Birzeit University students accuse Palestinian Authority of political arrests

Eight Palestinian students continue to be detained by the Palestinian Authority after one was released on Monday, a source close to the students' council at Birzeit University near Ramallah, told The New Arab. The students’ council accuses the PA of arresting the students for political reasons.

On Sunday, the students' council released a statement announcing that the PA security forces had arrested three students who are active in the student movement.

"We, in the students' council, refuse the injustice and arrogance that deprives students of their right to a safe university life," read the statement.

On Sunday, dozens of Palestinians, including many students, demonstrated in Ramallah against what they called 'political detentions' by the PA, demanding the immediate release of the prisoners.

Student frameworks at Birzeit University announce an open sit-in until the release of all students detained in the prisons of the Authority pic.twitter.com/71AsShqyVV

— Palestine News 24/7 (@PaliNewsBot) October 31, 2022

"My son was summoned by the Palestinian security for an interrogation at a security headquarters in Ramallah”, the father of Amr Al-Taweel, a second-year student of political science at Birzeit University, said to TNA. 

"Amr went to the appointment but didn't come back," said the father. "The lawyer told us that he is detained for further interrogation, but we don't know in what conditions he is, or when he will be released."

On his part, Birzeit University's deputy president for communications, Ghassan Al-Khatib, said to TNA that "Birzeit University clearly rejects any unlawful detentions of its students".

"The university is making efforts through human rights organizations to clarify the reasons for the students' detentions and demand the release of those who are detained without charges," Al-Khatib noted.

Birzeit University, located just outside Ramallah, is the only Palestinian institution of higher education in the occupied West Bank and Gaza that holds free and democratic elections to its student union https://t.co/CdGISQ49WD

— Al-Shabaka الشبكة (@AlShabaka) March 8, 2022

Meanwhile, a group of students continue to hold a sit-in inside Birzeit's campus, in protest of the PA's detentions and demanding the immediate release of those arrested.

The PA's security forces haven't made any public comments on the Birzeit University students' detentions.

The New Arab attempted to contact the media spokesperson of the security forces, but they have not responded to requests for comment.