from the Public Relations Office
Birzeit--The campus of Birzeit University stands empty today as the university community--students, faculty, and staff--pauses for a day of mourning for the Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers in demonstrations yesterday.
After weeks of provocation by Israel topped off by the opening of the Western Wall Tunnel in the Old City of Jerusalem, yesterday--Wednesday, September 25--demonstrations took place throughout the West Bank and Gaza. In Ramallah, yesterday's clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian demonstrators resulted in 263 casualties and 4 deaths, according to the administrative director of Ramallah Hospital.
Last night Birzeit University President Hanna Nasir, Vice President Ahmad Baker, and Dean of Students Nazmi Ju'beh visited students in the Ramallah Hospital. They reported that at least five students remain hospitalized with serious injuries, one in intensive care. The student, Yasser Abu Ghani, was shot with live ammunition in the chest and received open-heart surgery from Ramallah Hospital doctors on the way to the operating theater. Despite two wounds to the heart and one to the lung, his condition has improved slightly and he is now reported to be stable but critical.
Of the 263 wounded that passed through Ramallah Hospital, approximately 75-100 were students who were treated and later released. Many of the injuries resulted from shots fired at close range. A Public Relations Office observer described the scenes in the hospital as "chaotic". He continued, "There were stretchers everywhere, blood all over the floor. There were so many casualties that there was no time for the hospital staff to clean until much later that night."
Birzeit University President Hanna Nasir stated that, "Students were en route to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, which Israel claims is open to all Palestinians. Yet they were halted at a checkpoint deep in the West Bank." As Birzeit students and staff set out from the university yesterday and again today, they are not only expressing their anger at the latest Israeli move. "This is not just about the tunnel issue," stated Dr. Nasir, "ongoing Israeli violations of the spirit and letter of the Oslo accords have made it impossible for Palestinians to stand silently."
Continuing Israeli moves to isolate Palestinians from their capital Jerusalem, as well as the continued detention of their colleagues in Israeli prisons, aggressive land confiscation and settlement expansion, and escalation of house demolitions have deeply affected the initial positive spirit with which Palestinians greeted the signing of the Oslo accord in September 1993. Sa'eb Erekat, Palestinian Minister of Local Government, last night stated on BBC radio that, "[Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu needs to understand that the peace process isn't about 'one winner, one loser', and that he needs to revoke the [destructive] policies of the Israeli government."
Birzeit University is deeply shocked by the excessive use of force against Palestinian civilians and calls for restraint. The university community remains united in the belief that any solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict implemented in the absence of justice cannot lead to peace.
[ENDS]