During the 51st Regular Session of the Human Rights Council, Ghada Alrayan, Law for Palestine’s Geneva coordinator, delivered an oral statement on behalf of the organisation, in partnership with the Human Rights and Democracy Media Center “Shams”.

The statement addresses the Israeli policy of detaining Palestinian university students.

This is the full statement text:

Mr. President:

Whereas university students world-wide focus on their student life, young Palestinian students, face the fear of arrest by Israel either on campus or at night in their homes, merely for engaging in student activities.

Israel has been violating resolution 39/11, on the implementation of the right to participate in public affairs, and arresting thousands of Palestinian students. Al-Dameer documented 95 cases of student arrests in the West Bank in 2021 alone.

While outlawing all major Palestinian political parties, Israel justifies its students’ detention through the accusation of belonging to unlawful Palestinian groups. In some cases, students are indicted with charges as far-fetched as “practicing Palestinian folkloric dance” or participation in a stationary fair or sold sandwiches in events organized by student unions.

It is imperative that Israel’s persecution of Palestinian students be understood in the broader context of their systematic suppression of the younger Palestinian generation and its political activism.

Consequently, Human Rights and Democracy Center-SHAMS and Law for Palestine call upon the international community to pressure Israel to cease this repressive policy that violates the Geneva Conventions and its additional protocols.

Thank you