[wvns] Gazan student barred from studying overseas
Shin Bet security service bars Gazan from studying overseas
By Amira Hass <amira@haaretz.co.il>
Haaretz
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/892044.html
Around 150 Palestinian students applied for an academic scholarship
from Germany last year. Only six applicants made the cut, among them
Luay Kfafi, 24, a student atBirzeit University in the West Bank and
native of the al-Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. But Israel's
Shin Bet security service has barred him from traveling abroad.
Asked by Haaretz about Kfafi's case, the Shin Bet said that "there is
information allegedly linking him to terrorists," and therefore "under
the circumstances, his going abroad would appear to endanger national
security."
In the seven years he has lived in Ramallah, Kfafi has not been
arrested, detained or summoned for questioning by the Shin Bet. Last
June he even traveled to the Allenby Bridge, where the Shin Bet
routinely arrests or detains anyone suspected of posing a risk to
national security.
Kfafi was held up for hours, and told that a Gazan doesn't have a
chance of crossing and had better go to Gaza's Rafah crossing. But he
was not arrested, questioned or interrogated.
Kfafi enrolled in September 2000 to study mechanical engineering at
Birzeit, before he turned 18, and has proved an excellent student.
While studying for his master's degree over the past two years, he
also worked as a research assistant in the department and even taught
several introductory classes.
Dr. Helga Baumgarten, a teacher at Birzeit and director of the German
Academic Exchange Service information center, East Jerusalem, is
impressed by Kfafi's ability to excel at his studies under the
toughest conditions. Not only is he one of many children in a refugee
family that cannot afford to help him financially, but as a Gazan in
the West Bank, he has been separated from his kin for seven years, on
his own in a society that is based on family support.
He reached the West Bank through the safe passage, use of which was
suspended when the intifada broke out in late September 2000. The
Israeli authorities soon made it clear that any Gazans living in the
West Bank were "illegal residents," even if they had lived, worked and
started families there. Hundreds were deported to Gaza, while the rest
- like Kfafi - were careful not to move about more than necessary. For
years Kfafi's life was confined to the radius between his rented room
in the town of Birzeitand the university.
Last May, Kfafi filed an initial request to leave through the Allenby
Bridge. His request was rejected, with no explanation. The German
embassy intervened, applying to the office of the Coordinator of
Government Activities in the Territories to permit Kfafi to leave. The
embassy was told that Kfafi is an illegal resident in the West Bankand
must leave through Rafah. But going to Gaza would have placed him in
even more Kafkaesque situations, says attorney Noam Sela of Gisha -
Center for the Legal Protection of Freedom of Movement.
Kfafi cannot travel through Israel without a permit. He cannot apply
for that permit in the West Bank because he is considered an illegal
resident. Even were he to wrangle a permit somehow, the Rafah terminal
is closed for long periods and opens only for a few hours at a time.
He might have been stranded in Gaza for months.
After Hamas' takeover of Gaza in June shut down Rafah completely, the
Germans intervened again. This time Kfafi was granted permission to
leave, but it was retracted days later: The Shin Bet said Kfafi was
barred for security reasons. As usual in these matters, Kfafi has no
chance to disprove the allegations, so Gisha has taken up his case and
plans to pursue it in court.
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