December 1996

Dear Friend,

As you may be aware, Israel has for the last year been enforcing a travel ban upon Palestinian students from the Gaza Strip. Those Gazan students enrolled in courses on the West Bank have been "deported" to Gaza, and denied travel permits to prevent their returning to their universities. Even though Israel itself has been sealed to Palestinians for almost the entire year, the argument used in favour of this ban on education has been "security". Around four hundred students at Birzeit University alone have been unable to leave Gaza and to continue their studies.

The Campaign

A campaign to help these students has been under way for some time, but Israel has not, as yet, conceded the rights which the students demand. Our campaign aims are as follows:

• Israel to state publicly its support for and commitment to facilitate the studies of Gazan students in the West Bank.
• Permits for all students, teachers and staff working in West Bank universities.
• Israel to publish standardized and consistent application procedures for permits, with timetables and deadlines which can be relied upon.
• Israel to issue written rejections to unsuccessful permit requests, thus enabling students to appeal against decisions.
• Israel to create a special "academic permit" to enable Gazans to reside in the West Bank throughout the entire academic term.

As fellow students, we are trying to organise an international campaign to put pressure on the Israeli government. We believe that we have a special role to play, since we are fortunate enough to be enrolled in university courses, to participate in university education and to enjoy academic freedom. A well-educated Palestinian population is surely essential to a just peace in the Middle East. We call upon students throughout the world to recognise this and to persuade Israel to do the same.

What you can do

Our plan is to compile student petitions in as many countries as possible, and then to present these simultaneously to Israeli embassies across the world. We hope both that this will raise awareness in academic communities of the Gazan students’ plight, and that the world’s media will take note of a well-organised and international protest.

The petition is worded as follows:

"We, the undersigned, call upon Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Government of Israel to guarantee academic freedom for the students, teachers and staff of Gaza who work in the West Bank. We call for Israel to introduce academic permits and a standardised, open system of procedures for dealing with applications. We believe that Palestinian education is of great importance to the peace process, and call upon Israel to ensure that this education is not denied."

If you think you could help with the campaign, simply persuade as many of your fellow students as possible to sign a petition similar to the one above. When the petitions are complete, we will arrange for each country’s students to present their petition to the Israeli embassy on the same day (in February or March), and for the press to be aware of the protest. CLICK HERE for simple instructions on how you can join our campaign.

This is not a political petition. Education is a human right, and we are simply asking that this right is respected in the case of the Gazan students. Israeli or Jewish student groups are very welcome to join the campaign. The Israeli human rights organisation, B’Tselem, has endorsed the rights of the Gazan students and has urged the Israeli government to adopt the aims of this campaign.

With best wishes,