The loss and struggle of Palestinian universities
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As much political and media attention focuses on student protests at US university campuses in opposition to the war in Gaza — and the backlash in response — many Palestinian students no longer have a university to attend.
Since October, Israeli forces have completely destroyed or severely damaged at least six of the Gaza Strip’s seven universities. The Islamic University of Gaza and Al-Azhar University were early casualties in the war. Israeli airstrikes destroyed the Islamic University of Gaza’s main buildings in October. Early bombings also destroyed Al-Azhar University. Al-Aqsa University has been badly damaged.
In some cases, Israeli ground forces used university facilities before destroying them; most notably, Israeli soldiers used Al-Israa University as a barracks and detention center before demolishing it with explosives on Jan. 17. Israeli authorities have accused Hamas of using the universities but, at some point, that justification wears thin when Israel applies it to nearly every building destroyed in Gaza.
Of course, universities are far more than just their buildings. As of January, nearly 100 Palestinian university professors had been killed. Many students have died. Students have lost years of work toward degrees and professors have lost years of research. Additionally, multiple cultural centers, museums, libraries, archives and archaeological sites have been destroyed. Such losses are immense for the Palestinian people and also diminish the wider world’s ability to understand and study the region’s history, art, literature and knowledge.
Amid more than 35,000 deaths and the destruction of lifesaving infrastructure such as hospitals, the loss of universities may pale in comparison. In the short term, as Palestinians struggle simply to survive, the loss of institutions of higher education and culture is not a top concern. Nonetheless, in the longer term, the destruction of universities, libraries, museums and cultural centers will be devastating.
Israeli authorities have accused Hamas of using the universities but, at some point, that justification wears thin
Kerry Boyd Anderson
In the West Bank, students and faculty at universities have decades of experience coping with Israeli raids on campuses that sometimes include arrests and the destruction of property, limited movement due to checkpoints and other problems that pose fundamental challenges to higher education. Since October, those challenges have intensified, as violence and restrictions on Palestinian life have increased. Some West Bank universities have shifted to partial online learning due to the danger to students and faculty of moving between campuses and home.
West Bank universities have also worked to support students and faculty in Gaza. Students at Birzeit University, for example, have protested in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Also, Birzeit is establishing a “Rebuilding Hope” initiative, in which it is offering help for Gazan university students to continue their studies through online learning with Birzeit and linking Gazan academics with peers at Birzeit and elsewhere to help plan for rebuilding Gaza. Several other West Bank universities are setting up similar programs.
Around the world, universities represent hope. They represent the opportunity for young people to expand their minds, meet other people and develop careers. The existence of universities suggests that human beings are capable of far more than basic education and survival; we are capable of curiosity, edification, lifelong learning, critical thinking, scientific reasoning, philosophy, theology and more.
For people who often feel dehumanized, like Gaza’s residents, universities offer a way to assert their humanity, intellect and contributions. Gaza’s universities in particular offered Palestinian women opportunities; for example, women constituted a majority of students at the Islamic University of Gaza and Al-Israa University. Universities also serve as centers of research and innovation that help to develop the broader economy.
Palestinians have long prized education as crucial to achieving personal and societal autonomy and empowerment
Kerry Boyd Anderson
For people like the Palestinians, who face constant efforts by others to deny their very existence and identity, universities and their associated libraries and cultural centers are crucial homes for storing and understanding their heritage, history, culture and community — past, present and future. The loss of artifacts, books, research and memory — embodied in both university buildings and the professors and students — is deeply painful.
Palestinian university students in both the West Bank and Gaza have expressed appreciation for the students on US campuses who are protesting against the war. There are other practical ways in which American and other universities abroad can help to sustain and eventually rebuild higher education in the Occupied Territories. As Daniel Terris — dean of Al-Quds Bard College, which is a dual-degree partnership between Al-Quds University in Abu Dis and Bard College in New York — recently wrote in The Boston Globe, universities can consider partnerships with Palestinian educational institutions, provide scholarships for Palestinian students seeking to study abroad, support faculty exchanges, develop joint online courses and more. While there are limits to the assistance that foreign institutions can provide to Palestinians in Gaza today, they can work with West Bank universities and plan ahead for rebuilding education in Gaza.
All countries need quality higher education institutions to promote opportunity, innovation and economic development, among other important roles that universities play. Furthermore, Palestinians have long prized education as crucial to achieving personal and societal autonomy and empowerment, and Palestinian universities play a key role in preserving Palestinian heritage.
The war in Gaza has destroyed priceless knowledge in multiple forms and much of that will be irretrievable. But universities are fundamentally about hope and creating a future for individuals and their larger society. Salvaging what remains in Gaza, sustaining what exists in the West Bank and ensuring future opportunities for higher education should be essential parts of the effort to ensure peace and hope for the future.
- Kerry Boyd Anderson is a professional analyst of international security issues and Middle East political and business risk. X: @KBAresearch
