Palestinian students and the violations on freedom of movement

Ibrahim Jabarin, a 31 years old pharmacist from the West Bank village of Tuqu`, turned to Physicians for Human Rights-Israel in regards to advocating his exit to Sweden, after he received his third scholarship to study abroad. In the past he missed two scholarships to study because he was “blocked” from exiting the West Bank by the Israeli GSS. Following a high court petition filed by PHR-Israel to the Israeli court with Adv. Andrey Rosenthal, regarding his case, the State’s attorneys agreed to allow him to leave for his studies on the condition that he will not return to the occupied territories for the next two years.

On the advice of the association, Mr. Jabarin refused to accept this illogical demand and the court was asked to decide on the issue. On 14 October 2004, the state agreed to allow him to leave without any conditions, before the High Court decided on the case.



Physicians for Human Rights-Israel struggles to make the various authorities let Palestinian medical professionals travel for the purpose of studying and receiving professional training abroad.



As part of the closure policy placed on the occupied territories, Israel tends to block Palestinian students from leaving in order to study, under the pretense of security problems or due to a total block on people leaving.



Jabain’s case is just one of dozens of cases of Palestinian students who turn to Physicians for Human Rights-Israel. Many of them study in foreign universities, and when they arrive for a visit during the summer vacation they find themselves being forced to struggle with the army authorities in order to return to the institution where they study. The latest movement restrictions placed on the Gaza Strip in the past several months included orders to not allow any men from the ages of 16-35 to leave the Gaza Strip. This age category includes hundreds of students amongst them dozens who study various medical fields. For example, al-Quds University in Abu Dis was forced to find other options for its students from Gaza, whether by sending teachers to them or by using video conferencing. Since there are no university hospitals in Gaza, the students are forced to do the hands-on training at hospitals that are not affiliated with universities.



The West Bank students’ situation is not much better, since they must pass through two security checks- once by the Israeli GSS and then a second time by the Jordanian intelligence, which has begun to ask from every Palestinian requesting to enter into Jordan to produce an “integrity” certificate from the Jordanian Interior Ministry before they leave the West Bank.



The case of Ibrahim Jabarin is just one example of many of the way Israel, as an occupying power, ignores the basic rights of the residents of the occupied Palestinian territories.



Limiting the freedom of movement of Palestinian in the occupied territories, and especially from young students looking to acquire education abroad due to a lack in educational institutions and the inability to reach distant medical centers in their own land, is another way of paralyzing the Palestinian society and preventing its development. The Palestinian health care system is thus especially liable to become stagnant and unable to develop. Without connection with the rest of the world and without the ability to learn and receive training, no health system can function and grow.

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For more information:



Ibrahim Habib, Intervention Coordinator, +972-54-7577696

Shabtai Gold, Public Outreach, +972-54-4860630



http://www.phr.org.il