Campus Repression, Scholasticide, and Solidarity: Voices from Gaza

AAUP members, please join the AAUP’s Committee on Race and Solidarity for the second of a series of conversations in which we learn from academic workers, administrators, students, and staff in Gaza who will give first-hand testimonies about the destruction of their own education system. The panelists will discuss how the elimination of universities, schools, libraries, and heritage sites have impacted their lives, and how they have mobilized to continue higher education under unimaginable circumstances. Come learn about the situation on the ground in Gaza and how you can support efforts to rebuild its educational infrastructure.

Scholars and experts use the term “scholasticide” to refer to the systematic destruction of the Palestinian education system. Over the past 18 months, all of Gaza’s universities have been wiped out and an unprecedented number of students, faculty, teachers, and staff have been killed. In the West Bank, Palestinian universities have been raided, students and faculty have been detained, and many higher education institutions have shifted to remote learning.

The purpose of this panel is to open up a discussion about integrating Palestine solidarity with our broad-based efforts to fight for academic freedom and higher education in the United States. Mahmoud Khalil, Rümeysa Öztürk, Yehseon Chung, Badar Suri Khan, Mohsen Mahdawi, and Ranjani Srinivasan are among the many non-citizen members of US academic communities targeted and detained for their speech defending the rights of Palestinians. As US institutions of higher education face unprecedented and unconstitutional attacks, the AAUP has been on the streets and in the courts defending our institutions and our freedoms to protest, dissent, think, and learn.
We have blocked out half the session for discussion and exchange with the audience. This event will be a unique opportunity to learn about conditions on the ground and to discuss the fate of higher education abroad and at home.

Please check your email for a registration link and to submit your questions for the panel in advance.