Right to Education Week launches at Birzeit University

Palestine’s Right to Education Week launched on Monday, November 14, 2022, under the title “Academic Freedom: Our Knowledge Won’t Be Chained.” This event is organized by Right to Education, a campaign pioneered by the Birzeit University Public Relations Office, and will continue until November 17.

During the opening event, 100 empty chairs were placed at the center of the campus with pictures of imprisoned or murdered students to highlight their oppression and the Israeli attacks that obstruct their education.

The Right to Education student coordinator Israa Al-Qadi said that the campaign documents the ongoing obstruction of education in Palestine. The campaign provides legal support to students and academics subjected to violations by the Israeli occupation forces, assigns lawyers to follow up with their cases and facilitates the procedures to ensure that students continue their education upon their release. The Right to Education Campaign also promotes legal awareness for students to equip them to handle potential violations by the Israeli occupation. Al-Qadi added that the campaign aims to establish solidarity links in support of Palestinian students through building a network with international academics, human rights organizations and activists.

The Right to Education Week includes an art exhibition by former political prisoner and Birzeit alumnus Mohammad Aziz Atef. Titled Room 14, the artwork in the exhibition was created in Room 14 at Ofer prison. While imprisoned, spent 12 hours a day creating art in one of the world’s cruelest places. Atef asserts that prisons are designed to mentally execute people. Through his calligraphy, Atef escaped the brutality of the prison by creating his own world. Atef was a visual artist and Arabic calligrapher before his imprisonment.