More than seventy years later, Palestinian refugees have not been allowed to return home, the Israeli occupation continues, and violations of Palestinians basic rights, including their right to education, persist.
“I spent eight years earning my bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering because Israel repeatedly closed the university, most recently during the first Intifada in a closure that continued for more than four years. We used to attend classes in apartments in Ramallah and Birzeit town. Students around the world are proud to show their student ID cards, but we were always afraid to present ours to the Israeli soldiers when having to cross checkpoints.”
Jihad Massoud, a 1992 graduate in Mechanical Engineering
In its lifetime, the university experienced a series of serious conflicts with Israeli occupation forces that at numerous times lead to its closure and to the arrest of its teachers and students. To be able to accomplish its historic rise from an elementary school to the most prestigious university in all of Palestine, Birzeit University had to overcome many hurdles and challenges. (See “The Rise -and Rise- of Birzeit University,” Al Ghadeer Magazine)
During the first Intifada, Birzeit University introduced innovative teaching methods as a solution to the dilemma of having to overcome mobility restrictions. It strove to benefit as much as possible from the limited freedom of movement that was available, as some courses were taught in various villages and towns where students meet with political leaders who held lectures and explained the required academic curriculum.
“We launched initiatives such as checking the level of water contamination and adding chlorine to water tanks in Ramallah and Al-Bireh in anticipation of the possibility that the Israeli military government would retaliate against the people by cutting off the water supply in the area. When the Israeli army shut down our schools, we taught inside houses in defiance of the closure orders and turned our kitchens into laboratories, using equipment that had been borrowed from the university’s laboratories.”
Rita Giacaman
professor of public health at Birzeit University’s Institute of Community and Public Health
Over the years, Birzeit University was forced to fight many battles in efforts to overcome the occupation and pursue its noble mission in education. Today, the university is recognized in Arab countries as a renowned seat of learning and the founder of several community centers and institutes, continuously initiating more disciplines and opening new faculties. Locally, these centers and institutes are pioneering entities in a number of fields, such as public health and literacy, and have become an integral part of the university’s image. Birzeit University plays a key role in Palestinian cultural, social, and political life, a role that is expanding, partially due to its spacious campus and central location in the heart of the West Bank. To take a closer look and gain more insight into Birzeit University’s endeavor to document Palestinian cultural, social, and political life, please visit its Digital Archive.
Today, Birzeit University’s strength lies also in its vast network of international relations that is expressed in joint research projects and exchange programs. Visiting professors from abroad (Palestinians and internationals) come to teach various disciplines. Immense effort is needed to maintain and expand these relationships under the present circumstances.
Today, Birzeit University’s strength lies also in its vast network of international relations that is expressed in joint research projects and exchange programs. Visiting professors from abroad (Palestinians and internationals) come to teach various disciplines. Immense effort is needed to maintain and expand these relationships under the present circumstances.
