In its war on Palestinian students, Israel deems book fairs and falafel sales a crime
From campus raids to dubious indictments, Israel s persecution of Palestinian students aims to suppress political activism in West Bank universities.
Palestinian students attend their graduation ceremony at the Birzeit University near the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 16, 2013. (Issam Rimawi/Flash90)
Two years ago, in March 2018, Israel arrested Omar al-Kiswani, the head of Birzeit University’s student union, in broad daylight. Undercover Israeli security agents dressed as Palestinian students and journalists, known in Hebrew as
mista‘revim, violently arrested him on campus and dragged him into their vehicle, which was parked at the entrance to the university, while firing tear gas everywhere.