An open letter from the presidents of Gaza universities

Our campuses whitethorn person been razed, but our universities proceed to exist.

We, the presidents of Gaza’s 3 non-profit universities— Al-Aqsa University, Al-Azhar University-Gaza, and the Islamic University of Gaza — unneurotic accounting for the immense bulk of Gaza’s students and module members, contented this unified connection to the planetary world assemblage astatine a clip of unprecedented devastation of higher acquisition successful Gaza.

Israel’s ongoing genocidal warfare has brought astir scholasticide—a systematic and deliberate effort to destruct our universities, their infrastructure, faculty, and students. This demolition is not collateral; it is portion of a targeted effort to eradicate the foundations of higher acquisition successful Gaza—foundations that person agelong stood arsenic pillars of resilience, hope, and intelligence state nether conditions of concern and siege. While world institutions crossed Palestine person faced attacks for decades, what we are witnessing contiguous is an escalation: a displacement from repeated acts of demolition to an effort astatine full annihilation.

Yet, we stay resolute. For much than a year, we person mobilised and taken steps to defy this battle and guarantee that our universities endure.

Despite the carnal obliteration of campuses, laboratories, libraries, and different facilities, and the assassination of our students and colleagues, our universities proceed to exist. We are much than buildings — we are world communities, comprised of students, faculty, and staff, inactive live and determined to transportation guardant our mission.

As articulated successful the Unified Emergency Statement from Palestinian Academics and Administrators issued connected May 29, 2024, “Israeli concern forces person demolished our buildings, but our universities unrecorded on.”

For implicit a year, our faculty, unit and students person persisted successful our halfway ngo — teaching — nether unimaginably harsh conditions. Constant bombardment, starvation, restrictions connected net access, unstable electricity, and the ongoing horrors of genocide person not breached our will. We are inactive here, inactive teaching, and inactive committed to the aboriginal of acquisition successful Gaza.

We urgently telephone connected our colleagues astir the satellite to enactment for:

• A sustainable and lasting ceasefire, without which nary acquisition strategy tin thrive, and an extremity to each complicity with this genocide.
• Immediate planetary mobilisation to enactment and support Gaza’s higher acquisition institutions arsenic captious to the endurance and semipermanent aboriginal of the Palestinian people.
• Recognition of scholasticide arsenic a systematic warfare connected education, and the necessity of coordinated and strategical planetary enactment successful concern with our universities for the resilience and rebuilding of our world infrastructure and communities.

We entreaty to the planetary world assemblage — our colleagues, institutions, and friends — to:

• Support our efforts to proceed teaching and conducting research, nether siege and amidst loss.
• Commit to the semipermanent rebuilding of Gaza’s universities successful concern with us, respecting our organization autonomy and world agency.
• Work successful concern with us. Engage straight with and enactment the precise institutions that proceed to embody world beingness and corporate intelligence absorption successful Gaza.

Last year, we formally established the Emergency Committee of the Universities successful Gaza, representing our 3 institutions and affiliated colleges — unneurotic enrolling betwixt 80 and 85 percent of Gaza universities’ students. The committee exists to defy the erasure of our universities and connection a unified dependable for Gaza’s world community. It has since established subject-focused subcommittees to service arsenic trusted and coordinated channels for support.

We telephone upon world communities astir the satellite to coordinate themselves successful effect to this call. The clip for symbolic solidarity has passed. We present inquire for practical, structured, and enduring partnership.

Work alongside america to guarantee that Gaza’s universities unrecorded connected and stay a captious portion of our corporate future.

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the authors’ ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.