   
Update: Campaign for Gaza Students
Right to Education Campaign, Birzeit University, 18 December 2004
In response to the arbitrary deportations of four Birzeit University students - Walid Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim, Mohammad Matar and Bahsar Abu Shahla - to the Gaza Strip on 21 November 2004, the Right to Education Campaign at Birzeit University launched an international appeal to bring the four students back to Birzeit to complete their studies.
There has been a massive international response to this appeal, from academics, trade unions, and other organizations and individuals around the world, who have been shocked and angered at the violations arbitrarily inflicted on these four students by the Israeli military authorities.
Major Lutstein, the Israeli Army Legal Advisor for the West Bank, has received letters from NATFHE, the British Lecturers' Union representing over 60,000 teachers in post-school education, the National Tertiary Education Union in Australia, representing over 27,000 teachers, and FNEEQ, the Federation Nationale des Enseignant(e)s du Quebec, as well as prominent academics including Professor Eric Hobsbawm, historian and author of many books, who personally wrote:
"I would like to protest against measures of this kind, both as a Jew and as a member of the international academic community. It is important that the major university in the West Bank should be allowed to go about its business of educating students and that no arbitrary obstacles should be placed in the already difficult way of young Palestinians pursuing an education".
The Right to Education Campaign at Birzeit University, with the weight of the international academy behind it, demands that the Legal Advisor immediately issues permits for the four students to return to Birzeit University to complete their studies.
Below are some examples of letters that the Campaign has received over the last few weeks.
Dear Sir,
The undersigned French academics and human rights activists have been shocked and dismayed as they learned that, at the end of last November, four Birzeit University students from Gaza (Walid Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim, Mohammad Matar and Bashar Abu Shahala) were arrested by the Israeli army at their student apartment in Birzeit and arbitrarily deported back to the Gaza Strip We understand that this is part of a larger policy of preventing the freedom of movement of students from Gaza.
We request that permits should be issued immediately for the four deported students to return to Birzeit University in order to complete their studies. We also demand that all Palestinian students should be free to pursue their higher education at the universities of their choice in accordance with principles of human rights and academic freedom as recognized by the international community.
Respectfully yours,
Joyce BLAU, Professor Emeritus of the French Institute for Study of Oriental Civilizations and Languages
Sonia DAYAN-HERZBRUN, Professor of Sociology at the University of Paris-7
Paul KESSLER, physicist, Director of Research (retired), Hon. Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the French Society of Physics
Lydie KOCH-MIRAMOND, astrophysicist, Scientific Advisor to the French Atomic Energy Commission, Chairperson of the Human Rights Committee of the French Society of Physics
Joseph PARISI, physicist at the University of Paris-11
Dominique SCHIFF, physicist, Director of Research, director of the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics at the University of Paris-11
Gerard TOULOUSE, physicist, Director of Research, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences, member of the Academy of Technologies
--------------------------
My name is Rana, I am a student in Birzeit University, I am also a friend of Bashar Abu Shahla, one of the students arrested by Israeli Army soldiers at his student apartment in Birzeit, near Ramallah, and arbitrarily 'deported' back to the Gaza Strip on Sunday 21 November 2004. Bashar is a close friend to me and to my friends, and we were very mad when we heard such news, especially that he is a very peacful student and he is smart and clever, and all what he came for to ramallah is to get educated. We were very sad that we couldnt get the chance to say bye and take care. knowing also that he will not get the chance to graduate with his classmates. Its unfair that this student will not get his right and will not be able to finish his education in Birzeit University the same as many other students. We wish that he could be back with us, because we all miss him.
------------------------
Sir,
I understand that four Birzeit University students from Gaza were arrested by Israeli Army soldiers and deported back to the Gaza Strip. These are students of Civil and Mechanical Engineering and due to graduate at the end of the year. I ask you to demand that the Israeli Army Legal Advisor for the West Bank immediately issues permits for these students to return to Birzeit University to complete their studies, as is the habit in civilised countries and in territories dependent on civilised governments.
