Student Debate Teams Confront University Closure

The Birzeit University Student Debate Forum held on June 2, 2014 its fourteenth debate, with two teams of students debating the subject "Closure of the university in protest of rising tuition fees is unacceptable." The debate ended with the victory of the team arguing “for” by 60.86% of total votes, compared to 39.14% of the votes for the opposing team. During the debate, each team presented its position and the rationale behind its argument and answered questions by the audience before the voting process.

The Debate Forum was founded in 2008 by a group of university students to promote research, debate and dialogue, based on logic, rationality, respect for other’s opinion and recognition of others’ right to freedom of expression.

This debate was part of a series of debates aimed to promote intellectual pluralism and argument as two vital conditions for human thought, and the embodiment of freedom of opinion and practice of democracy.