Would you like to share something about the protagonist Ichmad Hamid with us?

My protagonist is a composite of different Palestinian post-docs from Israel I met at Harvard and MIT. I felt there was a large number of Palestinians from Israel who were post-docs in science outside of Israel. In 1976, the Koenig Report which contained recommendations for Israeli policy got leaked out. One recommendation was to encourage Palestinian intellectuals from inside Israel into the sciences as a way to get them to leave the country. Israel makes military service a prerequisite for such jobs in science that require a higher education. Palestinians inside of Israel don’t serve in the military. With their PhDs, it is easier for Palestinians inside Israel to find jobs abroad. When I lived in Israel, it was against the law for Palestinians inside Israel to have contact with anyone connected to the Palestinian liberation organization. One never knew who Israel would consider linked to an organization, and I think it was easier to stick together so I knew quite a few Palestinian post-docs from Israel.