I would like to protest against measures of this kind, both as a Jew and as a member of the international academic community. It is important, not least for the honour and reputation of Israel, that the major university in the West Bank territories should be allowed to go about its business of educating students and that no arbitrary obstacles should be placed in the already difficult way of young Palestinians pursuing a higher education.
Yours truly,
Eric Hobsbawm CH, FBA, Amer.Acad. Arts & Sciences
Professor Emeritus
President Birkbeck, University of London
--------------------------
Dear Major Lutstein
I am writing on behalf of my union, representing over 60,000 teachers in post-school education, concerning the recent illegal deportation to the Gaza Strip of four students of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at BirzeitUniversity, on 21 November. The students - Walid Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim, Mohammad Matar and Bashar Abu Shahala, all are due to graduate by the end of this academic year. They were arrested and held for three days in a military detention centre, before being left at the Eretz border crossing. No charges were brought againstthem.
We wish to protest most strongly against this arbitrary and aggressive use of military power against young men whose studies were near completion and whose lives will be seriously harmed by this action. We urge you to allow them to resume their studies at Birzeit at the earliest opportunity.
NATFHE supports the call by Birzeit University made to this effect, as well as the demand that all Palestinian students should be free to pursue their higher education in accordance with international human rights law. We are concerned at the fears which have been expressed that the deportations could be part of a pattern by the Israeli authorities to deport Palestinians from Gaza living in the West Bank, back to Gaza, further ratchetting up the tension in the region. We will contact the UK government about our concerns.
Yours sincerely
Paul Bennett
National Official
NATFHE: The University & College Lecturers' Union, UK
--------------------------
Sir,
I hereby protest against the arbitrary arrest and deportation by the Israeli Army of four students - Walid Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim, Mohammad Matar and Bashar Abu Shahala, are all students of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at Birzeit University to Gaza.
I demand that the Israeli Army Legal Advisor for the West Bank immediately issues permits for the four deported students to return to Birzeit University to complete their studies, and that all Palestinian students should be free to pursue their higher education in accordance with international human rights law.
Please note that such arrests and deportations, annihilating students' academic efforts, are highly damaging for your country's reputation particularly in academic circles.
Yours sincerely,
Frank Roels MD PhD
emeritus full professor
Ghent University,
Dept of Pathology
De Pintelaan 185
9000 Ghent, Belgium
---------------------------
Dear Mr. Lutstein:
CC Shaol Mofaz
I am writing to appeal for the immediate reversal of the deportation order against the four Palestinian students who have been arbitrarily and illegally deported from the West Bank to Gaza. As an American academic who taught in Birzeit University for four years, I am well aware of the constant harrassment of this and other Palestinian institutions by the Israeli Occupation, and I find it very revealing at the same time as I find it unacceptable.
By disrupting and undermining Palestinian educational institutions in every possible way, you expose the true motive underlying the Occupation. Not only do you kill activist Palestinians who exercise their legal right to oppose and resist the Occupation, but you systematically violate the right of Palestinians to maintain their traditionally high standards of education. How could three serious students asleep in their dormitories threaten Israel except by being leaders of their community in the future?
It is precisely because of this policy towards the Palestinians that I am among a growing number of academics engaged in a boycott of all Israel academic indiciduals and institutions. Until and unless the Occupation ends, I will not cooperate with Israeli scholars or researchers, will not include them in joint projects, will not consider publication of Israeli articles in journals for which I serve as referee, will not invite Israelis to participate in conferences, will not order Israeli publications for our libraries.
And I will do my best to encourage other academics to join this boycott whenever and wherever I have the opportunity. Nest week I will give a paper on Palestinian literature at an international conference in India, a perfect platform for me to invite all the participants to join the boycott. When I tell them of your treatment of these four students from Gaza, many will sign the petition for the boycott on the spot.
The world media fails to take notice of these insidious policies, but I have seen them with my own eyes, I have seen students shot when the Israeli Occupation Forces attacks the campus, and I have interviewed students who had been tortured and mutilated in your prisons. I will not be silent.
