Birzeit, 29 February , 2000

All our colleagues… all of you, fighters for the dignity of our homeland who have not been defeated despite all you have faced.

We are shocked to see the actions that are taking place on the campus after the visit of Jospin. These actions have gone beyond all reasonable and dignified limits. The actions have affected many students. The sanctity of the university by the security bodies was violated with no protest from the university administration which rather busied itself in looking for a scapegoat to bypass its action of hosting the irresponsible Jospin. Jospin attacked the feelings of all the fighters of this homeland in a manner unprecedented in the history of French diplomacy. His visit was held with no coordination with the student movement and the employees union.

We, the student movement, place the burden of responsibility on the university administration and the PNA for what happened on the campus because they insisted on hosting Jospin with no attention to the expected reaction from students. We, at the same time, reject the procedures that took place later on and resulted in the arrest of some students from inside the campus, placing checkpoints in the way of the students and entering student houses. We also ask the PNA to release all the students immediately and to commit to never repeating such procedures. We ask the Legislative Council and all the human rights bodies to work on releasing the arrested students in the PNA jails following the accidents arising from Jospin's visit. We ask the university administration and the PNA to apply some procedures, which we see that are central, in solving the problem and prevent something similar occurring in the future:

First: Prohibiting the entrance of security bodies on to the university with the aim of arresting students or interfering in student affairs.

Second: Prohibiting the prevention of any student from continuing studies regardless of the justification

Third: Prohibiting any decision of dismissal carried about from an external decision

Fourth: Keeping the independence of the university and its facilities. We reject any interference from any body or authority with the exception of the university authorities.

We (the student movement) bear the responsibility of the positive and negative results and work in dealing with the actions. We shall do this without the interfere of the security forces. Any procedures against students related to the mentioned action will be refused and rejected regardless of the price.

Our conscience and feelings do not allow the scapegoating of some of the students so that the university and PA can present them to the media. We will not leave our arrested colleagues and we'll keep beside them until the end regardless of the price that might be requested for that and also regardless of our point of view of what happened to Jospin.

Keep struggling for your nation and homeland
Student Movement
Birzeit Universiy.