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The Right to Education
Israeli Apartheid
Eyewitness from Palestine
Full citation for publications
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The Right to Education
(from Right to Education Campaign of An-Najah National University)
International Human Rights Law states:
Article 13 of
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, December 1966
(c) Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education;
International Humanitarian Law, namely the 4th Geneva Convention which applies to occupied states, does not specifically guarantee the right to education for adult learners, apart from those who are interned.
In the occupied Palestinian territories, International Human Rights Law applies, whether or not Israel recognises it. If the right to education were also guaranteed under Humanitarian Law, students would be in a stronger position, but it is not. Thus there is a need to advocate on students’ behalf.
HOW IS THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION DENIED?
Human rights violations are rife in the occupied Palestinian territories. This is the weekly summary of Human Rights violations as collated by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights for the week: 27th Sept to 3rd Oct 2007:
- 4 Palestinians, including one civilian, were killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip.
- One of the victims was extra-judicially executed by IOF.
- 12 Palestinians, including 2 children and a journalist, were wounded by IOF.
- IOF conducted 21 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 3 ones into the Gaza Strip.
- IOF arrested 25 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and 2 ones in the Gaza Strip.
- IOF have closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron during the holy Ramadan Month for 6 sporadic days.
- IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT.
- IOF have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world and a humanitarian crisis has emerged.
- Palestinian civilians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been denied access to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
- IOF troops arrested 8 Palestinian civilians, including a child, at checkpoints in the West Bank.
- IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attacks Palestinian civilians and property.
- IOF started to level land in Jerusalem to establish a metro network.
- Israeli settlers stormed some areas in Hebron and Nablus.
All of these abuses apart from the last one were perpetrated by the Israeli Occupation Force, and the last one was by settlers. Of course, there are human rights abuses perpetrated by Palestinians, but none were reported in the week given.
The list above does not indicate whether the people killed, injured or arrested were students, but the IOF do not make that distinction either.
Students pursuing their education are subject to the above rights abuses the same as any other Palestinian citizen.
Thus, our working definition of a violation to the right to education is:
Any rights violation that prevents individuals or groups from pursing their right to education.
It is a broad definition, but we are interested in any violation which results in the impairment of student’s education, i.e.
- Killing
- Arrest and detention
- Torture
- Physical assault
- Harassment
- Restriction of movement
- Damage to or misappropriation of educational property
- Disruption of educational process
KILLINGS
In the period between September 2000 and October 2005, Nablus saw the highest number of civilian deaths attributable to the occupation out of all other West Bank areas.
Fig 1: Palestinian deaths due to the occupation by West Bank region – September 2000 to October 2005 Source: Palestinian Red Crescent Society
Of the 522 in Nablus, 42 were students.
CASE STUDIES:
The killing of Professor Khaled Salah
On 6th July 2004, the house of Professor Khaled Salah, a university professor, came under attack in his Nablus home by soldiers of the Israeli Occupation Force in pursuit of two militants. The family, Khaled, his wife Salam, his sons Muhammad, 16, and Ali, 11, and his daughter Diana, 22, were huddled together in the living room. The initial attack lasted about three hours and they came under rocket and gunfire.
According to his daughter, Diana, during a lull in the shooting, the soldiers shouted to the people trapped in the building to open the doors and for everyone to leave. Professor Salah tried to open the door but it had been damaged during the barrage and he could not open it. “He went to the bedroom window holding up his hands and called to the soldiers in English, ‘we can’t open the door – it is damaged. I am a peaceful man. I have children. My daughter has American citizenship. I have an American green card. I have no weapons. Only my children are here. Come and open the door.’ Then, in Arabic he shouted for help and for someone to open the door.”
Diana said that the shooting started again and her father’s voice stopped. “Mum ran to find my Dad lying on the floor. My brother Muhammad was also on the floor.” He had been hit in the mouth. Soldiers then broke into the house and removed Salam, Diana and Ali, leaving Professor Salah dead and Muhammad bleeding to death. No attempts were made to obtain medical help for Muhammad.