I demand that these students be reinstated immediately so that they are able to complete their higher education in accordance with international human rights law.
Dr. Clare Brandabur
Istanbul, Turkey
---------------------------
Monsieur,
Nous voulons, avec la presente, vous demander d'emettre les permis necessaires pour que Walid Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim, Mohammad Matar and Bashar Abu Shahla, deportes le 21 novembre dernier de la Cisjordanie vers la Bande de Gaza, puissent poursuivre les etudes qu'ils ont entreprises a l'Universite de Birzeit.
Comme vous le savez, ces quatre etudiants de genie civil et de genie mecanique etaient engages dans leur derniere annee d'etude a la presente annee d'enseignement. Lors de leur arrestation le 18 novembre dernier, aucune accusation ni aucun mandat de deportation ne justifiaient une telle action de la part de l'armee israelienne. Or, compte tenu des restrictions accrues concernant la circulation des personnes entre la Bande de Gaza et la Cisjordanie, il est maintenant pratiquement impossible pour les etudiantes et les etudiants de la Bande de Gaza d'obtenir ou de renouveler leur permis de sejour en Cisjordanie. De plus, ces etudiants doivent composer avec les bouclages militaires des acces ainsi que les difficultés supplementaires suite a l'erection du mur. Toute cette situation en amene plusieurs a outrepasser, avec les risques que ca comporte, la duree de leur sejour en Cisjordanie.
Nous considerons que la deportation de ces quatre etudiants est en violation du droit fondamental a l'education, en plus d'etre en violation du droit a la libre circulation des personnes et du droit e choisir son lieu de residence. Nous vous demandons donc d'emettre les permis necessaires pour que ces quatre etudiants puissent terminer leurs etudes et nous vous incitons a agir dans le respect du droit des etudiantes et des etudiants palestiniens de poursuivre librement leurs etudes superieures.
Odette Lefrancois, presidente
Syndicat des enseignantes et des enseignants du College Regina Assumpta
et membre du comite d'action Internationale de la FNEEQ-CSN
1750, rue Sauriol Est
Montreal (Quebec)
----------------------------
Dear Major Lutstein
Re: Four Birzeit University Students Illegally Deported to Gaza
I am writing to you on behalf of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), which represents 27,000 academic and general staff employed in the Australian tertiary education sector.
We are very concerned to learn of the arrest of four Birzeit University students from Gaza by Israeli Army soldiers and their arbitrary deportation back to the Gaza Strip on 21 November 2004. The four students - Walid Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim, Mohammad Matar and Bashar Abu Shahla - are all students of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at Birzeit University and are all due to graduate by the end of this academic year. It is our understanding that no charges were made against the students and no written deportation orders were issued.
We are extremely concerned that the deportations of the four Birzeit UNiversity students may mark the beginning of the enforced return of all Gaza students currently studying in the West Bank, and that this may be the prelude to a wider military campaign to systematically round up and 'deport' all Gaza students back to Gaza.
The arbitrary 'deportation' of the four Birzeit University students to Gaza and the Israeli restrictions on movement of all Palestinian students in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are in clear violation of the fundamental human right to education, the right to freedom of movement and the right to choose one's place of residence within a single territory.
We respectfully request that you immediately and unconditionally issue permits for the four deported students to return to Birzeit University to complete their studies, and allow all Palestinian students to freely pursue their higher education in accordance with international human rights law.
Yours sincerely,
Grahame McCulloch
General Secretary
NTEU, Australia
---------------------------
Dear Major Lutstein,
It has come to my attention that three weeks ago four Birzeit University students from Gaza were arbitrarily 'deported' back to the Gaza Strip. I understand that the four students - Walid Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim, Mohammad Matar and Bashar Abu Shahla - are all students of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at Birzeit University and are all due to graduate by the end of this academic year.
