The Stories of Students Living Under Occupation
Education under Occupation, an event organized by Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the the Right to Education Campaign, told the stories of Palestinian students living under Israeli occupation and siege. Held April 1st in London, the speakers were Palestinian students from the West Bank and Gaza. Here we share the stories of just a few of those students facing day to day life under occupation and life under siege. A report by Jas Irban.
Jehan Alfarra from Gaza, who is a contributor to Gaza Writes Back, spoke about her experiences accessing education under Israel’s siege. Her university was bombed during the Israeli attack on Gaza in 2008-2009.
Mahmoud Doughlas and Hadeel Shatara, both from the West Bank, had to join the event via Skype.
Mahmoud had been due to come on a tour of the UK with Lian Derini from Nazareth, but their visas were denied, and they only received information about this on the day of their outbound flight, despite applying in good time.
This, and a few connection problems with Skype, offered a direct reflection of how Israel’s occupation strategically inhibits the Palestinians’ access to outside communication, right to education and freedom of movement.
Jehan began the evening, telling us about the long complicated journey to get to the UK to study for a postgraduate degree in Oxford.
She showed photos of all the different visas, tickets and applications that she needed to cross through Israel and the West Bank, to get to Jordan where she was allowed one day to get a flight to the UK.
She highlighted how, despite the difficult journey, she is lucky to have been able to get out of Gaza at all to study abroad. Many students cannot take their places at overseas universities because of the closing of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, and the severe restrictions on movement though the Erez crossing with Israel.
Remarkably, it was actually easier for Jehan to make the journey to the UK to attend university here than it would be for her travel to, and study in, the West Bank.
Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza are cut off from each other by Israel in a further attempt to strip the Palestinians of a united national identity. [Read more about Jehan’s story]
Mahmoud asserted that, for Palestinians, education is a tool of resistance. Refused access to the UK, he is currently stuck in the West Bank, unable to leave or attend his planned speaking tour.
This is obviously a huge disappointment but it has not stopped him from speaking out against the oppression that Palestinians face. He is determined to share the story of students living under occupation. Mahmoud studies at Birzeit University and is part of the Right to Education Campaign.
He grew up in a small village outside Nablus in the West Bank. He told us of a time in his childhood, during the Second Intifada, when for two months teachers were forbidden to enter his village and how he had no freedom of movement growing up. In ten years, he was only able to leave his village three times.
One day, tear gas was thrown into his classroom; he couldn’t breathe, see or move and ended up in hospital.
He said: “I hope you can all raise your awareness and communicate with what is not being told to you, there are still children who cannot get an education and we need to help these kids, they need help from Palestinians and from Internationals.”
Hadeel grew up in Ramallah and is in her fourth year of an economics degree at Birzeit University. She says: “Palestine is a country without an economy” so with this degree, “My main concern is to be able to do something for my country.”
She told us how textbooks sponsored by the USA are not allowed to have the word “Palestine” in them or to mention the occupation.
This is a colonial tool used to deny the history of a people, in an attempt to further dispossess Palestinians from their homeland and its stories. Because of this, Palestinian students learn about their history and national identity through oral testimonies, their own resources and through talking.
During the Q & A session at the end, all the speakers told us what students here can do:
• Team up with Palestinian universities; organize Skype talks and online class exchanges to learn from each other.
• Boycott Israeli products and academic institutions to put pressure on Israel’s economy until they start abiding by international law and respecting human rights.
• Help to spread the story and show solidarity.
• Speak to Palestinians, read Palestinian writing, watch Palestinian films etc – we need to hear from the Palestinians themselves.
Jehan also made the pertinent point that, with help from the U.N and international aid, there is assistance to “cope” with the problem but no real solution is offered. People need tools to obtain their own independence so they can rely on themselves rather than bits of help that render them dependent on outside aid.
The situation as it stands simply cannot continue. No one should have their right to education obstructed by an occupation which, among many other difficulties, includes invasive military checkpoints, bombing of schools and universities, arrest without due cause and tear gas attacks on classrooms. It was inspiring to hear how the students managed to stay motivated to study and get an education against all odds.
