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Launching 'Let Palestinians Study' Campaign in UK

This week, representatives from Israeli human rights organization Gisha are in Britain to meet NUS Black Students' Officer Ruqayyah Collector and others to discuss the new campaign - 'Let the Palestinians Study' - launched last week at the National Union of Students' Black Students' Campaign conference in Coventry.
Khaled AlMudallal, helping to lead the campaign, is a Palestinian student who last year was trapped in Gaza for six months, and prevented from returning to his studies at Bradford University, as a result of Israeli policies restricting freedom of movement imposed as part of the year-long siege of Gaza. Gisha played a major role in securing Khaled's release last December.
Khaled was just one of hundreds of students prevented from leaving Gaza to attend university. Many remain trapped and are prevented from taking up places at universities around the world.
Higher education opportunities are extremely limited in Gaza.  Many vital disciplines, including speech therapy, dentistry and physical therapy are not taught in Gaza, and there is no opportunity for doctoral study in Gaza or the West Bank.
Khaled AlMudallal said: "Campaigners in Britain played an important role in putting pressure on the Israeli government to allow me to leave and return to my studies.  The new 'Let the Palestinians Study' campaign hopes to achieve the same success for the hundreds of students who remain trapped in Gaza."
 
NUS Black Students' Officer Ruqayyah Collector said: "I'm pleased to give this campaign my full backing. What's happening in Gaza is nothing short of a full-scale humanitarian crisis. The Palestinians urgently need our solidarity to know that they are not being ignored by the international community - and our government urgently needs to listen to calls for the right to education."
 
Palestine Solidarity Campaign student officer George Woods said: "Our government's claim to desire a just, peaceful solution to the occupation of Palestine rings hollow when they ignore the hundreds of students who like Khaled have had their education trampled on by consequence of Israel's devastating policies towards the Gaza strip."

To visit the campaign's official web site: www.letpalstudy.org.uk
 
Click here to watch the launching video:
 
http://www.youtube.com/letpalstudy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNrjSjKGPMQ