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Jewish World Review Feb. 18, 2004 /25 Shevat, 5764 At Arab bastion of ‘enlightenment’ student politicians campaign on which party has killed more Israelis By Evan Osnos
A telling look at intellectually stimulated future Palestinian leaders
http://www.jewishworldreview.com (KRT) |
BIR ZEIT — Student politicians at Bir Zeit University no
longer stump on simply better library services and cheaper lunches.
They also campaign on which party claims to have killed more
Israelis.
"For the Islamist bloc, it is 135," says senior Rami Barghouti, a
leader of the student bloc formed by militant Palestinian factions
Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Barghouti says that figure, which is all
but impossible to confirm, is the number of Israelis who have been
killed by Bir Zeit students associated with Hamas.
The West Bank's oldest and most prestigious university is awash in
rhetoric angrier than at any time anyone here can remember. The
sentiments roiling a campus known for producing Palestinian leaders
offer a bleak illustration of the fury and polarization among young
people in the West Bank more than three years after the start of the
Palestinian uprising.
The political picture at Bir Zeit also captures a broader evolution
in the Palestinian balance of power. Like their parents, today's
young Palestinians are increasingly inclined to support radical
groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, at the expense of Yasser
Arafat's mainstream Fatah Party, which has steadily lost ground on
campuses across the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
For the past three years, Bir Zeit had scrapped its campus
elections, citing the ongoing violence between Palestinians and
Israelis. But, with students demanding a chance to vote, the
university relented, and by the time ballots were counted Dec. 10,
the campaign had revealed a student body inflamed.
At a debate just before the vote, Barghouti, the Islamist bloc
candidate, presented his statistics.
"Hamas activists in this university killed 135 Zionists," he said,
challenging the Fatah candidate, according to an Associated Press
report at the time. "How many did Fatah activists from Bir Zeit
kill?"
The Fatah candidate replied that Barghouti should "look at the
paper, go to the archives and see for yourself. Al Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades have not stopped fighting the occupation," he said,
referring to the militant wing of the Fatah movement.
In the end, Hamas and Islamic Jihad cruised to their strongest
showing ever, claiming 25 of the council's 51 seats. The student
wing of the Fatah Party came in second with 20 seats, and leftist
parties took the rest.
In the weeks since the campaign, university officials, professors
and students have debated its significance, including whether
glorifying violence as a political tactic represents legitimate
opposition or something akin to incitement.
"This time, I think there is no question, they overdid it," said Bir
Zeit political scientist Hisham Ahmed, an expert on Hamas who backed
moderate student candidates.
After the election, the administration circulated a letter to
students, declaring that "the university has nothing to do with the
violence and we do not support these things," said Munir Qazzaz,
dean of student affairs.
In the future, Qazzaz said, student elections will be encouraged to
"focus on the bright side of student life."
Yet, the university stands by its policy of not constraining student
elections or debate.
Since sweeping to victory, the Islamist students have moved into the
small, drafty tan-brick building that houses the Student Council
offices on the edge of the sun-soaked campus. What little furniture
the Student Council has is plastered with colorful stickers
emblazoned with the faces of Bir Zeit students who became suicide
bombers.
Over lunch one recent afternoon, the members of the Islamist bloc
talked proudly of their showing in the election — the best since the
bloc first won control of the Student Council in 1998. Fadhi Ahmed,
a slightly built sophomore with a thin mustache, said the group's
rising popularity reflects its reputation as the party willing to
confront Israel most strongly.
"The political issues, the occupation and the actions of the
Israelis are the focal point of concern all over Palestine," Ahmed
said. "These are the issues that touch young people's hearts."
The talk of killing, he said, is intended to underscore how
committed his fellow party members are to the Palestinian cause.
"During the intifada, many Islamist students have made many good
sacrifices for the Palestinian people," he added.
The success of Hamas and Islamic Jihad is particularly revealing
among the 6,000 students at Bir Zeit because the campus once was
known as a Fatah stronghold. Arrayed high on a hillside a short
drive from Arafat's compound in Ramallah, it earned a reputation in
the 1970s and 1980s for its secular and nationalist student
activism.
All that began to change in 1993, with the signing of the Oslo
Accords, which came to symbolize for many Palestinians how
negotiations failed to deliver what they wanted. At Bir Zeit and in
Palestinian society at large, Arafat's popularity has faded amid the
growing profile of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Arafat's approval rating
dropped from 50 percent in October to 38 percent in December,
according to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.
"(The Islamists) are critical, forthright and, some occasions,
belligerent," said Ahmed, the political scientist. "And they have a
clear-cut agenda to recruit everyone they can. In that, they are
successful."
"The results rung a bell for me personally that Fatah, being the
main group, will have to be alerted to what the future might hold,"
he added. Across the campus from the Student Council offices, the Fatah
entrants in the recent election sit in the smoky cafeteria - and
stew. They simply can't compete on the issues that matter most to
their peers, they say.
"Outside politics are inseparable from what happens here," said
Mohammed Al-Swaiti, 22, a member of the Fatah student party. "Most
of the martyrs from our community come from Hamas, and that connects
(with) people on an emotional level."
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© 2004, Chicago Tribune Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services
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