This incident happened after the two militants had been shot and killed.
The accidental death of Asef Issa, 19.
Asef Issa, a 19 year old student, was leaving An-Najah National University on Monday 24th April 2006 to go home in Kofor Tholoth, close to Qalqilia City. To reach home, he has to pass through Beit Iba checkpoint to the east of Nablus. The Israeli soldiers denied him passage and he was not allowed to take the road route home. Instead, he and a fellow traveler were forced to take an alternative route along tracks through the hills. It was raining heavily. A flash flood pulled Asef into a culvert near a stone quarry. He did not survive the accident. His companion was rescued by the Nablus fire brigade. Had Asef been allowed passage at the checkpoint, this accident would not have befallen him.
ARRESTS and DETENTIONS
The Israeli occupying power uses administrative detention as a means of holding suspects without charge for a minimum period of six months. The detainee is not informed of the reason of the arrest, and any material related to it is kept confidential from both the detainee and his or her lawyer. This practice is a contravention of a person’s right to liberty and right to be informed of the reason of the arrest under Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976). It is, however, legal under Israeli military law.
As of August 2007, there are 818 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons in administrative detention.
Source: B’Tselem Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
It is very difficult to report on the number of An Najah students who are arrested or detained by Israeli forces. Not all families report to the university when their son or daughter is arrested. We know from the Dean of Student Affairs that approximately 100 students are in jail at the moment.
Six members of An-Najah’s staff are in prison at the moment:
Dr Aziz Dweik, professor of Geography, and legally elected Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Dr Omar Abdel Raza, lecturer in Economics, and serving Minister of Finance and legally elected PLC member
Professor Esam Al-Ashqar, professor of Physics – who is suffering from health problems.
An employee of the Journalism Department.
Two security guards.
TORTURE
International law prohibits the use of torture in any circumstance, yet it is used by Israeli Security Agency against Palestinian prisoners. A joint report published by B’Tselem and HaMoked, both Israeli human rights organisations, cites 73 separate cases of torture and ill-treatment ranging from beating and painful shackling, to denial of basic needs. These cases, they say, are indicative, not exhaustive.
Source: Utterly Forbidden: The Torture and Ill-Treatment of Palestinian Detainees May 2007 B’Tselem Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
PHYSICAL ABUSE
Staff and students suffer all sorts of physical abuse at checkpoints or if they are detained by Israeli military. They range from beatings, to being made to wait in the sun or rain. Here is an example:
The scar on Qasem’s forearm
Qasem, 19, is a student at An Najah National University. He used to go home to Qalqilya twice a month to see his family. On Wednesday April 30th 2003, as he and two dozen other students were passing through Surrah checkpoint to the west of Nablus, he was stopped by two Israeli soldiers, one of them a captain. He was asked if he could speak Hebrew, and he answered that he could. The soldier then asked Qasem to tell all the students to go back, that they were not allowed to pass through the checkpoint. Qasem complied. The six male students obeyed the order, while the female students did not move. The soldier spoke again, this time ordering Qasem to make the women move.
The Israeli soldier grew angry with Qasem. He started to question him, search his bags and he frisked him. While he was checking Qasem’s body, he noticed a spot on his arm, a burn mark. Qasem explained that it was a cigarette burn, the result of a joke. The soldier, laughing at his ability to bear pain, then took a piece of glass and broke it. He took Qasem`s arm and began to cut into it a Star of David. When Qasem struggled to break free the captain beat his legs and held his arm still.
Qasem was released but he was not permitted to pass through the checkpoint, but instead he had to take the back roads. He still bears the scar today.
HARASSMENT
Verbal reports of harassment by Israeli military at checkpoints from students and staff are numerous. Here is one case study
Harassment of Dr Sharaqa, Assistant Professor of Law
Dr Sharaqa is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law at An Najah National University. He teaches law and human rights and travels in everyday from his village. It is a journey that would take seven minutes but because of the checkpoints it takes three hours. There are four in total. Dr Sharaqa passes through these checkpoints everyday, and his face has become familiar to the Israeli soldiers on duty. Yet, he is searched everyday.
