Birzeit University Right To Education Campaign Birzeit-Surda Chronology Initial Success in Starting Off the 2002/2003 Academic Year is Disrupted by Israeli Closures and Ongoing Threats to Birzeit University Report, Birzeit University, 20 September 2002 Tuesday, September 17, 2002 was to herald the first day of the first semester of the 2002/2003 academic year. And while great strides have been made to get the semester off to a strong start, the ongoing Israeli occupation's policies of closures and curfews are once again delaying the start of a new academic year at Birzeit University. Through the commitment of students, staff and faculty and the leap in information technology at Birzeit University, namely the development of a new student/faculty portal "Ritaj", the second semester of the last academic year was completed successfully on August 16, 2002. Some of the final exams had to be rescheduled several times or carried out in the nearby city of Ramallah but were eventually conducted and a short intensive summer session was conducted mainly for the students who needed six credits or less to graduate. Although the graduation ceremonies had to be cancelled due to the delays and difficulty of commuting to and from the University, over 1200 students successfully completed their undergraduate and graduate studies this year. In order to get a head start on registration for the new academic year, the University allowed students to register through "Ritaj", which was upgraded during the summer to allow for on-line registration, add-drop and other administrative procedures, in addition to placement of course material and on-line class discussions. Over 3,300 students (of approximately 4,200 non-freshman students) registered on-line from all regions of the Palestinian occupied territories. "Ritaj" effectively lessened the number of hours needed for the registration process and enabled thousands of students to avert the dangerous and long travel time to reach the University for this purpose. Unfortunately, the positive strides made within the University were abruptly halted as the Israeli Occupation Army imposed curfews on September 18th and 19th on Ramallah, thereby prohibiting staff, students and faculty from reaching the University. While Birzeit is hopeful that it will continue to find ways to carry out its academic and community development activities, the Israeli occupation continues to pose a threat. During the last semester the Israeli army increased its aggressions against the University. On July 27, 2002 three Israeli army jeeps stormed the campus of the University. This unprecedented act was conducted for no apparent reason. Further, on September 3, 2002 two Israeli military vehicles arrived at the main gate of Birzeit University and prevented anyone from entering or leaving the University for over twenty minutes. During this intrusion, the army informed the administration that there is an intention to place a military checkpoint at the University gate. The University administration sees the on-going curfews, closures, intrusions and destruction of the Ramallah-Birzeit Road as serious matters, all of which violate international norms and laws and threaten academic freedom. To counter these disruptions, the University launched an international campaign to remove Israeli checkpoints that are preventing access to the University and denying Palestinians their right to education.