Ministry of higher education strongly condemns Israeli attack on al-Quds university

The Ministry of Higher Education denounced in a press release Wednesday, the Israeli army attack against Al-Quds University, for desecrating the sanctity of the institution, obstructing the educational process, and for intentionally horrifying thousands of students and staff members by utilizing all terrorist means including random heavy firing.The Ministry considered the Israeli army's latest assault against the university to be part of a continuous and systematic context of violations against the Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem, including the educational institutions and their cadres. Especially Al-Quds University, which has been exposed to similar constant attacks.These violations aim to fight the Palestinian presence in occupied East Jerusalem, to push the Palestinian society towards ignorance and poverty, as well as to kill all the elements of development in this society, the Ministry added. The Ministry criticized this serious move by the Israeli occupation forces of breaking into the university campus and trying to militarize its surroundings with barbed wire, besides the existing Apartheid-Annexation wall. The Ministry considers this military aggression blatant and unjustified and in contravention with all international norms, which stress the need to neutralize the educational institutions and the sanctity of violating the civil and educational institutions.The Ministry appealed to all the international institutions, organizations and bodies to immediately intervene to stand strongly and firmly against such aggression and to take all the necessary measures to protect the educational process and its institutions from these racist policies — to ensure the right of young Palestinians to safe education.It also called upon all the international academic institutions and universities, their cadres and unions, to denounce racist Israeli occupation policies against the Palestinian academic/educational institutions.It's worth mentioning that Israeli forces raided on Wednesday, the Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem and clashes erupted between the students and Israeli forces who fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets outside and inside the campus. Dozen of students and faculty members suffocated due to tear gas inhalation and others were injured from rubber-coated metal bullets.