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BACKGROUND
The Palestinian people are
undergoing a critical transitional phase of nation building.
Simultaneously they are pursuing ongoing peace negotiations with Israel.
These two complex realities present constraints on the society, which have
often resulted in the violation of fundamental freedoms. There is a notion
among many Palestinians that the PA is learning from its mistakes and that
the abuse of freedoms should be tolerated as part of the difficult process
of state building. In the past, Palestinian Universities have been centers
of the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation. Today, they
should be able to develop the capacity to balance the social, cultural and
political activities necessary for comprehensive social development. Only
in a system that values academic freedom can the universities engage in an
honest struggle with the complexities of building a Palestinian state.
This balance can be built organically over time, but Palestinians cannot
do this in a vacuum. Borrowing from international models is critical.
Despite the economic and political constraints placed upon political
leaders and university administrators alike, the authorities and the
general society need to be cognizant of international norms.
A. International Standards
At the international level,
academic freedom is regarded as an application of the right to the free
holding of opinions and the freedom to express those opinions. It is
further defined as the freedom of members of the academic community to
follow their scholarly activities within a framework determined by that
community with respect to ethical rules and international standards, and
without outside pressure. The academic community is defined by scholars,
teachers, and students. These rights to the free holding of opinions and
the free expression of opinions are expressly included in all human rights
treaties. In addition, academic freedom is addressed more directly in The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This international norm promulgated
in Article 26 reads "Education shall be directed to the full development
of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms." The Lima Declaration on Academic Freedom
and Autonomy of Institutions of Higher Education, adopted by the World
University Service in 1988, reiterates the same language and adds that
"states are under an obligation to respect and to ensure to all members of
the academic community, those civil, political, economic, social and
cultural rights recognized in the United Nations Covenants on Human
Rights. Every member of the academic community shall enjoy, in particular,
freedom of thought, conscience, religion, expression, assembly, and
association as well as the right to liberty and security of person and
freedom of movement" (Article 4). The Declaration further proclaims that
dismissal from a university requires a fair hearing from a democratically
selected body of that academic community (Article 5), that academics have
the right to teach without any interference, subject to the accepted
principles, standards and methods of teaching (Article 7). Finally, the
international understanding is that all institutions of higher learning
shall allow students to express opinions on any national or international
question. (Article 10). 3
Academic Freedom also requires that
the society uphold other basic tenets of international consensus such as
the right to be free from arbitrary arrests and to the guarantee of a fair
trial. Members of the academic community must be free to perform legal
actions, to be members of or associated with legal political parties or
associations. International instruments, such as the Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, which prohibit the state from impinging on human rights
in order to satisfy other state interests, such as security and peace
negotiations with a third party, must also be respected. 4
Internationally, academic freedom is
also expressly protected in a number of constitutions and through
legislation on higher education. In many developed countries, such as the
Netherlands and the United Kingdom, the importance of academic freedom is
not explicitly stated in the countries' constitutions but is nonetheless
considered an inalienable right. In the Netherlands, for example, freedom
of education is guaranteed in the constitution, and freedom of scholarship
has developed with a long tradition of academic life at Dutch institutions
of higher education. Many emerging democracies, such as Lithuania,
Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey, have also enshrined academic freedom
in their constitutions as a right. 5
One vital component of academic
freedom is the willingness of the academic community, within and without
the particular institution, to protest infringements on academic freedom.
Whether colleagues are concerned about resources for their own university,
department, or particular project, or whether they are genuinely anxious
about their own jobs, academic freedom is violated when others do not
speak out.
According to the UNSCO Rule of Law
Survey, the Palestinian Authority has emphasized its plans to respect
human rights in numerous public statements and development plans. The
Agreement on the Gaza Strip and Jericho Area states, "Israel and the
Palestinian Authority shall exercise their powers and responsibilities
pursuant to agreement with due regard to internationally-accepted norms
and principles of human rights and the rule of law." 6 Such stipulations,
as well as President Arafat's spoken commitment to uphold universal human
rights standards, have not been reflected in the current reality.
