Bulletin: Birzeit U. Calls for Investigation into Alleged Israeli Executions of Civilians in Gaza
New Year Wishes
In our new bulletin, Al-Fanar Media brings you our most prominent stories and news about higher education in the Arab world.
Another year passes, and we are about to welcome a new year. Over the past two years, many things have changed. Globally, regional conflicts and tensions and their impacts continue: the Russian-Ukrainian war, Sudan’s internal conflict, the Israeli war on Gaza, and the tensions in the southern Red Sea.
The world is still facing difficult climate and economic conditions, affecting food and energy chains.
Between all of these ills, there is a waste of energy and potential, a loss of lives, and a loss of minds, scientists, and researchers.
My personal wishes for the new year are ordinary, yet crucial: a safe world, with no place for more killing, bloodshed, and destruction. I don’t know if this was also my wish for the past year, or the one before that, or for ten years ago. It’s my wish for the new year, 2024.
As for my wishes for our website, Al-Fanar Media, I will tell you about them later.
Mohammad El-Hawary
Al-Fanar Media editor-in-chief
From the Region:
Birzeit U. Demands Investigation into Israel’s Alleged Execution of Civilians in Gaza
Palestine’s Birzeit University has accused the Israeli army of committing war crimes during a raid on a residential building in Gaza City by carrying out field executions of unarmed young men in front of their families, and of injuring other civilians, including women and children.
In a statement published on Wednesday, the university cited a United Nations news release in which witnesses said that during the raid, which occurred on December 19 in the city’s Al-Rimal neighbourhood, Israeli soldiers had opened fire on at least 11 young men without any justification. The news release from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OHCHR OPT) said the witness accounts raised “alarm about the possible commission of a war crime” and called for an independent investigation.
Al-Jazeera has also reported on the incident. Several survivors told the Qatari-owned media company that Israeli troops had stormed the building, gone from floor to floor to separate the men from the women and children, and then shot dead 11 of the men in front of their family members. The men were in their 20s and 30s, the survivors said.
In its statement, Birzeit University said that the international community, through its inaction, has granted immunity to the Israeli army to continue its occupation, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. This “must stop immediately”, it said. The university also called on the United Nations and international human rights organisations to “investigate these horrific and heinous crimes that reflect the real face of the occupation, expose them, and prevent their recurrence”.
U. of Jordan and Iraq’s Tishk International U. Sign Cooperation Agreement
The University of Jordan and Tishk International University in Erbil have signed an agreement setting a general framework for cooperation between the two universities in academic and cultural fields of common interest.
In a statement, the University of Jordan said cooperation activities would include the exchange of faculty members and students, establishing joint programs, holding joint seminars and conferences, sharing publications and information, and becoming partners in academic projects supported externally.
Abu Dhabi U.: 3,000 Papers Published in Scopus-Indexed Journals
Abu Dhabi University’s Office of Scientific Research announced that, since its founding in 2003, university professors have published 3,000 research papers in journals indexed by Scopus, an internationally known abstract and citation database owned by Elsevier, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific research.
According to the Emirates News Agency (WAM), publishing in Scopus-indexed journals represents a distinctive feature of prestigious international universities. Research produced by Abu Dhabi University scholars and published in these journals has addressed multidisciplinary topics across such fields as engineering, technology, health sciences, business, accounting, and economics.
Montasir Qasymeh, the university’s associate provost for research and academic development and a professor of electrical engineering, said: “Through our local and global strategic partnerships, we have enhanced our research capabilities to transform innovative ideas into thriving startups.” He added that the university looked forward to “further disrupting the status quo and problem-solving for a sustainable future.”
Yemen to Hold Exams for Cultural Exchange Scholarships Next Month
The Ministry of Higher Education of the internationally recognized government of Yemen, based in Aden, has set January 17 as the date for exams for cultural exchange scholarships for the 2024–25 academic year.
In a statement, the ministry said the date and other details of the exams were decided during in a meeting of the Yemeni minister of higher education, Khaled Al-Wasabi, with the ministry’s scholarship committee. The meeting decided to exempt students from the Socotra Governorate from taking the exam, and will judge their applications according to their high school grades. Hundreds of homes in the governorate, an Indian Ocean archipelago 380 kilometres south of mainland Yemen, were damaged or destroyed during Tropical Cyclone Tej in late October.
