Students votes not to twin with Gaza uni

A motion to twin Warwick with the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) was put to debate as part of the Union’s spring referenda last Monday. However, after the votes were counted, the motion was not carried.

Those proposing the twinning, speakers Marie Sophie Pettersson, Kat Hobbs and Christos Symeou, argued that the proposal was essential to secure Gazan students’ right to education, as mandated in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Those opposing the twinning, Danny Schwarz and Daisy Abboudi, argued that the IUG is a branch of Hamas, a terrorist group, and serves as a training ground for the political and spiritual leadership of Hamas.

Opponents believed twinning would have created unacceptable ties to Hamas. Hamas was democratically elected to the government of Palestine, despite being classified as a terrorist group by many countries, including EU members and the United States. Its ideology is perceived to be anti-Semitic, extremist, anti-Western and homophobic.

A heated round of questioning asked opponents of the motion if there is any factual evidence that the University of Gaza stores weapons. It was asked if twinning with the university would be the best way of sharing resources with students in Gaza affected by the blockade.

Second year Israeli PPE student and President of the Israeli-Palestinian forum Alexander Siedes emphasised that he knows the intentions of the motion to be good, but that “at the IUG, Hamas uses the academic staff to spread hatred and racism.”

Siedes suggested that there are many other ways to support the education of Palestinians in Gaza, such as Students’ Union fund-raising for scholarships, constructing exchange programs, and conducting supplemental academic classes to students in Gaza on various topics by using
Skype conference.

Second year student Michael Hinchin, who served with the Israeli Defence Force for three years,
equated the motion with “twinning Warwick with Hamas, which is twinning Warwick with war and hatred. I am saying this because I have seen, at first hand, that this is true. If we can support any other university which is not in essence a terrorist group that would be more than welcomed.”

Campaigners for the motion argued that the Israeli blockade of Gaza has resulted in a humanitarian crisisand deprived Palestinian students of the fundamental right to education.

Pettersson, of the Friends of Palestine Society, says “One way of helping children and youth dealing with their trauma [as a result of ongoing Hamas violence], is to provide them with the right to a constructive education, which can empower them to cope with their trauma and achieve a brighter future.

“Importantly Warwick e-resources might help enlighten students at IUG about an open-minded view of different religions, cultures, nationalities.”

It was hoped a link with the IUG would be a humanitarian gesture of solidarity in addition to giving students far greater educational resources. The motion was supported by Amnesty International.

Ahmed Shedada, a fourth year medical student, clarifies “twinning with any University or student body in Palestine or Israel would be for humanitarian purposes, and would not constitute a political stance on the Palestine/Israel debate.”