An Open Letter to US State Secretary, Condoleezza Rice

2008-06-14T23:52:00.000-07:00

To: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

U.S. Department of State

2201 C Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20520

secretary@state.gov

June 14, 2008

Subject:

Dear Secretary Rice,

We write you this letter in your capacity as the US Department of State Secretary, whose department is the guardian of the Fulbright Foreign Student Program and whose country is a highly effective player in the middle east and is assumed to play a positive role in peace disseminate and human rights protection in the area. We highly appreciate your position you declared in Iceland: " I am a huge supporter of Fulbrights. I am a big supporter of Fulbrights for people in places that have been isolated." and we ask you to extend your support for all students trapped in Gaza.

We were very pleased to hear the news of Fulbright Grants reinstatement for the Gazan grantees but unfortunately, this pleasure demolished when three out of seven were denied to get exit permits. We expected very huge efforts to be exerted on this issue specifically,but no tangible progress have been made. Now the three Fulbrighters joined the other 700 deprived students who are waiting for an Israeli decision to let them travel to universities and colleges abroad where they intend to pursue academic studies.

Hundreds of students have been trapped in Gaza for more than a year and have been prevented from studying in USA, UK, Germany, Jordan and many other countries. The future of all these students is threatened due to the unfair blockade policy Israel is imposing on the Gaza Strip. Some of whom have lost their university acceptance, while others had their scholarships canceled, and others are desperate that they will not be able to pursue graduate studies since they missed their universities attendance deadlines. . In addition to psychological effects students are suffering from finding their dreams and future plans are vanishing due to the closure pain.

Insisting on our right to access to education, we – trapped Gaza students –announce establishing and launching this committee, The Committee of Gaza Students Deprived From Travelling Abroad, calling for the following:

1- Demanding all local and international human rights bodies to take their roles to condemn Israeli inhuman practices against students and to push towards finding an immediate just solution for all trapped students to facilitate their exit to study abroad.

2- Considering the trapped students issue as a purely humanitarian issue, far from political struggles and tensions.

3- Seeking support and sympathy from all freedom-loving people and education right supporters all over the world, particularly academic professors and students in academic institutions in USA, Europe andother countries.

We appeal to you, as the State Secretary of the closest ally to Israel, to practice more diplomatic intervention on Israel to convince it to facilitate the exit of the trapped students, the Fulbrighters and the others, and to push it to implement the recommendation of The Israeli Supreme Court Justices to reverse the students banning policy. It is considered unlawful collective punishment and unjustified behavior to prevent civilian students from pursuing academic degreesin their respective fields. Such banning is against the human right to access to education and the freedom of learning also it is also against all the democracy principles that US is promoting and calling for in the Middle East. We believe that education should be dignified and kept apart from all political and militant conflicts since education is the bedrock of the sought Palestinian State that the USAdministration is working with both sides to get it established in reality. Palestinian State can in no way be established without its youth be educated and qualified to contribute in the route of development. This is supported by your words: "If you cannot engage young people and give complete horizons to their expectations and their dreams, I do not know that there would be any future for Palestine."

We hope this letter will gain your kind consideration and have an effective impact on your current visit agenda until this crucial dilemma has an efficient solution.

Sincerely yours,

Deprived Gaza Students Committee

Email: deprived.gaza.students@gmail.com

Web: http://www.deprived-gaza-students.blogspot.com/

Mobile: +972-59-8883052