Right to Education

Dated: 20th November 2008

Venue: LSE, Classroom H101
Time: 3:00-5:00 pm

The Right to Education Week (17-21 Nov 2008) organized by the LSESU Palestine Society and ActionPalestine had various activities, one of which I attended yesterday. It was a presentation by a group of students from An-Najah, Hebron and Birzeit Universities followed by Q&A.

There were three girls representing each University. The first is from the city of Nablus and a student at An-Najah University, the largest one in Palestine. She's 19 years old and she presented her slides. The University has 18,000 students and 60% live outside Nablus. Given the multiple and continuous checks they are subjected to at every Israeli checkpoint, many of them have to find accommodation within the city. Fifty four percent of the students are females. I must say I respect the young women of Palestine for the determination they have to get an education even in such difficulty circumstances. In 2002, the city witnessed 219 days of 'invasion' by the Israeli army accompanied by curfew (both 'comprehensive and partial'). In 2003, 71 days and in 2004, 16 days. Hence as a student, she described how difficult and at times almost hopeless the situation was for her and other students to attend classes. She also mentioned that 'since 2000, more than 43 students have been killed by the Israeli army'.

She spoke of the first Intafada (Arabic for Rise Up) in 1967 when teaching institutions and the education system was brought to a standstill as the Israeli army made arrests inside the University followed by 'administrative detention' - a tool used by Israel to arrest anyone on suspicion for interrogation and detention. She spoke about the second Intafada (2000) which again disrupted student life. Then came the Apartheid Wall constructed by Israel (10 metres high and 2 metres wide) to separate Israeli and Palestine land. She told how 'village lands belonging to Palestine were confiscated' when the wall was built.

The second girl who presented is from Hebron University (the first University in Palestine established in 1971). There are eight colleges having 48 programmes of study. There are the College of Art, the biggest (estd.1980), College of Science (1986), College of Agriculture (1987), College of Finance and Management (1994), College of Nursing (1998), College of Higher Education (2000). The total number of students in the University is 7500 and 76% are female. The main source of funding for the University comes from Suadi Arabia. Currently 3899 students are denied education as a result of the ongoing tension with Israel leading to economic hardships of the Palestinian people.

She narated about the various checkpoints that students go through and the 'harrasments' they have to undergo. She informed that the students can access only one library as thay are not allowed by the Israeli army to go to other libraries like the one in Bethelem University for reference and research purposes. She also mentioned that between 2000 and 2003, 149 University students have been killed by the Israeli army, and that 3 schools have been converted into military barracks.

The final speaker was a girl with a distinctive American accent. She is from Birzeit University. She highlighted three main tools used by Israel on Palestine that is affecting the lives of students - actions that impede economic capacity, restrict movement and detention and harrassment. She spoke about salaries of teaching staff in her University being halved as a result of decrease in funding from the PA (to economic incapacity). How 3000 students have had to drop out. She stated how administrative detention is affecting the lives of those arrested based on suspicion alone. How they are kept in jails for 6 months not knowing what they are charged for and how they can be detained for another 6 months. She informed that seven previous student council presidents have been arrested. She then narrated the bleak picture that is Gaza where 98% of children suffer debilitating psychological trauma, 78% of the population are now living under the poverty line, 30% of students are without text books, 50% of students could not reach school and even raw materials to make paper and binding material have been banned.

She presented messages from her student friends from Palestine including the present Student Council president. The message that struck the most was the one that says "...they (Israeli army) are taking away the hope and capability to look for joy in our life". She ended with the statement that she and her fellow students are here to bring the hope back for all generation to come.

For me, sitting and listening to these young committed students, makes me believe that there is hope for the students of Palestine. Their collective understanding and will to get their education in all its wholeness is worth appreciating. The politics of the ongoing Israeli-Palestine conflict is deeply complex and at the root of it all, I believe, it comes down to religion!! But politics and religion should not obstruct the way for young minds in conflict areas who seek education.