BEIRUT — When Daniela Massou answered her phone Jan. 22, she was instructed to come to a meeting the following day at the Lebanese American University (LAU). Massou is one of 29 students from the West Bank and Gaza enrolled at LAU or the American University of Beirut (AUB) thanks to Tomorrow’s Leaders, a scholarship program of the US-Middle East Partnership Initiative. The scholarships, primarily funded by the US State Department, cover tuition and living expenses for promising young leaders from across the Middle East. On Jan. 23, Massou was informed that the scholarships had been terminated for Palestinians.
“All [13] of us in the meeting were crying when we heard the news,” Massou, a 17-year-old from Bethlehem, told Al-Monitor at a Beirut cafe. “One of the students finally asked why this was happening, and we were told that it’s because of the US Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act.”
