Israel closes Palestinian university in East Jerusalem, indefinitely

A Palestinian man reads the notification of Israeli police to close the studies center of al-Quds University, in Jerusalem's Old City on October 01, 2013. Israeli police on Tuesday temporarily closed Al-Quds university offices in Jerusalem's Old City to prevent the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine from participating in a media conference organized by the Coalition for Jerusalem to urge the PA to stop negotiations with Israel. (Photo: Saeed Qaq/APA Images)

Member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and president of the Arab American University, Ali Abu Zuhri, Saturday denounced the Israeli closure of Hind Al-Husseini College in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, in occupied Jerusalem.

Israeli police reportedly shut down the educational facility until further notice, banned the holding of an academic conference, and detained 15 participants.

Abu Zuhri, in a statement, condemned this Israeli measure, maintaining that the Israeli occupation aims through such measures to obstruct the educational process and prevent the teaching of Palestinian curricula. He said Israeli authorities impose their own curriculum on several Palestinian schools and higher education facilities in occupied East Jerusalem at the expense of the development of Palestinian students’ own national awareness.

He slammed such measure as an attempt to impose new facts on the ground aimed at changing the cultural and historical identity of Jerusalem.

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