Education has come to a halt in the Gaza Strip and much of Palestine as Israeli forces continue to bombard Gaza in response to the deadly surprise attack that Hamas militants launched on Israel on October 7.
Among heavy structural damage in Gaza, several university buildings and other educational facilities have been destroyed, and Gaza authorities say the bombings have also killed at least 1,900 residents.
The Israeli offensive began on October 9, two days after the attack in which Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,300 people and taking more than 100 hostages.
As the violence has escalated, education in Gaza universities has been suspended, and universities in the West Bank have switched to distance learning.
Since Wednesday, Gaza has been without electricity, and essential health, water and sanitation services are at the brink of collapse, OCHA, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, reported.
Ahmed Othman, a faculty member at the Islamic University of Gaza, told Al-Fanar Media that the situation “is deteriorating very quickly. The bombing affects everything. The Israelis aim to liquidate the Palestinian cause, by giving the residents of Gaza a choice between death or displacement abroad.”
Among university-related casualties, Gaza University lamented the deaths of Rajab Al-Naqeeb, a student at the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, and his family.
Deadly Clashes in West Bank
In the occupied West Bank, three universities reported having lost students in recent incidents involving Israeli troops or, in one case, violence by Israeli settlers.
Birzeit University mourned the death of Mohammed Awadh Jarbou, a graduate of the Banking and Financial Sciences programme, who was shot by Israeli troops near the town of Al-Lubban Al-Gharbi on October 7.
The situation in Gaza “is deteriorating very quickly. The bombing affects everything. The Israelis aim to liquidate the Palestinian cause, by giving the residents of Gaza a choice between death or displacement abroad.”
Ahmed Othman, a faculty member at the Islamic University of Gaza
Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie also announced the death of a student, Labib Muhammad Labib Al-Dhmaidi, on October 6. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said Dhmaidi died after being struck by settlers’ bullets in an attack on Palestinian properties in the town of Huwara, south of Nablus. The settlers reportedly were retaliating for an attack by a Palestinian gunman that killed two of their number.
Palestine Ahliya University, in Bethlehem, mourned the death of a physical therapy student, Ahmed Ashraf Khalaf Zaqiq, after he was hit by Israeli forces’ bullets in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron.
University Bombed in Gaza
Israeli bombing has severely damaged several buildings of the Islamic University of Gaza. In a statement, the university called on international organisations to intervene quickly to protect institutions that serve the Palestinian people from attack, to guarantee the right of students to safe education, and to stand up to arbitrary attacks against education.
On October 10, Israeli bombing destroyed the Education Above All Foundation’s Al Fakhoora House in Gaza City’s Al Rimal neighbourhood.
In a statement, Education Above All reiterated that “collective punishment, reprisals, and attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are serious violations of international humanitarian law, and if deliberate, they are war crimes.”
The foundation said that Al Fakhoora House was a safe space for students and families in an area that hosts nongovernmental and international organisations. The facility provided student services and programme administration support; scholarships and registration services; and workshops, seminars, and video conferences, among other activities.
Solidarity Strikes
Al-Quds Open University, which has branches across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, observed a general strike on Sunday, October 8, to mourn those who have died in the violence and to denounce “the Israeli occupation’s continuing crimes against Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza.”
In the Gaza Strip, Israa University of Gaza, Gaza University, the University of Palestine, and Al-Aqsa University all suspended academic and administrative work until further notice.
In the West Bank, academic institutions have switched to distance education. These include An-Najah National University, Bethlehem University, Hebron University, Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie, Al-Istiqlal University, Palestine Al-Ahliya University, Modern University College, and Birzeit University.
Controversial Response at Harvard
The outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas has sparked reactions from students across the region and the world.
At Harvard University, a controversy arose after 34 student organisations signed a joint statement in support of the Palestinians. The statement held Israel “entirely responsible for all unfolding violence”.
“Collective punishment, reprisals, and attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are serious violations of international humanitarian law, and if deliberate, they are war crimes.”
Education Above All Foundation
“Today’s event did not occur in a vacuum,” the statement said. “For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison … [and] Israeli violence has structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years.”
The statement drew an intense backlash from other students, professors and prominent alumni. Some called on the university to take action against those who issued it, and others urged employers to black-list them. At least five of the original 34 signatories had withdrawn their signatures as of Tuesday, the Harvard Crimson reported.
Harvard University did not respond to calls to discipline the students. Its president, Claudine Gay, said in a statement released on Thursday that while Harvard students “have the right to speak for themselves, no student group—not even 30 student groups—speaks for Harvard University or its leadership.”
In the statement, she also said: “Let there be no doubt that I condemn the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas. Such inhumanity is abhorrent, whatever one’s individual views of the origins of longstanding conflicts in the region.”
In Egypt, some students at the American University in Cairo demonstrated on Monday in support of Palestinans. Videos on social media showed dozens of students chanting slogans in support of the Palestinians, led by students wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh.
As part of Egyptian attempts to send a convoy of food and medical aid to Gaza, civil society organisations launched blood donation campaigns at several universities on Thursday and local media showed queues of students responding.