Is it true that Israeli soldiers forcibly entered the students' apartment building in Birzeit at 2a.m. on the night of Thursday 18 November and arrested the four student? Is it true that they were told to collect their belongings and were then handcuffed, blindfolded and taken to a nearby military detention center where they were held for three days? Is it true that no charges were made against the students and no written deportation orders were issued? Were the four, as I am told, simply taken by soldiers and left at the Erez military border crossing into the Gaza Strip?
If so, I am appalled, and I call upon you to rectify this injustice.
As a university professor, I am very concerned about the right to education, a right that is fundamental to a democratic polity. I am very concerned that it has become virtually impossible for students from Gaza to gain or renew the permits required by Israel to study in the West Bank, which means that those enrolled in universities in the West Bank have been forced to either overstay their original permits, facing all the ramifications that this entails, or to drop out of university entirely. I am very concerned that students from the West Bank are also prevented from reaching their universities due to frequent closure of cities, hundreds of military roadblocks and the construction of the internationally condemned Wall inside the West Bank.
The arbitrary 'deportation' of the four Birzeit University students to Gaza and the Israeli restrictions on movement of all Palestinian students in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are in clear violation of the fundamental human right to education, the right to freedom of movement and the right to choose one's place of residence within a single territory, in accordance with internationally accepted standards of human rights law.
I urge you, the Israeli Army Legal Advisor for the West Bank, immediately to issue permits for the four deported students to return to Birzeit University to complete their studies. In addition, please ensure that all Palestinian students are free to pursue their higher education in accordance with international human rights law.
Sincerely yours,
Katherine C. King
Professor of Comparative Literature
University of California at Los Angeles
--------------------------
J'ai appris que Quatre etudiants de Gaza inscrits a l'universite de Birzeit ont ete arretes par des soldats de l'armee israelienne dans leur logement d'etudiant a Birzeit, pres de Ramallah, et ont ete arbitrairement 'expulses' vers la bande de Gaza le dimanche 21 novembre.
Les quatre etudiants - Walid Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim, Mohammad Matar et Bashar Abu Shahala - sont etudiants en ingenierie civile et mecanique a l'universite de Birzeit et doivent passer leur diplome a la fin de cette annee scolaire.
Les soldats israeliens sont entre de force dans l'immeuble des etudiants a Birzeit a 2h dans la nuit et ont arrete les quatre etudiants. On leur a dit de rassembler leurs affaires. Puis, menottes et les yeux bandes, ils ont ete emmenes vers un centre de detention militaire voisin ou ils ont ete retenus pendant trois jours. Aucune charge n'a ete retenue contre ces etudiants; aucun ordre de deportation ecrit n'a ete emis; Ils ont ete tout simplement emmenes par les soldats et laisses au passage d'Erez dans la bande de Gaza.
Je vous demande de fournir immediatement des permis aux quatre etudiants expulses afin qu'ils reviennent et puissent terminer leurs etudes a l'universite de Birzeit, et ce en accord avec les lois internationales sur LES DROITS DE L HOMME
mLLE furio Marie-Louise Marseille
-------------------------
Mr. Mofaz,
I implore you to intervene on behalf of Walid Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim, Mohammad Matar and Bashar Abu Shahala, four students from Birzeit University. These four young men were arrested and deported to Gaza on the 21st of November.
As a university student in the United States scheduled to finish my studies this year, I cannot imagine a situation like their's. They were due to finish their degrees in civil engineering this year. They must be heart-broken, confused, and angry. If you want peace for Israel like you say that you do (I read your public statements often), then you need to stop carrying out deplorable actions. These young men are the men you will have to be negotiating with and living beside in the future.
Ask yourself: is it building healthy relationships to harass them and deport them? Is it building healthy relationships to lock them in the Gaza Strip, the world's largest prison? Work for peace, not hatred, discrimination, and anger. Be a man of peace.
Stephen Allen, Seattle Pacific University student
-------------------------
Dear Minister,
I am writing as a British University teacher to protest in the strongest possible way against the illegal deportation of the four Birzeit students. Walid Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim, Mohammad Matar and Bashar Abu Shahala are all students of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at Birzeit University and are all due to graduate by the end of this academic year.
