Birzeit University Right To Education Campaign Activism News BIRZEIT STUDENTS AND LECTURERS CALL FOR ACADEMIC BOYCOTT Right to Education Student Committee, Birzeit University, 28 November 2006 Open letter in support of Irish academics, We, the undersigned, members of the Birzeit University' community of students, teachers, faculty staff and employees, congratulate and thank the group of Irish academics who called for a moratorium on the European Union's financing of Israeli academic institutions until Israel withdraws from the occupied Palestinian territories and abides by international humanitarian and human rights laws, including the right of return. The recent attacks and re-invasion of Gaza and Lebanon expose the contempt with which Israel treats the UN, its resolution and its own bilateral agreements. We strongly condemn the death, chaos and destruction inflicted upon Gazans and Lebanese, and call upon the students, academics and staff of universities worldwide to collectively condemn these acts and take action to support us in our struggle to end Israeli military aggression and occupation. The objective of such military force is to control and subjugate Palestinian society in order to sustain Israel's Jewish demographic supremacy and enforce its unilaterally declared boundaries. As a result, Israel has built an apartheid system of controlling the Palestinian population both inside Israel and under the occupied territories. Economically, the occupied territories served as cheap-labour reserves until the building of the Wall, now it serves to make daily life unbearable so that Palestinians decide to leave, continuing the 'silent transfer' of the indigenous population. The Israeli civil and military bureaucracy also obstructs the development of an independent Palestinian economy through its control of borders, immigration, collection of taxes and restriction on movement inside the territories. Racially, Palestinians in Israel are consistently denied equal access to social services, housing and education, and since 2005, denied equal rights to family. In Jerusalem and the occupied territories, Palestinians are segregated by different permits based on their residency at the time of issue, and each 'category' is granted different freedoms of movement - at the bottom of this structure are Gaza permit-holders, who cannot move from Gaza to the West Bank, nor inside the West Bank itself. This system of control is parallel to the racial hierarchy and control during Apartheid South Africa. Israeli academic institutions have close links with the state, and the vast majority of Israeli intellectuals and academics either contribute directly to the Israeli occupation through research that justifies or improves the mechanisms of Israeli apartheid, or are complicit through their silence about it. As Shahid Alam, Professor of Economics at North-eastern University in Boston, has pointed out, "through their links with the military, the political parties, the media, and the economy, they (Israel's universities) have helped to construct, sustain, and justify the Apartheid (policies of the occupation)." We therefore urge international civil society and the academic community to join our call to comprehensively boycott Israeli academics who contribute or refuse to stand up against the occupation, until: Israel withdraws its military from the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem; removes all its colonies in those lands and agrees to United Nations resolutions relevant to the restitution of Palestinian refugees rights. Yours faithfully, 1,015 students of Birzeit University, and: 1. Zeyad Munawer, Accounting 2. Dr Abdul Karim Abu-Khashan, Arabic 3. Ahmad Daoud, Arabic 4. Dr. Ibrahim Musa, Arabic 5. Khitam Salman, Arabic 6. Dr Ghadir Kharoubi, Arabic 7. Dr Mahmoud Alatchan, Arabic 8. Salahaldin Alshakhshir, Architectural Engineering 9. Dr Salem Thawaba, Architectural Engineering 10. Dr Ademar Ezzughayar, Biology 11. Jamil Abu Sada, Biology 12. Dr Munir Qazzaz, Biology 13. Dr. Tamer Essawi, Biology 