Students form representational Student Council

Birzeit University’s Student Council was formed on June 13, 2022, according to proportional representation of vote results in the 2022–23 Student Council elections. 

Al-Wafaa’ Islamic Bloc, which won the majority of the seats, formed six committees: the presidency, held by Yehya Al Qarout; the Community Engagement Committee, held by Mahmoud Nakhleh; the Public Relations Committee, held by Khaled Bi’rat, the Culture Committee, held by Shatha Jarbaa’; the Health and Environment Committee, held by Salsabeel Irman; and the Art Committee, held by Ethar Sbaih. 

The Martyr Yasser Arafat bloc formed four committees: the Financial Committee, held by Muhammad Dreidi; the Social Committee, held by Tala Mari’; the Sports Committee, held by Saif Eddein Hadra; and the Cafeterias Committee, held by Azat Azzam.

The Democratic Progressive Student Pole formed one committee: the Academic Majors Committee, held by Qusai Masalmah. 

Student Besan Fakhouri, representative of Al-Wafaa’ Islamic Bloc, was elected as president and coordinator of the Student Council Conference for the academic year 2022–23. 

The representatives of the Student Council met with Dr. Beshara Doumani, president of Birzeit University, and Dr. Ghassan Khatib, vice president for advancement, and discussed the formation of the Student Council and their future plans. 

Doumani expressed his pride in the students’ commitment to the values of democracy and openness, and their success in forming a student council based on proportional representation. He stressed the important role the newly inaugurated Student Council should play to assure the views of students are heard and their coordination with the university to make change happen. 

Dr. Iyad Tumar, dean of student affairs, noted that the blocs form the Student Council per the number of votes they gained in the elections, and each bloc divides the number of seats they gained by the number of seats each committee has.

During the university’s 2022 Student Council elections, held on May 18, 2022, Al-Wafaa’ Islamic Bloc won 28 out of 51 seats, the Martyr Yasser Arafat bloc got 18 seats and the Democratic Progressive Student bloc secured 5 seats.