This article is from the University of Manchester students news paper (student direct)
The Right to Education Campaign at Birzeit University was launched early 2003 by a group of students and academics at Birzeit University. It is based at the Public Relations Office of Birzeit University and functions as part of the international outreach of the University.
The Campaign is run by a committee and the Campaign Committee is composed of faculty and administrative staff from a number of departments and institutes within Birzeit University. It is a volunteer committee that brings together individuals with skills, knowledge and experience directly relevant to the campaign.
The Right to Education campaign calls on trade unions, education institutions, organizations and social and political movements around the world to affiliate to the Right to Education Campaign and support students, teachers and education in Palestine.
Affiliation to the Right to Education Campaign is a means of building an international coalition of organizations to collectively campaign in support of Palestinian students, teachers and educational institutions. Affiliating organizations will be kept in touch with bi-monthly news and campaign updates.
The core aims of the Right to Education Campaign are:
a. To document, research and raise awareness of the issues facing Palestinian education under Israeli military occupation.
b. To build an international campaign in support of the rights and academic freedom of Palestinian students, teachers and educational institutions.
c. To provide legal representation for Birzeit University students and faculty arrested, detained or deported by the Israeli military authorities.
d. To oppose the illegal Israeli occupation and its attacks on Palestinian education, demanding the right to education and unimpeded access for all Palestinians to their educational institutions.
The Right to Education Campaign is engaged in activities in Palestine and worldwide through a growing international network of support. here is a brief about some:
Monitoring and Research
A key component of the Right to Education Campaign is the provision of documentation and research into the impact of Israeli policies of occupation on the Palestinian education system. Through the Right2Edu website and email updates, the Right to Education Campaign disseminates information on the daily violations against Palestinian students and teachers and their educational institutions.
A Caged Bird’s Song
Filmed in the spring and summer of 2003, the film joins students and teachers on their everyday journey to reach their schools and universities under the regime of military roadblocks. Basic activities associated with educational life: reaching class, going home, attending graduation, have become immense challenges. In continuing to make the difficult journey, students and teachers assert their right to education and a future. The Right to Education Campaign is distributing copies of the film to universities and film festivals worldwide.
Gaza Students Campaign
The Campaign bring back the four Birzeit University students who were illegally deported to Gaza in November 2004, and demand the right of all Palestinian students to study at any university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in accordance with international law.
South Africa Study Tour
In February 2004, a group of ten young Palestinians and students from the Right to Education Campaign went on a study tour to South Africa. Learning about the South African experience of resistance against apartheid and democratic transition enabled participants to draw parallels and view the Palestinian situation from a wider perspective. It proved to be a rewarding two weeks of exchange, forging new friendships and taking home new ideas for models of organization and activism.
International Academic Petition
In order to raise the profile and provide strong academic legitimacy, the Campaign developed a petition for academics of international stature to sign in support of Palestinian students’ right to education.
Ismat Kassis
The Right to Education Campaign
London, March 2(IRNA) Students at the University of Manchester in northern England are backing the Palestinians right to education by seeking links with al-Najah University in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Nablus.
The right to education is being led by Birzeit University in the West Bank, which has been closed down by Israeli military forces 15 times in its history.
In a motion to be debated next Wednesday, the University of Manchester Students Union (UMSU) is proposing to send a twinning invitation to their al-Najah counterparts and erect a plaque `Palestine and the Right to Education’ in its Steve Biko building.
Over one third of the Palestinian population are students in full-time school or university education, but the Israeli army has shelled and destroyed eight of the 11 universities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since September 2000, the motion says.
According to a copy obtained by IRNA, it also points out that students are prevented from attending al-Najah University by Israel’s illegal barrier wall and two major checkpoints that enclose the entire city.
Students from Gaza are already banned from reaching the eight Palestinian Universities in the West Bank.
In the case of Birzeit, the number of Gazan students was reduced from 350 to only 35 by April 2005, UMSU said.
The motion warns that the future of many Palestinian universities are at “grave risk” due to the blanket curfews, 700 Israeli army roadblocks and other military obstacles, including the recently constructed barrier wall.
These “violate international law, including provisions against collective punishment and guarantees for the protection of civilian populations under military occupation, students’ right to education and fundamental rights of human beings,” it said.
UMSU said it was raising the concerns with colleagues in the National Union of Students to encourage further support for the right to education for Palestinian students.
It warned that a whole generation of Palestinian students were denied an education when Israel closed down all Palestinian universities and the majority of schools by military orders between 1988 and 1992.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=20305
Nablus – Ma’an – An-Najah National University in the northern West Bank city of Nablus is preparing to twin with the universities of Manchester and London through cooperation between the student unions in these universities.
The University of Manchester Student Union passed a motion in its entirety on 7 March to go ahead with a twinning agreement with their counterparts at An-Najah University.
The agreement aims to support the Palestinian right to education, particularly in reference to the obstacles that face Palestinian university students such as curfews, checkpoints, barriers and the separation wall. The future of Palestinian universities is under threat in this way, and, besides, these measures are violations of international law which maintains the right to education and to live in dignity.
The articles of the motion include the suggestion to provide at least three scholarships for Palestinian students who wish to study at the University of Manchester. They will also try to persuade the administration to drop the international tuition fees for Palestinian students, so that they pay the same as local students.
In a different regard, the Palestinian student association in the University of London has launched a campaign to teach people about the Palestinian crisis and the obstacles facing Palestinian students. The agreement to be signed with the University of London aims to strengthen cooperation between the student unions of both universities through exchanging visits and pointing out the impact of the Israeli occupation on the daily life of Palestinian students.
The twinning between the universities will also include the establishment of an exhibition of photographs in addition to field trips aimed at achieving joint cultural education.
University of Manchester Students Union twins with An Najah university Nablus Palestine University of Manchester Students Union passed a motion to twin their Students Union with An Najah University in Nablus Palestine.
The Student Union General Meeting on Wednesday 7th March 2007 was attended by over 600 students and the motion which acknowledged the detrimental effect of the Israeli occupation on the right to education of Palestinian students was passed by a majority of over 50 votes.
The motion stated that students in Palestine have had their right to education consistently denied by the Israeli Occupation: checkpoints, attacks on Universities and limitations on movement which seriously hinder the ability of students in Palestine to learn and that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that everyone has the ‘right to education’.
The union will now lobby Manchester University to provide at least 3 scholarships to Palestinian students who wish to study at the university of Manchester as well as to support the Palestinian students in their “Right to Education†campaign and for their basic Human Rights within the territories of mandate Palestine and refugees.
For more information contact:
Action Palestine
info@actionplestine.org
www.actionpalestine.org