Ref: 147/2021
Date: 6 Dec 2021
Press release,
Due to the repeated brawls inside universities,
ICSPR calls on the Public Prosecution to investigate the circumstances of the killing of a student at
the Arab American University in Jenin.
The International Commission to Support Palestinians’ Rights (ICSPR) follows with great concern and condemnation the crime that took place this morning, Saturday – December 4, that claimed the life of the student: Mahran Khaliliya (21 years), after he was stabbed with a sharp object during a brawl that broke out inside the university campus.
Indications indicate the growing and recurring cases of brawls within universities in the West Bank, where more than one case of brawls has been recorded recently, accompanied by closing the doors of more than one university to reduce the level of tension within universities.
ICSPR considers that the recurrence of brawls within universities without revealing their causes and addressing them, including holding their perpetrators accountable and bringing them to justice, indicates a state of security chaos.
ICSPR fears that the spread of arms and the attempts to create a state of security chaos in the West Bank, including universities, is part of the Israeli occupation policy to make citizens feel insecure and divert attention from settlement and major political issues, and it stresses the importance of opening an investigation into the murder of the student Khaliliya, and announce its results publicly. Furthermore, ICSPR demands the following:
- ICSPR calls on the law enforcement and justice bodies to provide protection for students and workers in Palestinian universities in the West Bank.
- ICSPR urges student frameworks in Palestinian universities to intensify their efforts in a way that ensures a significant contribution to addressing the causes of brawls within universities, and to comply with the values of union and student freedoms.
- ICSPR holds the police and security agencies as law enforcement officials, responsible for the continuation of this unfortunate situation inside universities.
- ICSPR calls on the concerned authorities, including the Public Prosecution, to carry out their duty, put an end to these cases, respect the rule of law, and to impose its sovereignty by opening serious investigations in these cases, publishing the results of these investigations, and prosecuting those found to have violated the law.
ICSPR
