Former school friends of Dundee peace campaigner Ali El-Awaisi say he had been “proud and passionate” about his home country of Palestine from a young age.
The 21-year-old, who is being held in an Israeli prison, moved to Dunblane in his early years and was a pupil at the town’s primary school when tragedy struck on March 13, 1996.
Although not directly involved in the shooting, in which Thomas Hamilton killed 16 infants and their teacher, he had to come to terms with losing his younger playmates.
He started at Dunblane High School in 2000, where he excelled in PE and technical subjects, before moving to Dundee with his family in 2002.
A popular boy, Ali and his friends enjoyed playing football on the school’s playing fields after classes, come rain or shine.
Film production student Alex Sloan (21), who grew up with Ali, spoke of his relief at hearing his mate was safe and joined calls for him to be released immediately.
Alex, who still lives in Dunblane, told The Courier, “We were a close-knit class from an early age and used to do a lot together.
“We were all pretty football mad when we were young so used to play whenever we could.
“Ali was always a really friendly, approachable guy.
“He was really proud about being from Palestine and used to bring in photos of his holidays there to show us which were a bit more interesting than our snaps of Spain.”
He added, “I couldn’t believe it when I heard what had happened.”
Maths student Calum Johnson (21) from Dunblane was also a school friend.
He said, “Ali was always someone who would stick up for you.
“He was quite a confident guy, even at primary school, and was well-liked.
“He was in my house at high school and we used to sit together in registration and play football together.
“I remember talking to him about his family in Palestine, he was definitely proud of his home country and keen for people to learn about it.”
Calum added, “He was part of an aid group trying to improve the lives of the people of Gaza and now he has been imprisoned it just doesn’t seem right.”
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user freegazaorg.