The Board of the International Consortium of Critical Theory Programs condemns the Israeli army’s invasion of Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank. We consider this act of violence as a continuation of the scholasticide carried out throughout Palestine and as an integral aspect of Israel’s genocidal design. On January 6, 2026, the IDF crashed through the university’s main gates with military vehicles and ushered in a large number of soldiers who fired live ammunition at students and university staff. Almost a dozen students were injured by gunshots and had to be hospitalized. Many more were affected by teargas. The invasion occurred during the day when the campus was packed with people and a weekly sit-in was taking place on the steps of the Arts College to protest against the mass political imprisonment of Palestinians. The Israeli army regularly carries out campus raids during the night when the university is empty, but this daytime “show of force” on January 6 opens a new chapter in the ongoing criminalization of Palestinian education and existence.
The unprovoked and unprecedented military assault on Birzeit clearly indicates that the Israeli government’s aim is not only to intimidate student activists, but also to dictate what is permissible on campus. The invasion violates international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions that protect higher educational institutions against military and police incursion. The ICCTP stands committed to Birzeit University’s determination to affirm the right to education of Palestinians and to defend its institutional autonomy against Israel’s will to punish and monitor campus life. University autonomy is vital, not only as a prerequisite of free and critical inquiry, but also as part of the rightful resistance of Palestinians against dispossession and destruction.
We call on universities and international institutions worldwide to condemn this onslaught against the production and dissemination of knowledge in Palestine. We reiterate our call on the Israeli government to immediately halt its genocidal politics and occupation of Palestinian territories, and to acknowledge the right of the Palestinian people to uphold its history and political self-determination.
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For more information:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-forces-fire-live-rounds-storm-birzeit-university