Ashrawi condemns Israeli attack on Birzeit University campus

PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi, who also sits on Birzeit University’s Board of Trustees, condemned the daylight infiltration of the university campus by an Israeli undercover military unit, calling it “a cowardly act.”

During the March 7 raid, Israeli forces fired their weapons indiscriminately, injuring two students and a staff member as they detained head of the Student Council, Omar Kiswani.

Ashrawi said that the infiltration and attack on the academic institution was a clear violation of Palestinian basic human rights and a flagrant breach of international and humanitarian laws and norms, which guarantee the right to education and forbid attacks on academic institutions.

She said that Israel, since occupying Palestine, has systematically disrupted the education process in Palestine, limited the student political movement, and denyed Palestinians the right to educationThis policy, Ashrawi added, is a clear, deliberate violation of international and humanitarian law.

Ashrawi called upon the international community, including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to immediately protect Palestinians, take measures to make Israel cease interfering with Palestinian institutions, and hold it accountable for its contravention of human rights and flouting of international law.