Despite positive political moves away from a stalemate since September 1993, it will be some time before real peace comes to Palestinians going about their lives in other parts of the Occupied Territories. While many people in the West are already sayi ng, "Peace has come," this is the time for us to recommit ourselves to the Palestinian people, to help them rebuild their shattered society by offering financial and practical help to improve higher education facilities.
Although at the time of the original "Gaza-Jericho first" announcement Birzeit University had completed its first year of reopening, after almost five years of closure, all was still not well:
The closures and harassments have had a profound effect on the life of the University. Birzeit is an enduring testimony to the perseverance of the Palestinian people. Yet how can you learn about Chemistry or Economics, or study English when you are con stantly living with a sense of threat, where there is a constant fear for the safety of your family, when there are no guarantees that you will be allowed on campus next week, when your friends and lecturers may be imprisoned or deported without notice? B irzeit University needs to be allowed to freely develop and grow as an institution.
Since the more recent signing of "Oslo 2" or "Oslo B", the nearby town of Ramallah has been granted Palestinian autonomy (Area A) by Israel. Birzeit University and the nearby town of Birzeit, remain in Area B. There are now new implications for the fr eedom of movement and new human rights challenges posed by the arrival of the Palestinian Authority. In the words of director of public relations at Birzeit, Albert Aghazarian, "This is a time when we need FoBZU more than ever."