The Debate

A large turnout for the debate

Bloc representatives

The Islamic Group representative was the first to speak and he told the crowd , "We present ourselves as a new theme to guide youth to the right way, as a part of a comprehensive Islamic program. Our bloc believes in God and the right way, human rights and the homeland. We are working on creating a situation where people can live safely and we reject all corruption as well rejecting occupation. We are part of God's faith on earth and from that we take our force. Apply your minds tomorrow during voting."

Yellow and Black flags of the Islamic Group

During the debate the Islamic Group reiterated its message of "Islam, Palestine and Struggle" several times. Regarding issues that the Bloc pledged to implement for students, they stated:" Our activities come alongside our speech and the Poor Student's Library proves that. Ask anyone about the steps that our bloc takes in finding students residence, at the time when all other blocs abandon this issue. Promises made by the Union should be recorded. They promised many things in the past but they have implemented nothing because they are not able to. We send our regards to the Wa'ie Bloc and to Hamas and to An Nahdah. Islam will remain pluralistic. To the PA we say stop running behind Oslo because it will achieve nothing. We ask you what happened in the meetings between the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Fateh in Cairo? We are proud to say that we are an extension of the Islamic project."

Jerusalem Bloc Supporters

The Jerusalem Bloc began by saying, "It is true that we have different opinions but we agree on the interests. We are speaking to you not to get election votes, but to meet our responsibilities to end the crisis of Add and Drop of classes, raising of tuition fees, and here we express our thanks to Yasir Arafat who decided not to implement the decision to raise tuition fees. We will meet our responsibilities towards the university, Jerusalem, facing settlements, prisoners, and the corruption in the PA. We say that freedom of opinion is a legal right for everyone."

"There are many steps that our Bloc will work to achieve: Reforming the basis of the Palestinian Students Union on a democratic basis in order to open it to the participation of all students, secondly, incorporate proportional representation for all other universities, reinforce the role of female students in the universitie and build a unified union program with other student blocs"

"The Islamic bloc said that they were behind implementing proportional representation and I assure you that this is not true at all. They consider democracy some how as a sin."

Listening attentively

Green flags of An Nahdah

The largest of the Islamic groups on campus, An Nahdah, spent much of the debate criticising the Jerusalem Bloc and the activities of Palestinian security forces. An Nahdah claimed that the work of these bodies was shameful.

Regarding issues facing students on campus the bloc had this to say,"The union will have confront the raising of tuition fees, as we did already this year. Our program is well known, we are the bloc which most supports the Poor Student's Fund. To the representative of Al Quds Bloc, what does it mean when you speak about national unity while the PA arrested those who signed the Petition of Twenty? Your slogan was that if you are Palestinian, then you should be from Fateh. We fully support proportional representation within the student movement."

"You are all familiar with the fact that a female student was head of a committee in the student council. We assure you that through the next council we will work on representing the students in the departments' councils."

Rainbow colored flags of the Democratic Pole

The Democratic Pole began with the comment, "All of you have worked very hard these past few days and tomorrow is the last day. We all are going to relax tomorrow. The Pole started four years ago as a new idea in the Palestinian community. It consisted of blocs and individuals. But we should concentrate more on individuals because the blocs cannot separate themselves from the political parties outside the university. We have nothing prepared, everything is open for discussion and opinions are very important to us. The Pole is part of the social, political and cultural heritage of Palestine. We are an extension of that heritage, with a new theme. If Islam is with pluralism and the freedom of women, and if the PA is with democracy, then why is the situation on the ground so bad? We are based on self-criticism. During the previous years, we had many problems that effected our activities. But now we are back and let the new year show you who we are. "

"Our steps come through the student council and the unity of the blocs in the council. We will confront the privatization of the university facilities. We will examine university courses and deal with the overcrowding of class rooms. The question should be transferred to the student council which has been dominated by the Islamic bloc for three years; what did you do in regards to these issues? We should be unified around union issues in order to achieve a political unity. All blocs should work together."

