The human right to education in Palestine

Education is a powerful tool which allows individuals to escape poverty and participate fully in the world as citizens.

Under Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), everyone has the right to education. Since the Israeli occupation of Palestine began in 1967, the fundamental freedoms and right to education of Palestinians have continuously been denied.

Both International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) are intended to protect education as a whole. International Human Rights Law focuses on an individual’s right to receive a good education whereas IHL protects education institutions. With Israel itself being the notable exception – it is believed that Israel has the obligation to apply both of these bodies of law to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Israel is defined as being in control of the OPT under IHL, and therefore has the duties and rights of an Occupying Power. As Israel exercises de facto authority over the OPT under International Human Rights Law, it can be thus held responsible for ensuring human rights are respected.

The ‘Separation Barrier,’ also known as the ‘Wall,’ was started in 2002. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has found no qualifying clauses justifying its existence. Many commentators suggest that the real motivation behind Israel’s actions are not security, but are merely to make life worse for the Palestinians. The wall changes the demographics of Palestinian education completely, while the issue of checkpoints disrupts the movement necessary to obtain an education. As of November 2004, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) found a total of 719 barriers located in Palestine. The Wall, these roadblocks and its checkpoints dissect Palestine into manageable chunks, presumably in order to help Israel manage the population.

Access to good quality education within Palestine is severely limited, irrespective of age or location. Since the Second Intifada in 2000, Palestinians have been unable to travel freely between the West Bank and Gaza. Due to the restrictions on movement, Palestinians often have to attend their nearest university, which has led to the ‘localisation’ of higher education. Where universities such as Birzeit used to attract students from all over Palestine, checkpoints and other issues of mobility mean that the catchment area has shrunk considerably in recent years.

Another consequence of restricted mobility for universities is the ‘recycling of knowledge;’ students become professors and never move on. This is exacerbated by the lack of an international presence in universities across Palestine. Due to Israeli restrictions on visas, foreign students and academics typically enter on three-month tourist visas as work visas are hard to come by. The academic year is thus broken up and semesters cut short or left unfinished as tourist visas expire. In the case of an international student pursuing a four-year undergraduate degree at a Palestinian university, the visa situation often makes it more hassle than it is worth.

There are yet more problems for students from Gaza who want to broaden their horizons. They are not freely allowed to study in the West Bank, although some do. For those lucky enough to get a permit to study in the West Bank, they are subject to a five year limit, after which they are sent back to Gaza.

Under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the forced transfer or deportation of people is prohibited. There is a continuous process of deporting university students from West Bank to Gaza – even if it is not their place of origin. The implications are that students have to continue their education elsewhere and often not at all if the resources are not available. There are no equivalent restrictions on movement for Israeli citizens.

Worryingly, the number of students in detention is increasing. As of 2012, there were more than one-thousand middle and high school students under three-month house arrest for throwing stones at the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). More students are routinely put into administrative detention for six months or more, without charge or trial – this is most common with university students.

Palestinians have never had the chance to be in charge of their own education, as it has always been coordinated under a foreign country’s jurisdiction, whether Ottoman, British, Jordanian or Israeli. The repeated denial over centuries of Palestinians’ right to education is a threat to the very core of the Palestinian state; it undermines its capability to engage on its own behalf, as a nation-state – which is what Israel wants. In turn this highlights the issue of lack of recognition. Education allows individuals to understand the principle and exercise of their rights, while recognising those of others. It could be said that Israel’s actions are driven not by a concern for its security, but reinforce its stigmatism and dissipation of the Palestinian people.

(2013-05-03/theworldoutline)