Jerusalem
The Israeli High Court has dashed hopes that Israel's decision to ease the blockade on Gaza will also enable students there to study in the West Bank.
In a ruling on Wednesday, judges here denied a petition by Fatima Sharif, a lawyer in Gaza, to attend classes at Birzeit University in the West Bank, where she has enrolled in a master's program in human rights and democracy.
The Israeli army effectively banned all Palestinian students in Gaza from attending West Bank universities several years ago and lately has been arresting and deporting those found in violation of the rule.
In 2007 the court instructed the army to reconsider the blanket ban and recommended that exceptions be granted in "cases that would have positive human consequences."
"Today the Defense Ministry admitted that since this judgment was handed down, Israel has not issued a single permit to a student from Gaza," said Sari Bashi of Gisha: Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, a human-rights group that represented Ms. Sharif.
Ms. Sharif said she believed her case fitted the criteria laid down by the court in 2007 because the course is not available in Gaza, where she works for an advocacy organization, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.
"I want to go back to Gaza at the end of my master's-degree studies to raise awareness about human rights within the society in Gaza. I firmly believe that every person has rights that they must be made aware of, including where these rights are violated, whether from within their own society or from without," she said.
The Ministry of Defense, the respondent in the case, told the court that an Israeli government decision on June 20 to ease the blockade on Gaza "does nothing to expand the criteria" for entering Israeli-controlled territory, "and it certainly does not permit passage for purposes of master's-degree studies."
Wednesday's decision appeared to set a harsh new precedent by accepting the Ministry of Defense statement without even referring to the 2007 ruling.
"We evaluated the case of the petitioner and were not convinced that in the current political-security situation, her personal circumstances justify intervening in the respondent's decision," the judges said in a written decision. "In a series of recent decisions, the court has not intervened in the policy of the respondent, and there is no justification to act differently in the case of the petitioner," they wrote.
Nomi Heger of Gisha, who argued the case for Ms. Sharif, said, "I regret that the court declined to follow its own case law and evaluate Ms. Sharif's request in the framework which the court itself established in 2007, namely the need to consider exceptions to the general ban."
Gisha officials said there is no possibility of appealing the decision, but, in light of the Ministry of Defense's admission that no students had been allowed to leave Gaza for the West Bank in the past three years, they plan to ask the ministry to clarify its understanding of the meaning of "positive human consequences."
Comments
1. 11111231 - July 08, 2010 at 07:52 am
Israeli war mongers are digusting. Education is one of the fundamental human rights.
2. mart7624 - July 08, 2010 at 08:26 am
It really is critical for palestinians to learn how to build better bombs to kill more Israelis.
3. history_grrrl - July 08, 2010 at 09:06 am
mart7624, since it's obvious that you either did not or could not read the article, allow me to explain that this case involves an attorney who had hoped to complete a master's program in human rights and democracy. Do you see how that's different from being trained to construct bombs for killing people?
I am at a loss to understand why people are attacked for comparing Israeli policy toward Palestinians with the apartheid regime of South Africa.
4. physicsprof - July 08, 2010 at 09:52 am
"I want to go back to Gaza at the end of my master's-degree studies to raise awareness about human rights within the society in Gaza."
It could be legit. Incidentally, it also would be the rhetoric of a bomber. I have nothing against Ms. Sharif, she is most certainly an exemplary human being, but worse people will follow her footsteps. Lying is the way of life in the Middle East, fooling others is nothing to be ashamed of. This applies to Arabs, Palestinians, and Israeli equally.
5. oscarw - July 10, 2010 at 12:02 pm
mart7624 - Israel is entirely right in not allowing concentration camp inmates to cross the border to study, particularly law as it could apply to that inmates fellow prisoners.
6. edithg - July 22, 2010 at 10:13 am
@physicsprof - It always surprises me when I hear such ignorant and racist remarks made by someone supposedly educated. "Lying is the way of life in the Middle East." Your qualifier at the end that the remark "applies to Arabs, Palestinians, and Israeli equally" does not reduce its bigotry or inaccuracy.
Now to the article: There are so many things wrong with Israel's policy concerning the Gaza Strip and specifically the movement of people into/out of the strip its hard to know where to begin.
The blockade itself is illegal as it affects not only the specific militants responsible for rocket attacks on southern Israel or the de facto Hamas administration, but the entire 1.5 million inhabitants of the strip, especially those most vulnerable: the children, elderly and women.
The refusal of a travel permit should only be used if legitimate, specific security concerns are linked with a specific individual. The Right to an Education is a basic human right and should never be denied an individual for political reasons.
As educators and those interested in education, I would hope we could all appreciate the value of an education and not only how denying an entire generation of a higher education can have considerable detrimental effects on the society, but how denying this young woman to educate herself on democracy and human rights and denying her ability to share her knowledge is like shooting yourself in the foot.
Is denying this young woman an education in democracy and human rights the best avenue of protecting Israel's long term security needs? I think not.
This whole picture has many layers and each one stinks.