"There is a great need for dialogue about pluralism and democracy in our country. All parties have outside bodies and the country is full of corruption. We should concentrate here on students issues and not on what takes place outside the university. What role can we take while freedom of opinion is not allowed us? If we discuss religious issues they consider us ungodly? Some students from the university participate in the PA corruption. We should find a way in dealing with these issues. Our discourse here should concentrate on students' issues. "

Student Union Supporters

The representative from the Students Union Bloc spoke following the Islamic Group and recounted the history of their bloc emphasizing that their bloc was the first to form a student council in 1978 and in 1979. The bloc also explained to the crowd that they had been part of forming the Democratic Pole but had decided to leave this year, "Now, we are back to you with our program as an independent bloc and we dedicate our return to all students in general and to the martyrs who participated with us in forming our return, Mahmoud Al Assi, Tharwat Al Assi, and Lou'ai Bayatnah."

Regarding issues facing students on campus, Students Union stated," Our bloc was the only bloc that refused to sign the tuition agreement whose negative results we now all face. We assure you of our belief for the necessity of students' participation in forming the laws related to their academic life, and we assure you of the importance of coordination between the student blocs' leadership and the employees union. I have a question for all of you. What is your position towards the teachers strike in schools who are asking for their rights, while there was a petition signed by the representatives of all your political parties asking the teachers to stop their strike? Is this the unity of union work? The Popular party was the only party that refused to sign this petition and asked for coordination between teachers and political bodies. We believe that those who aim to solve students' troubles should allow themselves to participate in solving them. We designed a questionnaire to identify the problems that students face and we'll provide the students affairs department with the results. "

Students Union also stressed the importance of student unity and work with other universities, "The late Mahmoud Assi, who was a member in our bloc and a student of Al-Quds Open University, established the national committee to support Birzeit Students during the sit in after the Jospin incident. This proves how much our bloc is in interested in student unity. There was also a petition to support the students and signed by all political bodies with the exception of Fateh."

Change Bloc speaker

The Change Bloc began with the statement, "Our bloc was established in 1996 by the initiative of a group of students aiming to create a new situation. Our bloc is a new idea to change the bad situation of the university union, political and social levels at the university and in Palestine as a whole. Our bloc represents the independent situation that we hope to achieve. We represent a seed in the tree of freedom in Palestine. We participated during the previous four years in all the student movement activities."

They also emphasised student unity and independence of the student movement, "We say that reinforcing student unity is one of the aims that our bloc has worked on from the very beginning. We began dialogues with all blocs, despite the fact that we were not represented in the student council. We were always with the student movement in all political and union issues. Before anything, the blocs should embody the independence of the student movement away from outside directives. We all are able to deal with problems related to academic life. We should work on developing life in the university through open dialogue between the administration and the students. "

Regarding civil society and women's rights, Change Bloc has this to say," We should start with ourselves if we want to achieve a civil society where freedom and rights are protected. Women for us represent the mother, sister, and colleague who works with us to achieve public interests. We look for a law where equality and democracy are achieved."

Unity speaker

Unity Bloc began by calling for a moment of silence for all the martyrs of the university. "Our bloc is based on pluralism, freedom of opinion and respect for human beings. We work on developing the academic situation and protecting the national unity and the unity of the student movement as was seen during the incident with Jospin. Our bloc includes all Palestinian students in all Palestinian educational institutions. We ask you to support the student movement and the Unity Bloc because they work for your interests."

"We can reinforce national unity and the unity of the student movement through activating student movement activities and the student council, not through activating a particular committee to support the interests of one bloc. On the political level, we can reinforce our unity through implementing joint projects to confront Israeli settlements and to release our political prisoners. These issues are still in need of much work, so why do you stray from them and instead attack each other during the election campaign as if occupation had ended? We should work together to protect our national institutions and build civil society institutions."

Our program is derived from the name of our bloc. Our program was clear during our campaign and activities. Our main mission is to protect civil society and its democratic institutions. To the Pole I ask why did you abandon Marxism and adopt secularism? What characteristics distinguish you from Fateh? What are your priorities; are they facing the PA or occupation? Are you inviting attacks from within? We assure you that we will keep our Marxist ideals regardless of the results. We believe in women's liberty and respect for her as an individual and call on the participation of woman in making decisions.