On one occasion, he was returning home from a family visit and he was stopped on the road by an Israeli jeep. “I was ordered to get out my car by a soldier and his captain. There hadn’t been any incidents lately and I was the only person on the road. I was harassed and questioned and made to stand in the rain. They forced me at gunpoint to lie facedown in the mud and they proceeded to trample on me. They broke my mobile phone and took my ID.”
When they asked what he taught at the university he told them, but they accused him of lecturing students on how to become a terrorist. Dr Sharaqa said, “I told them that I am an advocate of peace and tolerance, and that is how I teach my students. I went on to explain that that I had been the UNESCO Director for Human Rights for seven years and had never had any trouble with Israeli soldiers before.” They continued their insults for a further forty minutes and even though he was in view of his house they made him go back the way he had come.
RESTRICTIONS ON MOVEMENT
“The restrictions on movement that Israel has imposed on the Palestinian population in the Occupied Territories over the past five years are unprecedented in the history of the Israeli occupation in their scope, duration, and in the severity of damage that they cause to the three and a half million Palestinians who reside there.”
Source: B’Tselem Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
Photographs
Source: Machsom Watch (also known as Israeli Women for Human Rights, www.machsomwatch.org)
A Palestinian woman waiting at the turnstile at Huwwara Checkpoint, south of Nablus
Queues at Huwwara Checkpoint, south of Nablus, in 2000
Israeli soldier checking a Palestinian man’s ID card at Beit Furik checkpoint, east of Nablus
Palestinian travellers queuing at Beit Furik checkpoint, east of Nablus.
Men waiting to pass through Beit Iba checkpoint, west of Nablus
The system for controlling the movement of Palestinians within their own territory is complicated. Movement is controlled by
Fully patrolled military checkpoints
Part-time patrolled military checkpoints
Gates across the road opened at variable hours
Roadblocks – either boulders, concrete blocks or earth mounds.
This is in addition to the Separation Wall that encircles the entire West Bank and the whole of the Gaza strip. A whole day could be dedicated to explaining this system of control, but let us focus on its impact on the education process in Nablus.
Map source: Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, in oPt. www.ochaopt.org
Every road that leads out of Nablus is controlled in some way. Entry into Nablus is relatively free, but exit is closely controlled by one of the aforementioned methods.
Exit via an alternative route is only possible through mountain passes and along tracks. These are additionally patrolled by roving Israeli military personnel.
The majority of traffic is through the fully patrolled military checkpoints. There are 6 of these on the main routes out of Nablus. Only vehicles with permits are allowed to pass, so in effect, the majority of travellers must alight and walk through the checkpoint, and find additional transport on the other side.
Non-residents of Nablus are allowed to pass through a checkpoint, but male residents of Nablus under the age 40 are unable to pass, and sometimes this age limit is lowered to 35.
There are 16,400 students registered at An Najah. About half of them are from villages beyond the checkpoints. 8,000 students, therefore, must pass daily through a checkpoint in order to return home.
A recent report by Amnesty International (2005) noted that the transport costs of students coming from outside Nablus have increased by 400 to 500% because of the long detours and the increase in the number of vehicles they have to use to adhere to the movement restrictions.
(Source: Israel and the Occupied Territories: Conflict, Occupation and Patriarchy – Women Carry The Burden, March 2005, Amnesty International, London, UK)
There are no explicit military orders given by the Israeli military for the blockade around the city of Nablus (Source: B’Tselem Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, www.btselem.org), but it is understood to be for security reasons. Nablus is seen as a centre of armed resistance. Furthermore, there are dozens of Israeli outposts and settlements surrounding the city. Thus to provide protection to a few thousand Israeli settlers, the population of Nablus is surrounded by a military blockade and its movement is restricted.
