The European Network to Support the Rights of Palestinian Prisoners (UFree) issued a press release revealing that Israeli soldiers kidnapped, in May, 21 Palestinian university students, including 19 students who study in universities in the occupied West Bank, two sisters who study in Hebron, and two sisters who study in Ukraine.UFree said that the army kidnapped Moath Bari, Soheib Damaa, Mohammad Matar, Nidal Fatash, Ibrahim Fatash, Baraa Fatash, Abdul-Rahim Esthiyya, and Mohammad Tobish; all studying at the An-Najah University in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
UFree added that the army also kidnapped Bahaa’ Ghanem, Ahmad Haliqa, and Shadi Haliqa; all are students of the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) University.
Student Mohammad Ali Tobish, 26, was kidnapped after the army invaded his home in Kharsa village, near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and searched it; the then army cuffed and blindfolded him before taking him to an unknown destination.
Furthermore, the army kidnapped six students studying at the Palestine Polytechnic University, including two female students identified as Islam Basheti and Afnan Ramadan. The kidnapped male students were identified as Jaber Rajoub, Abdullah Rajoub, Mos’ab Talahma, and Sayyaf Abu Toema.
Students Tha’er Shalalda and Fayez Jaber were kidnapped in the Hebron University, in the Hebron.
Soldiers stationed at the King Hussein Bridge (Al-Karama Crossing) kidnapped Yasmin (22) and her sister Zeina, (23) At-Tamimi who both were returning home after studying and obtaining their medical degrees in Ukraine.
Their father, Najeeb, said that the family was waiting for their return to celebrate “but the occupation insisted on turning our celebration into sadness by kidnapping my daughters’, UFree reported.
Head of the UFree Network, Mohammad Hamdan, slammed the Israeli violations and Israel’s systematic attacks against Palestinian students, including detaining and imprisoning them, preventing them from traveling abroad to obtain higher degrees, and added that these violations also target the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, and many other international agreements that protect the residents right to education.
Hamdan voiced an appeal to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to act for the release of the kidnapped students.
