http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/worldwide/story/0,,2106625,00.htmlLisa Taraki, dean of graduate studies at Bir Zeit University, is puzzled by the uproar caused by the University and College Union's decision to discuss a boycott of Israeli academics.
"There has been a great hue and cry about the academic freedom of Israelis as if the academic freedom of Palestinians is of no consequence. The Israelis are not interested in academic freedom, they are interested in the protection of their own privileges," she said.
She has taught at the institution for 30 years and cannot remember a time when Israel did anything but try to suppress Palestinian education.
"We have been under siege for more than 30 years. In spite of this we have managed to build a credible institution," she said.
Bir Zeit was founded as a girls' school in 1924, but started offering degrees 50 years later. The university's students became regular protesters against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and the small peaceful countryside campus was often showered with stones and sprayed with tear gas as the army tried to crack down on peaceful dissent.
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Academic Freedom? Not under Israeli military occupation.
I watched how university students are treated, how they can barely travel to their schools. For that matter, the same for high school students.