DENIAL OF VISAS
A recent additional restriction of movement that has had a negative impact on higher education is the denial of visas to visiting lecturers and Palestinians taking up scholarships overseas.
Israel controls immigration in the oPt. The Palestinian National Authority has no say in who can and cannot enter its own borders.
An example right now:
Khaled al-Mudallal is a Palestinian and a Business and Management student at the University of Bradford. He is currently trapped in Gaza due to the restrictions on freedom of movement imposed by Israel. Khaled needs to return to Bradford urgently to begin the third year of his degree course. Khaled returned to his home town of Rafah in June with the intention of staying only for a few days. He has a British residence permit valid until November 2010. According to Israeli human rights organisation Gisha, Khaled is one of several hundred Palestinian students who are being prevented from leaving Gaza to return to courses abroad. Gisha believes the Israeli government is in breach of international law.
There are no Gazan students here anymore because they cannot get a permit to leave Gaza. One of the Gazans to graduate now teaches at the university – he has not been home for seven years. If he leaves he will never be allowed of Gaza. If he is caught in West bank with Gazan ID, he will be expelled. For this reason, he has not dared to leave Nablus in five years. He has swapped one prison for another.
Lecturers have been denied entry into Palestine: one Belgian lecturer who is married to a Palestinian was refused entry last year in August. She and her husband left the country to be together. Foreigners wishing to work at An-Najah have to use the tourist visa given at the border, but this must be renewed of they wish to teach for a full semester. They then risk not being allowed back in when they return. Palestinians who hold a foreign passport have also been denied access to Nablus.
Palestinians who live in Israel and have Israeli ID are not allowed to enter into Nablus because it is an Area A. There are five such lecturers at An-Najah who have had to stop teaching because of the difficulty they have in reaching the university. One lecturer continues to defy the regulations and sneaks in and out. About 30 students also do this. They risk arrest and deportation everytime they are checked at the checkpoints.
A student of An Najah National University who won a scholarship to study in Germany was denied an exit permit and forfeited his opportunity to study.
These are only a handful of cases out many.
DAMAGE TO EDUCATIONAL PROPERTY
Between 2000 and 2005, 894 buildings were demolished and 8,161 buildings were damaged in the Nablus governate.
Source: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
In 2002, An Najah’s National University became a target of a demolition – its veterinary science campus in Tulkarm was demolished. Khadouri Campus College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences lost the following in the demolition:
Dairy processing unit
Milk processing plant
Dairy laboratory
Dairy cattle breeds research unit
Dynamo room
Silage tank
Feed factory
Security Guard’s room
Medical Health Unit.
Desks
Water Well
Water supply and sewage networks
Asphalt roads
Farm irrigation network
Cow Farm, including 1 cow, feed and drugs
Sheep Farm, including 8 sheep, feed and drugs
Tools and equipment
Chicken Farm, including 1000 egg-laying hens, 150 broilers, 7,500 eggs and feed
Orchard of 26 fruit trees
Small holding, including entire crop of tomatoes and beans
260 large trees
Total cost: US$ 802,187
Photos
Source: Zajel Programme, An Najah National University
A dairy cow caught in the demolition of An Najah’s Khadouri Campus College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences in April 2002
Carcass of a dairy cow in the demolition of An Najah’s Khadouri Campus College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences in April 2002
DISRUPTION TO EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
Curfews are frequently imposed on towns and cities in the West Bank. When a curfew is imposed, no one can leave their house for any reason. Just in February this year, parts of the city of Nablus were placed under curfew for three days and the university was forced to close for two days. Catch-up classes were given in March to make up for lost time.
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Eyewitness from Palestine
There are many great reports from people who have been to palestine, we found that the following blog provides an excellent start, soon we will be adding more links in this section.
Full citation for publications
Al Nakba, “the great catastropheâ€
Palestinian Political Prisoners, A backbone to the Palestinian national movement
