This article is from the students news paper (student direct)

This Wednesday at 1.30pm, your Students Union will meet to discuss and vote on a number of serious issues. It will discuss Bullying on Campus, a boycott of Coca-Cola and the difficulties faced by asylum seekers who want to study here in Manchester. It will also discuss, however, a proposal to twin our Student Union with the Student Union of Al-Najah National University in Nablus, Palestine. It is this motion that I want to talk about in this article.

As I write this article, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) is busying kidnapping the families of ‘wanted’ men in the city of Nablus – Operation ‘Hot Winter’ is a full scale invasion of the West Bank city by the Israeli army. The offensive operation, which has been ongoing since Sunday morning and is now in its fourth day, has already seen one civilian shot dead and over 45 people, including an Al-Najah student, kidnapped by the IDF. For three out of four of those days, the University has been closed because of a curfew imposed by the Occupation.

Although ‘Hot Winter’ is a large operation, it is simply another episode in a catalogue of attacks on Palestinian who, in the West Bank, have been living under Occupation since 1967. The Human Rights violations committed by the IDF since the start of the Occupation and particularly since the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in Palestine are numerous and well documented by both the UN and NGOs. However, as students I think that it is important for us to consider the experience of our fellow students in Palestine, especially as over a third of the Palestinian population is in full-time education. The Right to Education is enshrined in international law in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), which states that “Everyone has the right to education”, and in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) which recognizes that “Education is both a human right in itself and an indispensable means of realizing other human rights.” Unfortunately, the students of Al-Najah University have had these Rights consistently ignored.

The twinning motion this Wednesday is designed to show Palestinians, Israelis and the wider world exactly what the Occupation is doing to Palestinian education. It is a simple act of solidarity that can do a lot to break down the feeling of isolation from which Palestinian students suffer. It is also an important platform for the campaign in Britain. Our government is a crucial Israeli ally – the invasion of Lebanon in the summer was only maintained by Tony Blair’s support for US policy – and we must put pressure on our government to break the link between US Imperialism and Israel. This motion is a step towards justice in Palestine but it is also an important end itself. It can provide real relief to people struggling against the Occupation and break down some of the preconceptions we hold as a society. It will also provide hope to people who suffer under some of the worst oppression on the planet.

I urge you to support Human Rights in Palestine, to vote for an end to racism and oppression and to give students living under Occupation a ray of hope – let them know that they are not alone.