Friends of Birzeit University (UK)

Birzeit was founded in 1924, as a school, to provide desperately-needed places for local children. After the full Israeli military occupation of Palestine in 1967, with its accompanying travel restrictions for Palestinians, Birzeit saw the need to furt her increase the educational opportunities available inside the West Bank, and introduced degree courses in 1972, acheiving full university status in 1975.

One of seven Palestinian universities, Birzeit is situated between the two West Bank towns of Ramallah and Birzeit, 15 miles north of Jerusalem. There are four faculities in the University - Arts, Commerce and Economics, Science, and Engineering. A new campus was opened in 1980 and, over the last decade, the number of students studying at the University has risen from a few hundred to about 3,500 students, from all over the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Birzeit University is dedicated to preparing young Palestinian men and women for responsible and fruitful leadership in the community, while discouraging the usual elitism associated with higher education bu maintaining a strong link with the wider Pal estinian community through a community work programme that is included as a compulsory 150-hour requirement of every degree course.

Birzeit University has already proved itself to be both a focal point for the preservation of the Palestinian national identity and a key institution in the development of the Palestinian State:

• Birzeit has produced many Palestinian leaders, such as spokesperson Dr. Hanan Mikhail-Ashrawi, Ghassan al-Khatib and several other members of the Palestinian Delegation to the Madrid peace talks. Dr. Mikhail-Ashrawi was elected in Jerusalem as a Counc il member of the Palestinian Authority in the January 1996 elections. Board of Trustees member Abdul Jawad Saleh was also elected, as was political science professor, Ziad Abu Amr.
• Graduates and trainees from Birzeit are making substantial contributions in all sectors of employment across the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
• Birzeit is undertaking pioneering work in Palestinian education and training. For many years it was illegal under Israeli military law to study law in the occupied territories. In 1995, Birzeit established a Law Centre to equip Palestinian lawyers and legal administrators with the training and resources necessary to build an effective legal system in the emerging Palestinian State.
• Hidden inside the University structure for many years were fledgling government agencies such as the Centre for Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (CEOHS). The CEOHS undertakes the testing of phramaceuticals and water from all over the Wes t Bank and Gaza Strip to protect Palestinians from dangerous pesticides and medical supplies. The CEOHS has set up four satellite branches along the Jordan valley to give vital training in the safe use of pesticides to Palestinian farmers, and has recentl y set up a water testing unit in Gaza. The CEOHS's work has recently been accredited by several ministries in the Palestinian Authority.

• Birzeit has had a significant role in preserving the historical and cultural heritage of the Palestinian people. Ongoing research is being carried out to compile historical records of the 385 Palestinian villages destroyed in the early days of the Isr aeli State. The University has encouraged many cultural activities, including a Palestinian folk dancing troupe which has toured Europe.

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