14. Dr. Ahed Abdul Khaliq, Biology and Biochemistry 15. Omar Yaseen, Business Administration 16. Dr. Grace Khoury, Business Administration 17. Rania Jaber, Business Administration 18. Prof. Abdul Hamid Laila, Chemistry 19. Dr. Jack F Mustaklem, Chemistry 20. Dr. Sami Asayrafi, Chemistry 21. Dr Yacoub Ziadeh, Chemistry 22. Dr. Zaki Hassan, Chemistry 23. Belal Ameens, Centre for Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences 24. Dr Jamal Zalatimo, Civil Engineering 25. Suheym Murchad, Civil Engineering 26. Mahmoud Srour, Clinical Laboratory Science 27. Dr Hanna Bullata, Computer Science 28. Dr. Iyad Jaber, Computer Science 29. Muna Khayyat, Computer Science 30. Dr. Wasel Ghanem, Computer Science 31. Dr. Yousef Hassouneh, Computer Science 32. Dr. Abdelrahman Abdelghani, Cultural Studies and Philosophy 33. Dr. Abdul-Rahim Al-Shaikh, Cultural Studies and Philosophy 34. Dr. Islah Jadd, Cultural Studies and Philosophy 35. Dr. George Giacaman, Cultural Studies and Philosophy 36. Lubna Abdul Hadi, Cultural Studies and Philosophy 37. Dr. Mudar Kassis, Cultural Studies and Philosophy 38. Dr Adel Zagha, Economics 39. Dr. Nidal Sabri, Economics 40. Dr Mohamed Nasr, Economics 41. Yasser Abu Hejleh, Economics 42. Adballah Bsharat, Education 43. Ahmad Aljanazrah, Education 44. Dr. Ibrahim Makkawi, Education 45. Haifa Sabassi, Education and Psychology 46. Maurice Bakleh, Education and Psychology 47. Refa’ Al Ramahi, Education and Psyhcology 48. Wafa Aramahi, Education and Psychology 49. Dr. Yusef Abu Samrah, Education and Psychology 50. Dr. Wasfi Kafri, Electrical Engineering 51. Wael Abdin, English 52. Dr. Fahmi Al-Aboudi, English 53. Muna Giacaman, English 54. Murad Hanasheh, Finance 55. Sari Ghanam, Finance 56. Abdul Khalim A. Tomazi, Geography 57. Ahmad Hammad, Geography 58. Dr Kamal Abdulfattah, Geography 59. Musa S. Jamhour, Geography 60. Dr. Othman Sharkas, Geography 61. Dr. Abed Aziz Ayad, History 62. Dr Muhsin Yusuf, History 63. Dr Awad Mataria, Institute of Community and Public Health 64. Prof. Rita Giacaman, Institute of Community and Public Health 65. Dr. Samia Halileh, Institute of Community and Public Health 66. Dr. Asem Khalil, Institute of Law 67. Dr. Firas Melhem, Institute of Law 68. Liana Amin, Institute of Law 69. Reem Al-Botmeh, Institute of Law 70. Dr. Samer Fares, Institute of Law 71. Chivvis Moore, Institute of Women's Studies 72. Eileen Kuttab, Institute of Women's Studies 73. Basma Al Omari, Languages and Translation 74. Mahmoud Abed Al-Fateh, Languages and Translation 75. Majdi Abu Zahra, Languages and Translation 76. Muhammad Abuzeid, Languages and Translation 77. Munira Zoroub, Languages and Translation 78. Rabah Ali Ahmed, Languages and Translation 79. Samir Ramaal, Languages and Translation 80. Moussa Abou Ramadan, Law 81. Yusef Shandi, Law 82. Ahlam Awajneh, Mathematics 83. Dr Khaled Tukhman, Mathematics 84. Dr Marwan Aloqeili, Mathematics 85. Prof. Mohammad Saleh, Mathematics 86. Rasem Kabi, Mathematics 87. Allan Tubaileh, Mechanical Engineering 88. Ibrahim Hamad, Mechanical Engineering 89. Dr. Simon Alaraj, Mechanical Engineering 90. In’am El-Obeidi, Media 91. Dr. Nashat A. Aqtash, Media 92. Dr Subhi Hamdan, Media 93. Dr. Wedad Al-Barghouthi, Media 94. Dr Walid Shurefa, Media 95. Rula Halawani, Photography Department 96. Sami Said, Photography Department 97. Kamal Shamshom, Physical Education 98. Sana’ Liftawi, Physical Education 99. Dr Ghassan Andoni, Physics 100.Dr Jamal Suleiman, Physics 101.Tayseer Arouri, Physics 102.Emad Ghayathah, Political Science 103.Dr. Samer Awad, Political Science 104.Dr. Othman Abu Libdeh, Quality Assurance 105.Mayada Albadawi, Public Administration 106. Prof. Simon Kuttab, Dean, Faculty of Science 107. Hasan Ladaduah, Sociology and Anthropology 108. Dr. Ismael Nashef, Sociology and Anthropology 109. Dr. Lisa Taraki, Sociology and Anthropology 110. Mohammad Abu-Hilal, Sociology and Anthropology 111. Dr. Suha Hindiyeh, Sociology and Anthropology 112. Dr. Zuhair Sabbagh, Sociology and Anthropology 113. Vera Tamari, Virtual Gallery Arts Programme