B. Israeli Occupation and the
Intifada
Palestinian universities in their
current form came into existence in the early years of the Israeli
occupation. The modern Palestinian universities have seen three distinct
periods. The Israeli occupation from the early 1970's until the Intifada
characterizes the first period. The Intifada and its aftermath are the
second period. These two phases will be dealt with in this section. The
current era, the third period, encompasses the years since the
establishment of the Palestinian Authority to the present, and it makes up
the bulk of this report; the final phase is addressed in detail below.
The first institution to expand
from a junior college is Palestine's leading university, Birzeit
University. In 1972, Birzeit’s junior college status, which it held in the
1950's and 60's, was upgraded to that of a four-year college. Today there
are 3863 students. The first Bachelor's degree was awarded in 1976.
Bethlehem University followed Birzeit in 1973. Four years later it
graduated less than 100 students. Today there is a total of 1929 students.
Until 1987 Israel treated Bethlehem University better than the others. But
in October of 1987, a few months before the start of the Intifada, the
campus was ordered closed for a week by military order. 8
In 1977, al-Najah National
University became the next four-year liberal arts college to be
established. Today it is the largest university in the West Bank with 8442
students. Because of the Islamic ambience in the very nationalist city of
Nablus, al-Najah University was always subject to more pressure from the
Israeli military. Nonetheless, faculty on several occasions attempted to
help students jailed by Israel and smuggle exams into prison. Army raids,
checkpoints, and brief closures were the norm through the 1970's and 80's.
The Gaza Islamic University was
established later. After Camp David, travel to Egypt became increasingly
difficult and, as a result, a university in Gaza was set up with the
support of al-Azhar University in Cairo. The university also received
funding from the Arab Gulf states. From the outset the institution was
opposed by Israelis and by Palestinian secular nationalists. One of the
ways Israel showed its opposition was to refuse to renew work permits for
many professors from the West Bank who taught in Gaza. Currently there are
close to 8000 students. In 1992, the university was split in half, and a
new institution called al-Azhar was created with direct backing from the
PLO. Today there are 11,671 students.9
All universities were subject to
Israeli hurdles with respect to their development. Licensing was not
granted on a long term basis and required annual approval. Each new
faculty also needed approval. Palestinian universities were subject to
other violations such as the censorship of books and periodicals. In
addition, a ban on materials considered threatening to Israel was also
instituted, despite the fact that they could be found and accessed at
Israel universities.
Student arrests were common, and
their number increased during the Intifada. For example throughout the
1970's and the early 1980's, the number of students arrested at Birzeit
University totaled in the tens, although in 1985-86, the number reached
115 at Birzeit University alone. Students were often detained without
charge.10 Professors were also detained often for materials they possessed
or for books they authored.
In addition, Israel also withheld
work permits for international faculty, particularly Palestinians living
in Jordan and in other parts of the Arab world. Other human rights
violations included closures, imprisonment of students, exile, and
compulsory residency. Administrative detention increased steadily in the
1980's. Some students were arrested without charge. Others were arrested
for security offenses, such as throwing rocks or being a member in an
illegal organization.
The Intifada was the turning point
in Palestinian University life. Violations increased so much that
academics that lived through both periods now look at the earlier period
as comparatively benign. During the Intifada, the universities were
considered the center of the nationalist struggle by Israel and were
subject to more severe restrictions. Preventive closures were initiated
shortly before the Intifada. Universities were constantly visited and
monitored by Israeli military personnel. Movement was restricted by the
establishment of checkpoints on the way to the universities.
Administrative detentions and deportations increased for students and for
professors, as did violence against students, including the killings of
student protestors. At the start of the Intifada, detainees were rounded
up; former, present, or current candidates for student council were the
most common targets. Sometimes they were detained for possessing illegal
literature, which may have included posters about students who had been
killed on campus. Many students were subject to arrest if they left their
campus. Some universities were closed for up to 4 years. The massive
shutdowns motivated Palestinians to develop alternative education, which
included holding classes in private homes. Despite these efforts, most
students continued to take more than the normal four years to complete
their studies. This prolonged period of undergraduate education caused
severe economic hardship for students and for their families.11 The human
rights violations by the Israeli occupation, which still have not
disappeared, left a legacy of politicization at the Palestinian
universities. Israel's effect on Palestinian University life, while
critical, is only one of the outside influences that have affected
Palestinian institutions of higher education.
