the Hum of Drones begins in April 2024, when Zahid met for coffee with Gazan-Palestinian scholarship student Mohammed. After months of unceasing violence following the attacks of October 7th, Zahid was faced with the question “What can we do?”. The heavy question lingered, and for the time being could not be answered – but it would not remain so for long. This is the beginning of We Are Still Here.
In March 2024, Palestinian education had been moved online. The infrastructure of education was crumbling, metaphorically and physically, after an onslaught of targeted attacks on scholars and academic buildings. After being put into contact with several senior Gazan academics – still working despite severe displacement – Zahid was added to a WhatsApp group containing over 800 academics from dozens of countries and disciplines. The group was united by the determination that no matter the circumstances, education would continue to prevail in Gaza. The group was urgent, offering teaching services and sharing resources, keen to know what the students needed most. Zahid offered online teaching materials across medicine and science, the resources he was able to provide only growing further after spreading the word with his Sussex colleagues. In many ways, this project is the work of a dedicated community from Sussex University and across Sussex.
English language teaching was soon introduced for students, and now over 10,000 Gazan-Palestinian students have been able to continue learning and benefit from these resources. It was from the English language learning process, however, that this book takes its name. The language learning process requires teachers to gauge the current level of a student’s language abilities, so voice notes were sent by students for teachers to assess their abilities from across the world. Every single recording had an incessant hum in the background, prompting the question: what is that noise? Drones. A never-ending surveillance, always reminding the Gazan-Palestinians that they are watched and seen. For many students, this was the norm, some not going a day in their lives without the hum of a not-so-silent threat above them.
Beneath the Hum of Drones was named as such because despite this noise, and the very real threat it represents, the students continue on. This book is an account of courageous students who fight to continue their education, walking through miles of rubble to find an internet connection; seeing education as sustenance and survival; who will use their education to help their community; who refuse to give up.
If you wish to purchase a copy – wherein all fees go to Palestinian education – visit the Daraja Press website, or consider dropping by Old Palesteine House (Gloucester Place, Brighton), where you can volunteer and support the project.
There is so much more to be said, but I leave you with this: “The hum of drones may be constant. But so is the resistance.”
Another article you might like – https://thebadgeronline.com/2026/03/art-from-spaces-in-crisis-why-we-read-palestinian-poetry/