The academic world has watched with growing concern at the way that Israel has made it harder and harder for students from Gaza to study in the West bank. Yet participation in higher education particularly at the prestigious university of Birzeit is very important for these young people. Picking on these four young men so near to the end of their studies is a shocking abuse of their human rights and will also enrage young Palestinians even further. This is in no one's interests.
I urge you to ask the appropriate legal department to arrange papers so that these young men may be permitted to complete their studies.
Yours truly,
Professor Hilary Rose, Ph.d., Fil.D.hc.
----------------------------
Dear Major Lutstein:
I am writing to you on behalf of myself and fifty academic colleagues, concerned with the freedom of education as a universal principle and as it applies to Palestinian students. We have recently ben informed that four Birzeit University students from Gaza were arrested by Israeli Army soldiers in their student apartment in Birzeit, near Ramallah, and arbitrarily 'deported' back to the Gaza Strip last Sunday 21 November. The four students - Walid Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim, Mohammad Matar and Bashar Abu Shahala - are all students of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at Birzeit University and are all due to graduate by the end of this academic year. We cannot believe that there is any imminent reason for the Civil Administration not to allow them to finish their studies, before taking any action against them. We are also worried about the procedure of the IDF action....
Let us conclude by expressing our hope that our request will be treated with proper consideration by the military and civilian authorities, who are in fact deciding the professional future of many young Palestinians. We know that, in the long run, an educated neighbor is more of a guarantee for development and tolerance. Within this context, the arbitrary 'deportation' of the four Birzeit University students to Gaza, and the Israeli restrictions on movement of all Palestinian students in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, are an obstacle for peace and in clear violation of the fundamental human right to education, the right to freedom of movement and the right to choose one's place of residence within a single territory, in accordance with internationally accepted standards of human rights law.
We look forward to receiving a reply soon as possible so that we can share it with our concerned colleagues here.
Sincerely yours,
Edward (Edy) Kaufman, Ph. D.
Senior Researcher; Executive Director
Harry S Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace
Hebrew University
Jerusalem, Israel 91905
http://truman.huji.ac.il
---------------------------
Dear Mr Mofaz
We the undersigned are writing to protest about the arrest and deportation last Sunday 21 November of Walid Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim, Mohammad Matar and Bashar Abu Shahala who are all students of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at Birzeit University. We note that these four students are all due to graduate by the end of this academic year.
We have heard how Israeli soldiers forcibly entered the students' apartment building in Birzeit at 2a.m. last Thursday night and arrested the four students, who were told to collect their belongings and were then handcuffed, blindfolded and taken to a nearby military detention centre where they were held for three days. No charges were made against the students; no written deportation orders were issued; but they were forcibly made to return to the Gaza.Strip.
We demand to know on what grounds these students' studies have been interrupted and why they have mistreated in this way. Moreover we also note that that due to Israeli imposed restrictions on movement these students have not been able to go home to see their families during their course of studies over the last four years. Moreover we understand that they are among the last Gaza students still studying in the West Bank. We deplore the interruption in the studies of 1500 Palestinian students, who have been prevented from returning to their university courses and are being deprived of their education and professional training.
The arbitrary 'deportation' of these four Birzeit University students to Gaza and the Israeli restrictions on movement of all Palestinian students in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are in clear violation of the fundamental human right to education, the right to freedom of movement and the right to choose one's place of residence within a single territory, in accordance with internationally accepted standards of human rights law.
We demand that the Israeli Army Legal Advisor for the West Bank immediately issues permits for the four deported students to return to Birzeit University to complete their studies, and that all Palestinian students should be free to pursue their higher education in accordance with international human rights law.
Yours truly,
Erica Burman BA PhD AFBPsS M Inst GA (UKCP regd.) Professor of Psychology
Jane C Barber, MA (MMU), Interface Solutions Client Executive
Ian Parker, BSc, PhD, AFBPsS ,M CFAR (full), Professor of Psychology
Helen Perry, Doctoral Researcher, Applied Community Studies
Heather Piper, Senior Researcher, Institute of Education.
