The Ramallah-Birzeit Road
The Path to Progress and Prosperity
June 5, 2002
The University has just issued a memorandum describing the effects
of the closure of the Ramallah-Birzeit road on the education process for
the University community as well as its effects on the well being – economic
and health wise - on the residents of the town of Birzeit and the more
than 35 towns and villages neighboring Birzeit. Copies of the memorandum
have been sent to members of the diplomatic corps in the region as well
as to international agencies involved in higher education and human rights
issues with the hope that they use their good offices to see this siege
lifted as a first concrete step toward the
reduction of current tensions and in order to allow Birzeit University
to resume its normal operations and continue to contribute to progress
and prosperity which are necessary underpinnings to development, hope and
a just and lasting peace.
Memorandum
June 5, 2002
Birzeit University lies on the outskirts of the town of Birzeit, a
few miles north of Ramallah. The University has a student
body of over 5,000 students and over 700 faculty and staff. The overwhelming
majority of the University community
members reside in Ramallah and Jerusalem and their only means of reaching
the University is through the
Ramallah-Birzeit Road.
Since the spring of 2001, the Israeli occupation forces have been obstructing
vehicular and pedestrian travel along this
vital artery by various means. They have dug ditches in the road and
erected barriers that have made vehicular travel
physically impossible and pedestrian crossing difficult and dangerous.
The Israeli army has created a military checkpoint
that arbitrarily stops individuals for hours at a time to check their
identity card numbers. Many students have been
stopped, beaten, humiliated, made to sit on dirt mounds, had their
hands shackled and then were released. No reason is
ever given by the Israeli soldiers for stopping individuals or for
this ill treatment. As such the ten minutes that it should
take to travel between Ramallah and Birzeit, has stretched into hours,
greatly disrupting the normal operation of the
University and making the delivery of essential goods an arduous task.
The Israeli military have been continuously escalating their obstruction
of travel along the road. Currently there are two
barricades across the road. The distance between the first and the
second is about two kilometers which has to be
traversed by foot. Patients and invalids have to be carried on stretchers
or wheel chairs as even ambulances are not
allowed and cannot cross this blockade.
On May 29, 2002 and for the ninth time since March 2001, the Israeli
military totally barred pedestrians from crossing the
barricades, thus completely isolating the University and the residents
of the thirty five surrounding villages in the northern
part of Ramallah district from Ramallah city, which is the hub of the
region. All University operations have once again
ceased; the lives of the population of the northern Ramallah district
has come to a standstill. Within a short period of time,
with access to health services and work denied, this critical situation
will turn into a humanitarian disaster.
These escalating actions by the Israeli military serve no purpose whatsoever
and are totally unjustifiable. They are a
flagrant example of arbitrary collective punishment of tens of thousands
of innocent civilians. Closures are clear violations
of all international norms and conventions and are completely unacceptable
from any point of view, be it humanitarian,
political or economic. Furthermore, Israeli claims that security requirements
are the rationale for the closure of the
Ramallah-Birzeit road are totally unfounded claims since this road
connects directly between two Palestinian population
centers.
Birzeit University has dedicated itself during the past three decades
to the educational, cultural, social and economic
advancement of the Palestinian people. The liberal atmosphere, respect
for the individual, excellent academic standards
and modern facilities have made the University a prominent force within
Palestinian society. Thousands of its graduates
occupy leading positions in the public, private and non-governmental
sectors in a variety of fields, which has enabled the
liberal atmosphere of Birzeit to spread throughout the society. Further,
Birzeit conducts various community development
projects, research and training through a range of community institutes
and centers that promote democracy, human
rights, health, gender, the rule of law and environmental issues that
positively effect governmental policy and raise
community awareness.
It is thus essential that the University be allowed to resume its normal
operations immediately so that it can continue to
contribute to progress and prosperity which are necessary underpinnings
to development, hope and a just and lasting
peace. Moreover, the restoration of free travel along the Ramallah-Birzeit
Road, without ditches, barriers, military
checkpoints, or other impediments, would constitute an important concrete
first step towards the reduction of current
tensions.
For further information about Birzeit University, you can contact us
at webinfo@birzeit.edu or visit the University website
at www.birzeit.edu
Birzeit University
__________________________
Dalia Habash
Senior Information Officer
Birzeit University
Birzeit, Palestine
www.birzeit.edu