XPost: uk.legal, soc.culture.jewish, alt.news-media   
   XPost: alt.politics.democrats, alt.atheism   
   From: void@invalid.noy   
      
   We have come together as Palestinian academics and staff of Gaza   
   universities to affirm our existence, the existence of our colleagues   
   and our students, and the insistence on our future, in the face of all   
   current attempts to erase us.   
      
   The Israeli occupation forces have demolished our buildings but our   
   universities live on. We reaffirm our collective determination to   
   remain on our land and to resume teaching, study, and research in   
   Gaza, at our own Palestinian universities, at the earliest   
   opportunity.   
      
   We call upon our friends and colleagues around the world to resist the   
   ongoing campaign of scholasticide in occupied Palestine, to work   
   alongside us in rebuilding our demolished universities, and to refuse   
   all plans seeking to bypass, erase, or weaken the integrity of our   
   academic institutions. The future of our young people in Gaza depends   
   upon us, and our ability to remain on our land in order to continue to   
   serve the coming generations of our people.   
      
   We issue this call from beneath the bombs of the occupation forces   
   across occupied Gaza, in the refugee camps of Rafah, and from the   
   sites of temporary new exile in Egypt and other host countries. We are   
   disseminating it as the Israeli occupation continues to wage its   
   genocidal campaign against our people daily, in its attempt to   
   eliminate every aspect of our collective and individual life.   
      
   Our families, colleagues, and students are being assassinated, while   
   we have once again been rendered homeless, reliving the experiences of   
   our parents and grandparents during the massacres and mass expulsions   
   by Zionist armed forces in 1947 and 1948.   
      
   Our civic infrastructure – universities, schools, hospitals,   
   libraries, museums and cultural centres – built by generations of our   
   people, lies in ruins from this deliberate continuous Nakba. The   
   deliberate targeting of our educational infrastructure is a blatant   
   attempt to render Gaza uninhabitable and erode the intellectual and   
   cultural fabric of our society. However, we refuse to allow such acts   
   to extinguish the flame of knowledge and resilience that burns within   
   us.   
      
   Allies of the Israeli occupation in the United States and United   
   Kingdom are opening yet another scholasticide front through promoting   
   alleged reconstruction schemes that seek to eliminate the possibility   
   of independent Palestinian educational life in Gaza. We reject all   
   such schemes and urge our colleagues to refuse any complicity in them.   
   We also urge all universities and colleagues worldwide to coordinate   
   any academic aid efforts directly with our universities.   
      
   We extend our heartfelt appreciation to the national and international   
   institutions that have stood in solidarity with us, providing support   
   and assistance during these challenging times. However, we stress the   
   importance of coordinating these efforts to effectively reopen   
   Palestinian universities in Gaza.   
      
   We emphasise the urgent need to reoperate Gaza’s education   
   institutions, not merely to support current students, but to ensure   
   the long-term resilience and sustainability of our higher education   
   system. Education is not just a means of imparting knowledge; it is a   
   vital pillar of our existence and a beacon of hope for the Palestinian   
   people.   
      
   Accordingly, it is essential to formulate a long-term strategy for   
   rehabilitating the infrastructure and rebuilding the entire facilities   
   of the universities. However, such endeavours require considerable   
   time and substantial funding, posing a risk to the ability of academic   
   institutions to sustain operations, potentially leading to the loss of   
   staff, students, and the capacity to reoperate.   
      
   Given the current circumstances, it is imperative to swiftly   
   transition to online teaching to mitigate the disruption caused by the   
   destruction of physical infrastructure. This transition necessitates   
   comprehensive support to cover operational costs, including the   
   salaries of academic staff.   
      
   Student fees, the main source of income for universities, have   
   collapsed since the start of the genocide. The lack of income has left   
   staff without salaries, pushing many of them to search for external   
   opportunities.   
      
   Beyond striking at the livelihoods of university faculty and staff,   
   this financial strain caused by the deliberate campaign of   
   scholasticide poses an existential threat to the future of the   
   universities themselves.   
      
   Thus, urgent measures must be taken to address the financial crisis   
   now faced by academic institutions, to ensure their very survival. We   
   call upon all concerned parties to immediately coordinate their   
   efforts in support of this critical objective.   
      
   The rebuilding of Gaza’s academic institutions is not just a matter of   
   education; it is a testament to our resilience, determination, and   
   unwavering commitment to securing a future for generations to come.   
      
   The fate of higher education in Gaza belongs to the universities in   
   Gaza, their faculty, staff, and students and to the Palestinian people   
   as a whole. We appreciate the efforts of peoples and citizens around   
   the world to bring an end to this ongoing genocide.   
      
   We call upon our colleagues in the homeland and internationally to   
   support our steadfast attempts to defend and preserve our universities   
   for the sake of the future of our people, and our ability to remain on   
   our Palestinian land in Gaza. We built these universities from tents.   
   And from tents, with the support of our friends, we will rebuild them   
   once again.   
      
   Signatories:   
      
   Dr Kamalain Shaath, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Islamic   
   University of Gaza (IUG)   
      
   Prof Omar Milad, President of Al Azhar University Gaza, Al Azhar   
   University Gaza   
      
   Dr Mohamed Reyad Zughbur, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Al Azhar   
   University Gaza   
      
   Dr Nasser Abu Alatta, Dean of Students Affairs, Al Aqsa University   
      
   Dr Akram Mohammed Radwan, Dean of Admission, Registration, and Student   
   Affairs, University College of Applied Sciences – Gaza   
      
   Dr Atta Abu Hany, Dean of Faculty of Science, Al Azhar University Gaza   
      
   Prof Hamdi Shhadeh Zourb, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and   
   Administrative Sciences, Islamic University of Gaza (IUG)   
      
   Dr Ahmed Abu Shaban, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary   
   Medicine, Al Azhar University Gaza   
      
   Dr Ahmed A Najim, Dean of Admission and Registration, Al Azhar   
   University Gaza   
      
   Dr Noha A Nijim, Dean of Economics and Administrative Science Faculty,   
   Al Azhar University Gaza   
      
   Prof Hatem Ali Al-Aidi, Dean of Planning and Quality, Islamic   
   University of Gaza (IUG)   
      
   Dr Ihab A Naser Dean of Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Al Azhar   
   University Gaza   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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