The meeting also approved compensation for cultural exchange students who were sent to Egypt for current academic year but were not accepted by the Egyptian side. The statement did not provide additional details about the reasons for the failure to accept these students.
Saudi Arabia Opens Registration for Artificial Intelligence Hackathon
Saudi Arabia has opened registration for the “Al Baha Artificial Intelligence Hackathon,” which is organised by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority and Al Baha University. Male and female students at the university and technical colleges in the region are invited to join the competition.
According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the hackathon aims to motivate students to use modern technologies to develop smart solutions for cities. It also seeks to enhance technical awareness among students and society, and to develop students’ technical and creative skills. To register, click here.
From Al-Fanar Media:
Libyan University Students Struggle to Catch Up after Teachers’ Strike Ends
Libyan university students will struggle to catch up in their studies after professors’ sit-ins caused a two-month delay in the start of the academic year, but a plan to amend the academic calendar may give them some relief. The academic year was scheduled to start on September 17, but was delayed by the professors’ protests over pay and benefits. The teaching staffs agreed to resume classes in late November after their union, the General Syndicate of University Faculty Members in Libya, reached an agreement with the interim Government of National Unity, based in Tripoli. Syndicate and government officials are now planning changes to the academic calendar that will allow students to complete a full academic year by this summer. Read more in this article.
Opinion:
After COP28, How Can We Promote Climate Education in Schools and Universities?
Integrating climate education into curricula in schools and universities is one of the most important measures educators can take in the search for solutions to the environmental challenges caused by global warming, says the Egyptian academic Tarek Kapiel. Climate-change effects already test ecosystems’ resilience and are getting worse, including record-setting heat waves, rising sea levels, increasing frequency of natural disasters, and decreased biodiversity. In the wake of COP28, the United Nations climate-change summit in Dubai that concluded earlier this month, now is a good time to consider the role of climate education in empowering the next generation to confront the challenges ahead. In this essay, Kapiel seeks to explain why climate education is crucial, and how to put it in place.
University Rankings:
Report on Higher Education and Sustainable Cities Highlights Good Practices at Aswan U.
A recent report on how higher education institutions can help meet a key United Nations goal for safe and sustainable cities highlights Aswan University’s contributions in this area. The report, titled “The Contributions of Higher Education Institutions to Sustainable Cities and Communities”, was issued last month by the Unesco International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC) and Times Higher Education, a British publisher of higher-education news and rankings.
The report’s findings illustrate a major gap between how well universities in the Global North, compared to the Global South, can implement and document policies and practices that contribute toward achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 11, which calls for making “cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”.
Egypt’s Aswan University was one of four institutions profiled in case studies of universities showing evidence of good practices. Aswan was chosen as a case study “because of the very clear, innovative and substantial efforts it is undertaking to meet SDG 11,” one of the report’s authors told Al-Fanar Media. Read more in this article.
In Conflict:
‘Palestine After October 7’: Amr Moussa Reflects on Post-War Possibilities
The distinguished Arab elder statesman Amr Moussa recently gave his thoughts on what might come next for Palestine after the brutally catastrophic Israeli war in Gaza finally ends. Speaking at a late-November event at the American University in Cairo titled “The Future of Palestine after October 7,” Moussa called for a new form of Arab solidarity with Palestine in negotiating a two-state solution and ending the conflict with Israel. “It is not a requirement that all Arab states do this,” he said. “If five countries are able to agree on the goal of establishing an independent Palestinian state, this can be achieved.” The event was in the form of an interview, with the Egyptian novelist and cultural commentator Ahdaf Soueif posing the questions. Read more in this article.
Al-Fanar Media Activities:
How Can Arab Academics Support the Palestinian Cause? Professors Offer Ideas
In a new episode of Al-Fanar Media’s series of panel discussions, which address issues and challenges of the Arab higher-education community, Arab academics recently discussed the role university professors can play in supporting the Palestinian cause. The discussion took place on December 11, more than two months into the current war Israel launched on Gaza in October, in response to a deadly Hamas attack inside Israel. The participants’ suggestions included networking with other academics around the world who support the Palestinian cause, and teaching younger generations to take up the issue on knowledge-based grounds, using logical argumentation rather than an aggressive “us/them” posture. Read more in this article.
Scholarships:
Al-Fanar Media maintains a database of quality scholarships available to Arab students, which we continuously update. To stay up to date on the latest scholarships available in international universities, check the Scholarships section here, and watch for updated feedback on free learning opportunities in our News and Reports section, here.
