Academic freedoms under “apartheid” .. Why is Israel currently restricting West Bank universities?

In the first months of this year, the Israeli authorities approved a 97-page decree called Entry and Residency Procedures for Foreigners in the “Judea and Samaria Area” (West Bank), under which the Israeli military authorities are given absolute power to limit the number of academics and foreign students who can visit, study or work in The 15 Palestinian universities and colleges located in the West Bank.

The “procedure” limits the number of employees allowed to work in any of these 15 universities and colleges to no more than 100 “distinguished lecturers and researchers,” noting that “applications for permission under this section will be approved if it is proven - to the satisfaction of the official (military) ) Authorized - that the lecturer contributes significantly to academic learning, to the economy of the region, or to the advancement of regional cooperation and peace.

Moreover, under the new law, Israeli authorities will not only limit who can teach in Palestinian universities, but will also limit foreign academics’ stay in the West Bank to one semester, ensuring that foreign professors cannot continue to teach by becoming permanent faculty members. In any of the higher education institutions in the West Bank.

Finally, the measure will allow only up to 150 foreign students to study in the West Bank at the same time, while also limiting their stay to one semester.

Universities as sites of resistance

In his article on Al Jazeera English, Neve Gordon, professor of international law at Queen Mary University of London, says that Israel's attempt to impose full control over Palestinian universities is not new, but its approach to dealing with Palestinian higher education was significantly different at one time.

In the early 1970s, when the Israeli occupation of the West Bank was in its early years, Israeli authorities granted Palestinians permits to establish universities in the occupied territories, and security officials were under the impression that establishing universities could help Israel normalize the occupation and thus strengthen “Palestinian support for Israeli rule.”

This policy backfired, as the universities - which were established under the occupation - quickly became sites for political organization and mobilization for Palestinian liberation.

Moreover, during a relatively short period these universities produced a relatively large Palestinian professional category, but the labor market in the occupied territories did not have much to offer these young graduates, as Israel employed unskilled manual labor in construction and agricultural industries, and the military authorities forbade all Almost all Palestinians attempt to establish independent industries or develop the service sector.

Not surprisingly, the lack of jobs led to bitter feelings among the unemployed graduates, and alongside thousands of university students - who were equally concerned about their future prospects - these graduates eventually acted as a primary force in bringing about the first wave of popular resistance to Israeli rule during the Intifada. 1987.

Given the prominent role played by students and alumni during the first intifada, Israel quickly learned the lesson and began imposing severe restrictions on Palestinian universities. For example, Birzeit University was practically closed from 1988 to 1992, and all other universities faced long-term closures.

In the ensuing decades, many measures were introduced to restrict Palestinian higher education. The primary objective of these policies ranged from restricting the movement of lecturers and students and placing restrictions on the subjects that could be taught, undermining Palestinian economic development, and restricting the circulation of knowledge that could be used to mobilize younger generations against governance. colonialism, according to the author.

Protecting academic freedom

Given this half-century history of academic restrictions, obstacles, and repression, it is hard to find anything new in the restrictions on academic freedom that Israel is currently set to impose in the West Bank.

The "measure" is, after all, just one more brutal step in a long line of brutal policies targeting Palestinian higher education, yet there has been an interesting development since the measure was announced last February.

In addition to the Palestinian universities themselves, international human rights organizations, and professional associations such as the Association for Middle Eastern Studies and the British Association for Middle East Studies - in which the writer serves as Chairman of the Committee on Academic Freedom - there is an Israeli university that has officially and publicly expressed its concern about an Israeli policy that would undermine the academic freedom of the Palestinians.

"Israeli solidarity"

In an unprecedented move, the General Assembly of the Hebrew University sent an official letter to the Israeli military commander in the West Bank questioning the problematic restrictions stipulated in the procedure.

At first glance, it seemed that writing this letter was a rare step in the right direction, along with the solidarity of some Israeli academic circles of Israeli academics who protested and sometimes issued open letters criticizing the state, and denouncing the attack on Palestinian academic freedom in their personal capacity.

However, a careful reading of the letter quickly shows that this is not as important a gesture of solidarity as it appears at first glance, says the writer.

According to the writer, the Hebrew University’s General Assembly insists that the military should not interfere in decisions about individuals’ academic qualifications, but the statement still accepts that the occupying military has the right to determine whether a lecturer, researcher or student poses a security threat and prevents them from accessing Palestinian universities.

The statement argues that "there are no security considerations that justify this kind of intervention, because it is clear that in any case all lecturers, researchers and students need to obtain an individual entry permit from security officials."

In other words, the Hebrew University accepts the basic assumptions that legitimize Israeli rule over the Palestinians, and the use of official laws and policies to maintain and reinforce this hegemony.

The letter is lukewarm at best, but it raises an important question: Why, after nearly half a century, did an Israeli university suddenly decide to express its concern about the repressive policies directed at Palestinian universities?

Undoubtedly, some Hebrew University professors are genuinely concerned about the ongoing efforts to clamp down on Palestinian higher education, yet others may be more concerned about their academic standing among their international colleagues and peers.

They are familiar with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, in particular the threat of an international boycott of Israeli academic institutions for their complicity with the Israeli apartheid regime, and it is possible that in their eyes this message distances the Hebrew University from government policies and absolves them of any blame.

In fact - the writer adds - when reading the letter carefully, the complaint of the Hebrew University appears as an attempt to protect its reputation and not support Palestinian universities. Rather, it serves as a shield against those calling for an academic boycott of Israeli universities.

The writer concludes, considering that Palestinian universities today face another attack. While they work to try to preserve something resembling academic life under a "brutal apartheid regime," they deserve real solidarity, not attempts by academic institutions to salvage their reputation.