C. Learning from the Arab World
The phenomenon of securitization of
West Bank and Gaza universities has a correlative in the early stages of
Egyptian independence. Anecdotal information shows that there are also
similarities to the Jordanian system, although much more work must be done
to document academic freedom at Jordanian universities.
In 1954 the Egyptian government
temporarily stationed troops at the university gates. These security
officers retained a permanent presence on Egyptian universities as
uniformed policeman until May of 1971 when President Sadat announced the
abolition of the University Guard. In Egypt the guards not only manned the
gates of the university but they also were stationed at the door of every
faculty. Ostensibly they were there solely to maintain order. In Jordan,
the universities also have guards placed at the gates by the security
services.
In Egypt there was a systematic
policy to centralize and control university life. The guards were
answerable to the Ministry of the Interior, through which the government
was able to manage University affairs. (In Palestine, President Arafat is
the Minister of Interior. To the extent to which he is kept abreast of
university affairs and to the extent that he is associated with all the
important cases in the West Bank and Gaza, there is a parallel).
There was also a complex system of
other security and intelligence officers who were present on the Egyptian
campus. In Egypt, the staff at the university was recurrently appointed to
ministerial positions in the Government or to departmental committees.
University leaders' consultative power in affairs of state and in
industrial departments allowed them to effectively control university
life. Today, similar efforts, specifically university guards and dismissal
of faculty critical of the government, has again been instituted to help
control Egyptian institutions of higher learning. In Jordan, university
appointments must be cleared with the intelligence service.
In the West Bank and Gaza, the PA
has not sought to control the universities but rather to restrain and
contain intellectual opposition. There is, however, a Congress of
Presidents of Universities, a consultative group that convenes at the
Ministry of Higher Education. This group has been formed to include the
University leaders in the process of centralization of higher education.
In Egypt, military figures were
appointed general secretary of university administration. Elected faculty
deans were replaced by appointed ones. The President of Al-Azhar
University, who is also on the executive committee of the PLO, has a
double position. Elsewhere, at al-Najah University, where a new president
was recently appointed, President Yasser Arafat had a role in the choice.
In Palestine, the most over-arching
standardization is the development of a national human rights course,
which is to be implemented at all universities. However, there is an
effort to change the status of universities from public to governmental.
Because funds are very limited, universities have an incentive to consent;
government universities receive all their funding from the government
whereas public institutions are not guaranteed any money from the central
authority. However, the move to make the Authority responsible for higher
education simultaneously allows it more control.
Both the Egyptian and the
Palestinian systems employ the tactics of surveillance of security agents
to control teachers and students. In Egypt, the pretense of the University
Guard was to protect against theft and arson. Furthermore, constant calls
for reform were denied. In Palestine, it is often heard that the
University Security Department is there to defend girls from outsiders or
to protect the honor of Palestinian students. In Egypt, guards reported to
the Ministry of the Interior rather than directly to the University
Administration. In the West Bank, security officers report directly to
their supervisors. In Gaza, security officers perform the same role,
though some report to the police department in charge of University
affairs. However, first, they are supposed to report to the University
Administration.
What is similar to the Egyptian case
is the contracting of undercover agents to report on university
activities. In Egypt, these agents were resented but were recruited from
students and teachers. In the West Bank and Gaza, our research has only
found students who report on other students and to a lesser extent on
lecturers. In Jordan, students and professors similarly work for the
security services, and professors are frightened to speak openly in class.
In Egypt, the teachers' capacity to influence
students was affected by strains to which they were subject: the one thing
that weakened the relationship between students and their teachers was
that the latter were unable to answer students' questions on public
affairs. In Jordan, several professors were dismissed in the late 1970's
for speaking out against the government. Afterwards, few professors dared
to express their beliefs. In all the universities in the West Bank and
Gaza, professors are free to discuss such issues. At Al-Azhar University,
the administration has more control over the curriculum. However, at the
other Palestinian universities where the professors do not have to answer
to senior administrators, lecturers can and do criticize laws made by PLC.
They are free to discuss reform and to compare the Palestinian situation
to that of many others countries, both in the Arab world and beyond. It is
important to establish that professors often feel safer discussing these
matters by framing the issue as to how the situation could improve rather
than merely by criticizing. 12
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