Bir Zait University

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جامعة بيرزيت
Birzeit University
founding 1924 (1975 university)
place Bir Zait , West Bank
president Abdullatif Abuhijleh (since 2015)
Networks FUIW , IAU
Website www.birzeit.edu
Bir Zait University campus, 2007

The Birzeit University ( in Arabic جامعة بيرزيت, English Birzeit University , BZU) is a Palestinian university in Bir Zait north of Ramallah in the West Bank . It was founded in 1975 and has seven faculties with around 9,000 students, almost 60% of whom are women (as of 2010).

history

From school to junior college

In 1924, Nabiha Nasir (1891–1951) founded a school to give girls from the Bir Zait region around 11 kilometers north of Ramallah a primary education. In fact, educational institutions did not exist there before. By 1930 the school had developed into a secondary educational institution for boys and girls and was granted college status in 1942.

From junior college to four-year university

University of Bir Zait (2013)

After the West Bank and Gaza Strip came under Israeli occupation in the 1967 Six Day War , travel restrictions imposed by the occupation authorities prevented students from taking advantage of educational opportunities abroad. The administration of Bir Zait College therefore saw an urgent need to set up a local university. A few years later, plans to develop a four-year program to obtain a bachelor's degree and the creation of a new campus were already in full swing.

With the expected growth of the college, the founders decided to set up an autonomous board of trustees to ensure the continuity of the institution. Despite the fact that it took several years before the Israeli military authorities granted approval, the board was appointed and started operating as early as 1973. The development of the college continued as planned. In 1975 the official status of "university" was obtained and the name was changed accordingly.

The university became a member of the Association of Arab Universities in April 1976 and on July 11 of the same year it was already celebrating the graduation of its first bachelor's degrees. In 1977 the university became a member of the International Association of Universities . In the academic year 1977/78 a master’s degree in educational science was offered for the first time, the Faculty of Commerce and Economics was founded in 1978/79 , followed by the Faculty of Engineering in 1979/80.

With the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1993, the university administration decided to introduce further undergraduate and graduate courses to respond to the urgent need for well-educated graduates shouldering the duties within a Palestinian state. Several new centers, institutes and a faculty for graduate studies have been established.

In the 2001 university elections, the university group of the radical Islamic Hamas won . In February 2000, while visiting the university, angry students pelted French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin with stones and hit him in the head. Security forces laboriously evacuated him. He had previously described Hezbollah actions in southern Lebanon as "terror".

No entry for Jewish Israelis

In September 2014, the crew critical Israeli journalist wanted Amira Hass at the invitation of the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation at one of these with the Center for Development Studies held at the University of Birzeit international conference on "Alternatives to Neo-Liberal Development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories - Critical Perspectives ”. However, she had to leave the campus because, as an Israeli Jew, she was not allowed to stay there due to a corresponding legal norm of the university.

Work restrictions

The college's work has been repeatedly restricted by Israel. Ghassan Khatib , Vice-President of Bir-Zait University since 2012, complained in July 2018 that 15 professors with foreign passports were making it difficult to extend their visas or were refused altogether.

Personalities

See also

Web links

Commons : Birzeit University  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ List of Members. (pdf) In: www.fumi-fuiw.org. Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World, 2017, p. 13 , accessed on September 5, 2019 .
  2. ^ List of IAU Members. In: iau-aiu.net. International Association of Universities, accessed August 11, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Medea's information files: Palestinian Universities ( Memento from July 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) on www.medea.be from April 2004, accessed 2010
  4. ↑ Peter Schäfer: The way is the goal , Der Spiegel , November 12, 2001, accessed on September 30, 2014.
  5. ^ Prime Minister Jospin and Hezbollah. April 9, 2000, accessed February 27, 2020 .
  6. ^ Deborah Sontag: Students in West Bank Throw Stones at the French Prime Minister . In: The New York Times . February 27, 2000, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed February 27, 2020]).
  7. ↑ Amira Hass: When a Haaretz journalist was asked to leave a Palestinian university , Haaretz, September 28, 2014. Accessed September 30, 2014.
  8. ^ Statement by the Palestine Regional Office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation on the exclusion of Amira Hass from the international conference. dated September 26, 2014, accessed September 30, 2014.
  9. ↑ Ghassan Khatib, Ramallah (IPG). Access date: November 7, 2018.
  10. ↑ Ghassan Khatib: "Birzeit University condemns breach of academic freedom after academics forced to leave Palestine" , birzeit.edu, July 12, 2018. Access date: November 7, 2018.

Coordinates: 31 ° 57 ′ 31 ″  N , 35 ° 10 ′ 51 ″  E