The Israeli aggression destroyed the Islamic University in Gaza (social networking sites)

About 100 European academics condemned the crime of genocide committed by Israel against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip since last October 7, and its deliberate liquidation of them physically and culturally, including the systematic targeting and destruction of education in the Strip.

In a petition launched by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory on Tuesday, academics expressed their deep concern about the continued targeting by the Israeli occupation army of academics, educational institutions and cultural heritage sites in the Gaza Strip.

The academics pointed out - in the petition entitled “Annihilation of Education in Gaza...Israel is practicing systematic erasure of the entire educational system” - that the Israeli attacks on Gaza led to the disruption of the educational process in all its dimensions, which had serious long-term effects, after the destruction of... Completely or partially for an estimated 70% of all universities and colleges in the sector.

The crime of genocide

The academics urged "to shed light on the crime of genocide committed by Israel with the aim of destroying the Palestinians physically and culturally, and to make the Gaza Strip an uninhabitable area to force its residents into forced displacement" and called for the necessity of organizing seminars and conferences and addressing the issue in the media.

The petition also called for "a boycott of complicit Israeli academic institutions, especially those built on occupied Palestinian territories and within illegal Israeli settlements, as they represent policies of apartheid towards Palestinians, gradual ethnic cleansing, and the occupation of Palestinian lands."

The head of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory, Rami Abdo, said, “The aim of this petition is to show the suffering that academic institutions are exposed to in the Palestinian territories in general, and the Gaza Strip in particular, and to inform this sector of academics of the extent of this destruction and genocide to which academics in the Strip are exposed, in particular "Those who are not aware of the extent of this tragedy."

Systematic destruction

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Net, Abdo added that the petition had a significant impact on the European academic sector, and conveyed the message assigned to it, “and we began to listen to these interactions. In just two days, a similar British petition was issued, signed by more than 180 British academics, to denounce the annihilation of higher education in Gaza strip".

The head of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory indicated that the destruction of 70% of colleges and universities in Gaza is expected to cost about $720 million, according to International Monetary Fund estimates.

According to Observatory data, 3 university presidents and more than 95 university deans and professors were martyred in Israeli military attacks, 88,000 students were forced to drop out of their university education, and 555 students who received international scholarships were unable to travel abroad.

The Observatory stated that more than 4,327 students were martyred, and 7,819 others were injured, while 231 teachers and administrators were martyred and 756 were injured as a result of the ongoing Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip so far.

Regarding the legal and legal aspects resulting from this petition, Abdo said that it comes within the framework of advocacy efforts, and to repel the aggression against the Gaza Strip, and may result in efforts by academics to put pressure on higher education institutions in their countries and the resulting decisions related to the boycott of Israel and its educational institutions. And take a clear position condemning the systematic targeting of education throughout the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israeli occupation.

It is noteworthy that the Israeli occupation army has been waging an aggression against the Gaza Strip for 158 days, leaving tens of thousands of martyrs, wounded and missing persons, and massive destruction in residential buildings and vital facilities, amid famine prevailing in the besieged Strip with difficulty and scarcity in the entry of humanitarian aid.

Source: Al Jazeera + websites