Sunday 13 June 2010
Flotilla Support Demonstration - Ramallah
Our IFPB joined a demonstration in Ramallah, which involved 300 to 400 people marching from the city center to the Turkish embassy chanting “Where are the human rights?” and “Thank you Turkey” in Arabic. When we were heading on to our next meeting at the end of the protest, another delegate who speaks Hebrew and I noticed a Channel 2 news agent from the Israeli popular news station. We walked up to see what he was saying and we noticed that his camera man was struggling with the angle at which to shoot him so as not to get any Palestinian flags or remaining protest signs. The news reporter then taped a short statement of no more than 60 seconds in which he stated that life was going as normal in Ramallah and that we people were apathetically going about their daily routine, not caring about what had happened off the coast of Gaza. This was, of course, a blatant lie, but Israelis who consider Channel 2 a reliable news source will never know that.
BirZeit University - Ramallah
Opened as a girls school in 1924 (British Mandate era), BirZeit became a full university in 1976. There are currently 8 900 students of which 56% are female. The university has 11 institutes and 12 centers tat cater to the broader community.
About 60% of the population of the West Bank are under 24 and over 150 000 young people are currently enrolled in Palestinian universities.
At any given time an average of 10% of BirZeit students are imprisoned for such crimes as belonging to a student organization. It is also difficult for the university to retain international professors who are often unable to get work permits and can only come teach on tourist visas. The university cannot get legal work permits. In addition, between 1984 and 1992, military orders closed the university repeatedly once keeping its doors shut for over 3 years. Lectures took place anywhere from homes to community centers and underground educations cells of sorts were set up. As a result of this experience, the Right to Education campaign was started and is ongoing at Na-Najah, Hebron, Al-Quds, and BirZeit university now.
All Palestinian residents are trie
About 60% of the population of the West Bank are under 24 and over 150 000 young people are currently enrolled in Palestinian universities.
At any given time an average of 10% of BirZeit students are imprisoned for such crimes as belonging to a student organization. It is also difficult for the university to retain international professors who are often unable to get work permits and can only come teach on tourist visas. The university cannot get legal work permits. In addition, between 1984 and 1992, military orders closed the university repeatedly once keeping its doors shut for over 3 years. Lectures took place anywhere from homes to community centers and underground educations cells of sorts were set up. As a result of this experience, the Right to Education campaign was started and is ongoing at Na-Najah, Hebron, Al-Quds, and BirZeit university now.
All Palestinian residents are trie
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