With a notable lack of sensible critical coverage of Palestine in the media, FoBZU believes that there is no knowledge like first-hand knowledge, and there is a critical need for an international eyewitness presence in the face of continued and widespr ead violations of human rights and academic freedom.
Every year FoBZU helps to send around 60 people to the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel to see for themselves what is going on, most of whom have never travelled to the region before. Every year, people return to tell of what an incredible experience i t was to be amongst the Palestinians, sharing a small part of their daily lives, seeing the conflict through their eyes.
Why not take part in one of the FoBZU annual ten-day study tours for a bird's eye view of the situation, meeting a wide variety of Palestinians and Israelis all over the West Bank, Gaza Strip and inside Israel? Or take part in a voluntary two-week work camp at Birzeit during the summer, joining the University's students in helping the local community? There is no better way to understand the conflict.
"The Palestinian students stayed up realy late each night so I asked them 'why?' One of them told me that most of them have been tortured, and one of the main ways was by sleep deprivation. Some were kept awake for two weeks."
Jim Mills, Islamic History student, Edinburgh University
In fact, around 80% of the male students at Birzeit during the time of Jim's visit had been through a prison and torture experience. In 1992, the year before Oslo, 118 Birzeit students and staff were detained by the Israeli military authorities. In 199 4, the year after Oslo, the number of detentions reached 192, the second highest figure in 10 years. Clearly, there is still a need for people to see and report on the situation.