The right to education straddles the division of human rights
into civil and political, on one hand, and economic, social and
cultural, on the other hand, thereby affirming the conceptual
universality of human rights. Both the right to education and
rights in education thus ought to be recognized and protected.
Moreover, many human rights can only be accessed through
education.
--K. Tomasevski, U.N. Special
Rapporteur on the Right to Education
History: An-Najah was founded as An-Najah Nabulsi
School in 1918, and, in 1941, it was developed into An-Najah
College, upgraded to a two-year community college in 1963. To
meet the evolving needs of Palestinian society, it was developed
to AN-NAJAH NATIONAL UNIVERSITY in 1977, starting with the
Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Science.
The administration, faculty and
students of An-Najah National University are deeply concerned
with the future of this institution.
Since Nablus was invaded by Israeli government
troops on April 3rd, academic life here has been all
but suffocated.
Located in the northern West Bank city of Nablus,
we are Palestine's largest University with a student body
numbering close to 10,000 young men and women(54%), under normal
conditions. An open University, A.N.U. has respect for
diversity, International Law, and the spirit of democracy. Our
present problems began at the end of September, 2000, when the
government of Israel erected military checkpoints throughout the
West Bank, territory that they have occupied since 1967.
Before the April invasion, students' movement was
already severely restricted, and family breadwinners have been
deprived of work permits, resulting in the loss of all or part
of their incomes. This has led to a situation wherein some of
our students have been forced to curtail their education, while
the majority of An-Najah University students are experiencing
financial difficulties to the extent that continuation of their
studies remains in question.
This year marks our University's 25th
anniversary, and we had all looked forward to celebrating our
Silver Jubilee. This, along with final exams and the students'
graduation ceremonies have been postponed. This year, there is
no summer semester!
As 60% of our students come from the surrounding
area, the majority of them have returned to their families.
Everyone is under a strict curfew and confined to their homes,
with dwindling hope of returning to their academic lives in the
foreseeable future. The Israeli government's attack on
Palestinian educational institutions has the effect of severely
limiting the development of a healthy and sustainable society,
and throws a wrench into any hopes for peace and reconciliation
between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples.
In addition, Human Rights Watch
has criticized Israel for interfering with the ability of
university students in the Palestinian-governed areas of the
West Bank to pursue their education.
International humanitarian law has been and
continues to be trampled under the feet of the Israeli military
establishment. Without immediate action by the international
community, the destruction of Palestinian civil life, symbolized
by its educational institutions, will continue unchallenged.
We, the administration of An-Najah National University, Nablus,
West Bank, urgently request that the following measures be
taken:
1.
International Humanitarian Law
enshrines the rights of an occupied civilian population to
protection while under military occupation. This must, by
definition, include the right of Palestinian students in the
Israeli-occupied territories to unhindered access to education.
Israel must be made to comply with these most basic of human
needs.
2.
The institutions of the
International Community must pay closer attention to violations
against our academic process, inflicted by the Israeli military
regime. We implore the International Intellectual Community to
take serious steps to put an end to this unbearable situation.
We need protection!
3.
Israel must, at the very minimum, lift the
oppressive curfew under which we are all suffering, abandon
their policy of collective punishment, and ease travel
restrictions presently imposed against our civilian population.
For further information about An-Najah
National University, please access our website at
http://www.najah.edu, or
contact us at
info@najah.edu
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