Universities in Gaza Wiped Out By Israel Genocide
By Desire Tshuma
The higher education establishments in Gaza have endured complete destruction by Israeli forces with more than 5,479 students, 261 teachers and 95 university professors have been killed in Gaza, and over 7,819 students and 756 teachers have been injured with numbers growing each day as Israel intends to wipe out Palestine’s education and knowledge systems.
The Israeli army has destroyed or damaged all 12 universities in the Gaza Strip, by means of air strikes or bombs at least 625,000 students have no access to education. This amounts to scholasticide, a systematic destruction and total annihilation of education. Numerous cultural heritage sites, including libraries, archives and museums, have also been destroyed, damaged and plundered.
The targeting of civilian objects by Israeli armed forces, particularly those that are historical, educational or cultural artefacts protected by special laws, is not only a serious breach of international humanitarian law and a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, but falls under the purview of the crime of genocide.
Ambassador Tamer Almassri said the international community to send a clear message that those who target schools and universities will be held responsible and that accountability for these violations includes an obligation to finance and rebuild the education system.
Scholasticide has also intensified in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where the Israeli military has often raided educational institutions, arrested or detained students, restricted the movement of students and faculty, and undermined academic freedom by university closures. It is important to note that Palestinians have one of the highest literacy rates (97.7%), graduates and PHD holders in the world.
The ongoing bloody Israeli military offensive has prevented approximately 39,000 students in the Gaza Strip from sitting for the Tawjihi high school final exams, slated to commence on Saturday. Tawjihi are the final exams in the last year of high school which determine university prospects based on the obtained grades.
The assault on Palestinian educational and cultural institutions did not begin last October. Israel has a long record of targeted attacks on Palestinian institutions that produce knowledge and culture. That history includes targeting and assassinating Palestinian intellectuals, cultural producers and political figures.