International conference on “Gaza-Palestine: Out of the Margins”

BZU President, Dr. Khalil Hindi, opened on the 1st October 2010, the two-day International Conference on "Gaza - Palestine: Out of margins", organized by the Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies (IALIIS), attended by with the Commissioner General of UNRWA, Filippo Grandi, Professor Sara Roy from Harvard University, Minister of Labor, Dr. Ahmed Majdalani, as well as the Canadian and Austrian Representatives to the Palestinian National Authority, the Moroccan ambassador to the Palestinian Authority, and a number of academics from inside and outside the country.

Dr.. Hindi affirmed that the conference aims to encourage thinking about the situation reached by the Palestinians and the status of Gaza, "the land and people". This conference came mainly to bridge the gap, sensed by any onc concerned in Palestinian affairs

He added: BZU has always sought to encourage credible and free scientific research in Palestine,  and seeks to have a leading role on the national, regional and international  level.

He pointed out: thinking about Gaza is not thinking about others, but about the self, it is thinking in one Palestinian identity, and according to the late Mahmoud Darwish, the identity is not fully-shaped,  because "the identity is: what we bequeath and not what we inherit, it is  what we invent and not what we remember. " .

The Director of IALIIS, Dr. Asem Khalil, explained that this conference does not address Hamas or Fatah, not about the Palestinian Authority, nor the dismissed government. It is about Palestine, and the Palestinians, and about a state in which thinking of part of the homeland became source of suspicion and query.

He pointed out that this conference comes within a series of activities, organized by the Forced Migration and Refugee Unit at IALIIS, funded by the International Development Research Centre, which is the sole sponsor of this conference.

Dr. Khalil everyone thanked all those who contributed in effort and time to the foundations of this Unit, which resulted in the development of a new major in the Master's Program in International Studies that deals with forced migration and refugees, which makes Birzeit University occupy a leading position, not only on the level of Palestine, but also on the level of the Arab world , such a major is the first of its kind in Palestine, since it deals with  asylum, migration and displacement, which is of vital importance  for the millions of Palestinians.

On the other hand, Mr. Grandi applauded prestigious standing and good reputation of BZU, stressing BZU's commitment to excellence and progress. He overviewed UNRWA's vision, which aims to promote human development in Gaza Strip, especially that Gaza is now characterized by the many years of conflict, and has become a model for suffering and misery.He added: 60% of the population of Gaza are below the poverty line, while 80% of the population dependent on aid, and last month the poverty rate of students in Gaza's schools exceeded 30%, not to mention the fact that 1.5 million people are living in this part in which they are deprived of interacting with the outside world.

Mr. Grandi emphasized the importance of the human factor for human development, especially that UNRWA is working on this component through the provision of employment opportunities, or through educational programs that aim to introduce refugees' potential and respect for human rights, in addition to offering new job opportunities for women , along with the summer program, which brought together thousands of the Gazans.Grandi explained that the international community bears responsibility towards those refugees as stipulated in international law, since the refugees are a fact and we cannot ignore their role, emphasizing the need not to leave Gaza on the margin in light of the considerable difficulties experienced by the Gazans, appealing to the need to end the division and conduct a national reconciliation among the Palestinians.

Professor Sara Roy from Harvard University confirmed that Gaza continued to resist despite its vulnerability in terms of the Israeli policies of land confiscation and settlement expansion, as well as other forms of military control. This came during the first session of the second day of the conference, chaired by the faculty member of history at BZU,  Dr. Roger Heacock.

Roy's intervention titled:: "the shrinking land - Reflections on the Gazan landscape," in which she described the current situation of the Gazans is getting worse day after day.

She explained that Israel wishes to get rid of its responsibility towards Gaza Strip, while maintaining absolute control,  at a time when Israel intends to declare Gaza as an independent entity, obstructing the establishment of a Palestinian state