Dr. Nabil Qassis, President of Birzeit University, the second largest Palestinian University, decided on Thursday to close the campus and suspend all classes until further notice after the tuition fee rows between the students and the administration escalated.Dr. Nabil Qassis, President of Birzeit University, the second largest Palestinian University, decided on Thursday to close the campus and suspend all classes until further notice after the tuition fee rows between the students and the administration escalated.
Students broke into the administration building and occupied the third floor, which made all the employees leave the building.
Students declared a hunger strike, which lasted for 12 hours, but was suspended after 4 striking students were hospitalized for malnutrition.
Informed sources at Birzeit University told IMEMC that only 300 out of 1500 who pay their tuition fees were able to fulfill their payments in the previous semester.
This semester, 3200 students, nearly half of the total number of the students, requested to be on the fees arrangement. However the administration rejected their request, and allowed only those who fulfilled their tuition. The administration requested that the rest of the students pay their tuition in full.
Many students’ families struggle to pay educational fees due to the internationally imposed sanctions on the Palestinian government and the ensuing high unemployment rates.
In addition, those who are state employees and civil servants have not received their salaries regularly since March 2006 after Hamas won an overwhelming victory in the parliamentary elections in January of the same year.
