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- Convenors:
-
Susannah Pickering-Saqqa
(University of East London)
Ibrahim Natil (Dublin City University)
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- Chair:
-
Bassem Abudagga
(York St John University Al-Azhar University Gaza)
- Format:
- Experimental format
Short Abstract:
This two-part event will focus on the ongoing scholasticide in Palestine. Part 1 Roundtable will be a facilitated information and discussion session led by Palestinian academics. Part 2 workshop will build networks and generate action plans for development scholars to support Gaza HE.
Long Abstract:
Education is highly valued in Palestinian society, fostering hope for a better future and political consciousness, liberation and resistance (Pherali and Turner, 2017). By 2023, despite living under Israeli occupation since 1967, literacy rates in Palestine were among the highest in the Arab world (UNDP, 2024) and the higher education (HE) sector in Palestine was producing graduates in various disciplines (Al-Hroub, 2023).
Israeli military attacks since October 2023 have resulted in the destruction of 80% of all schools in Gaza, all of Gaza's 18 higher education institutions, the killing of over 10,000 schoolchildren, 5,000 university students, 400 teachers and 95 professors, while nearly 20,000 students and 2,500 educators have been injured (OHCHR, 2024; ACAPS, 2024). Academics and civil society describe this systematic attempt to destroy Palestinian knowledge production and educational institutions as "scholasticide" and as a means of attacking the liberation movement (Nabulsi, 2009; UCU, 2024).
This two-part event (90m roundtable and 1 hr workshop) focuses on the ongoing scholasticide in Palestine and has three objectives:
To learn about the HE sector in Palestine and its role in fostering hope and liberation;
To provide an opportunity for development scholars to understand the range of current initiatives supporting universities in Gaza, their future aspirations and agendas;
To build new networks and generate action plans for development scholars in supporting Gaza HE.
Roundtable speakers will be three professors from Al-Aqsa University, Al-Azhar University and the Islamic University of Gaza, which recently set up an International Emergency Committee for Universities in Gaza.