Sophie Smailes, BA, MA BACP (reg.) Senior Lecturer in Health Care Studies
Stephen Whittle, PhD, MA, LLB, BA, Head of the Graduate School, HLSS, Reader in Law
Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
-----------------------
Dear Sir,
The expulsion of four Bir Zeit students to Gaza without any due process of law is a flagrant violation of human rights. Such actions are damaging to the Palestinian rights to education and to civil life. It will also prove damaging to Israel because it strengthens the case for the boycott of Israeli academic insitutions that is now gaining momentum in Britain and elsewhere.
In 1934 my father was excluded from University in Budapest for no other reason thant the fact that he was a Jew. Today it seems you have to be under Israeli rule to be excluded for no other reason than your ethnicity.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Paul Keleman
Department of Sociology
University of Manchester
------------------------------
Maj. Lutstein:
I am a student of human rights and humanitarian law at American University's Washington College of Law. The Washington College of Law is one of the top law schools in the United States in the area of human rights and humanitarian law. My main area of focus is prosecuting human rights abusers and war criminals. Why do I tell you this? Because I am looking at the conduct of the Israeli military and government and documenting such actions as the recent nabbings and deportations of four Palestinian students from Birzeit University for research and future action. It is my understanding that Israeli soldiers forcibly entered the students' apartment building in Birzeit at 2a.m. on the night of Thursday 18 November and arrested four Gazan students. They were told to collect their belongings and were then handcuffed, blindfolded and taken to a nearby military detention center where they were held for three days. No charges were made against the students and no written deportation orders were issued. The four were then taken by soldiers and left at the Erez military border crossing into the Gaza Strip.
The arbitrary deportation of the four Birzeit University students to Gaza and the Israeli restrictions on movement of all Palestinian students in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are in clear violation of the fundamental human right to education, the right to freedom of movement and the right to choose one's place of residence within a single territory, in accordance with internationally accepted standards of human rights law. It is also a violation of the duties and responsibilities of the Israeli Military as an occupying force in the West Bank and Gaza.
We will be using this incident as a case in a couple of my law school classes next semester. Whereas this school was reluctant to include Israeli military conduct as the topic of study or focus in our curriculum, the efforts, by a few students, to bring to light your actions, is changing that.
It is hoped that you recognize the extent to which your conduct is a violation of human rights and act to immediately release Walid Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim, Mohammad Matar and Bashar Abu Shahla, and allow them to finish their studies. We will be monitoring the situation closely. If you do not release them, you may want to supply us with your reasoning as I'm sure many students will be interested in why a country that counts itself civilized and democratic treats students in this manner.
Sincerely,
Huwaida Arraf
Washington College of Law
4801 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington DC 20016
------------------------
Minister:
As an academic and as a Jew, I write to urge you to rescind the deportation orders served recently on the four Birzeit students.
It would appear that proper legal and constitutional processes have not been followed. I suggest that you cause the relevant authorities to issue the necessary documentation for their safe return.
Similar actions should not take place in the future. More care needs to be taken with respect to the capacity of Palestinian students to carry out their studies without fear of harrassment.
Such behaviour tarnishes the image of Israel in the eyes of the rest of the world in general. Academics everywhere will deplore such an act.
ANDREW SAMUELS
Professor of Analytical Psychology, University of Essex Visiting Professor of Psychoanalytic Studies, Goldsmiths College,
University of London
Honorary Professor of Psychology and Therapeutic Studies, Roehampton
University
Studies & Research: R2E Fact Sheet (30 April 2009)
Urgent Appeals: Open letter to international academic institutions from the R2E Campaign (17 January 2009)
Activism News: NUS vote to support Palestinians' right to education! ( 1 July 2009)
Studies & Research: AAUJ and the Effects of Occupation and Conflict (30 June 2009)
Students in Detention: Israeli forces detain student from Nablus (28 June 2009)
Activism News: Boycotting the Israeli academy (25 June 2009)
Students in Detention: Israeli troops take high school student from home in dawn raid (19 June 2009)
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