The Global Campus of Human Rights, the world’s largest institution of postgraduate human rights education with 8 regional programmes across the Arab world, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Southeast Europe and Europe, issues this statement with profound concern and condemnation regarding the recent events that occurred on 6 January 2026 at one of its members, Birzeit University.
We have received with alarm reports that the Israeli army raided the Campus of Birzeit University in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, using live ammunition and rubber bullets. At least 11 students are reported wounded and the Vice-President was detained and interrogated. The use of military force within a university, a sanctuary of learning and intellectual discourse, is an unacceptable violation of the fundamental right to education, academic freedom and university autonomy.
Universities must be places where ideas are discussed openly, and where students learn and express themselves in an environment free from fear and intimidation. The right to peaceful assembly is an integral part of academic freedom. The autonomy of academic institutions and the physical inviolability of their campuses are fundamental to the realisation of their mission. Any infringement upon these fundamental rights harms the global network of universities and organisations that upholds the advancement of human rights and democracy.
We stand in solidarity with Birzeit University, a member university of the Global Campus of Human Rights and a founding member of the Arab Master’s Programme in Democracy and Human Rights, with its leadership, its faculty, its staff and its students.
We call for a full, transparent and independent investigation into the circumstances that led to the military operation on campus and the injuries sustained, and accountability for those responsible for the disproportionate use of force. At the same time, we call on the Government of Israel to respect and protect the autonomy, safety and academic freedom of all higher education institutions in the Palestinian Occupied Territories in accordance with its international obligations. Any future intrusion of a similar nature should be viewed as a violation of human rights by which the Government of Israel has agreed to be legally bound.