Academic Freedom Stops at An-Najah's President

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

On August 21, 2011, I published an article titled “Between An-Najah’s Administration and Palestinian Justice,” in which I addressed the problem of students expelled from the university over unrest that had occurred there. The High Court of Justice ruled that the students should temporarily return to their seats in class, but the president of An-Najah University, Professor Rami Hamdallah, refused to implement the ruling, and then began searching for justifications for not implementing it. The substance of the article was that I criticized the university president for failing to implement the ruling, and I said that a nation that does not respect the law and court rulings is headed for ruin. I wrote that the university president’s conduct harms the university and its teaching staff, whose members constantly advise students of the necessity of respecting the law if society is to be governed by a sense of security.

The professor, the university president, accuses me of having insulted him, and I challenge anyone to show that my article contained any insult, abuse, or defamation.

On August 23, 2011, a statement was issued against me, full of insults and abuse, signed by the staff union loyal to the university administration, Fatah’s movement office, and the unelected student council. The statement did not address any substantive issue and carried no stated reason — it was nothing but insults and abuse. For example, the statement read: “Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem is considered one of the people most skilled at attempting to assassinate the achievements of An-Najah National University, by unleashing the fire of his black hatred on everything connected to and belonging to it. He has cast doubt on the scholarly level and academic competence of its professors, and hurled balls of his hatred at their dignity, describing them in more than one place as slaves, serfs, and vassals. He has branded their research and academic harvest and awards a farce, dismissing out of hand the reports of the world’s greatest scientific institutions.

He has also set about portraying the university’s students as a fifth column working in the service of collaborationist agencies (God forbid): Preventive Security and Palestinian Intelligence. They participate in squeezing him and confiscating his ambition to become the sole leader of the Palestinian people. He is the struggler who has drifted through and belonged to every current of Palestinian movements and parties, from right to left, from Sunni to Shia. And he has fought with nothing but the swords of insult and accusations of treason.”

To the prosecution and the court

The deputy prosecutor, or public prosecutor, in Nablus summoned me on Thursday, August 25, 2011, and questioned me regarding the article. He said the university president had filed a complaint against me, accusing me of: libel, defamation, and demeaning conduct against the university president; obstructing the course of justice by naming judges of the High Court of Justice; and working to stir up social strife because I had written about the children of “the concession-holders” and the children of “the masters.” As if he were suggesting there are no children of concession-holders and children of masters in Palestine, and that social justice reigns supreme, free of mediation, favoritism, or embezzlement.

The deputy prosecutor was unable to establish any charge against me, and I was clear in my answers. The deputy prosecutor tried to rely on interpretations, but I pointed out repeatedly that the judiciary does not go by interpretations but by texts. Nevertheless I was detained in prison. It was clear to me that the prosecution was working hard to secure a conviction, that they were determined to do so, and that they would work to detain me, especially since the interrogation continued until late in the working hours of Thursday. The choice of Thursday was not accidental, but deliberate, in order to keep me detained through Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

I was separated from my lawyer because the police held me in the prosecution’s cell. About half an hour later I was transferred to the court, where I saw the lawyer. I appeared before the judge at 2:05 p.m., and the prosecution requested my detention for fifteen days pending investigation. It was the lawyer’s turn to respond, but the judge stopped him because he could not find my power of attorney in the file. We were surprised that my authorization for the lawyer was not in the file — it had been withdrawn. The judge then asked me to speak, so I objected to the prosecution’s request, but the judge decided to detain me for fifteen days.

I was led off to prison, while the lawyer rushed off searching for the power of attorney and found it in the deputy prosecutor’s office. He hastily prepared a request for release, but the judge refused to sign it, saying he would sign it on Sunday. And so I spent three nights in the foul, overcrowded civilian prison. The lawyer submitted the request for release on Sunday, but was surprised to find that the investigation file was not in the case file — it had been withdrawn. The judge postponed the case to the following day. It became clear that various parties were trying to keep me in prison past the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

The media uproar and political intervention

Meanwhile, the media uproar was expanding and taking on ever greater scope. Numerous media outlets, at home and abroad, Arab and non-Arab, took an interest in the matter, and their fingers pointed toward the Authority. Many media outlets broadcast the news that an academic had been detained because he criticized the university president, while others treated the matter analytically, and most of them pointed an accusing finger at the Palestinian Authority.

Dr. Salam Fayyad intervened with the university president to drop the case, but he refused, so Mr. Mahmoud Abbas issued an order for my release, at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, August 28, 2011. Palestinian media outlets broadcast the news of my release as a political decision, but the Attorney General, Ahmad al-Maghni, denied this, saying that I left prison by judicial decision, and that the President of the Palestinian Authority does not interfere in the judiciary. The truth is that I left prison by a political decision, and my lawyer appeared before the court on Monday, August 29, 2011, and submitted a request for release to the judge. The court called me to attend the session, but I did not go.

Something similar had happened before, in 2000, when the High Court of Justice ruled for my release while I was detained, but Arafat refused to implement the ruling. This time, however, doubts surrounded the judicial process, so the political level decided to intervene.

Suspension from work

I found at home a letter signed by the university president suspending me from work and summoning me to appear before a disciplinary board. The university has deducted about $1,200 from my August salary, and I no longer receive a salary now. I am attaching a copy of the decision, which specifies no duration and refers to no particular date.

On September 5, 2011, I wrote to the university president refuting his claim, in accordance with the regulations in force at the university. I am still considering filing a case against the university, even though confidence in the judiciary is shaken.

On August 25, 2011, I filed a complaint against those who issued the statement against me on August 23, 2011, and this served as a test of the prosecution’s conduct, since it did not summon those complained against. My summons was almost immediate when the university president complained against me, but the delay in handling my complaint was obvious.

The media campaign

I came out of prison to find a broad media campaign against the administration of An-Najah National University. I received my share of media attention, but most of the arrows were directed against the university administration. I found the internet, particularly Facebook, full of comments and reactions. Seven pages were opened on Facebook in my favor, and one page was opened against me. But the difference was substantial in terms of the quality of the comments. The page opposing me was consumed with abuse and insults, while the pages supporting me were occupied with commenting on the information presented. Among those who stood with me, some resorted to insults, but they found a clear position among most of my supporters that insults should not be used.

The media campaign extended to Palestinian and non-Palestinian human rights organizations, and I did not find a single organization taking the side of the university administration, because my article criticizing the university administration did not depart from proper form and adhered to a factual account. My assessment is that the university administration and those who backed it did not fully appreciate the media and rights-based mobilization that could be marshaled on my behalf.

The resolution

Counselor Osama Hassan al-Touri, head of the World Encyclopedia of Excellence, based in Paris, undertook mediation, which concluded with an agreement reading as follows:

Given the misunderstanding that arose between Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem and An-Najah National University in recent days, and the various statements issued in the media that followed, and the attempt by some to exploit this misunderstanding, exaggerate the problem, and manipulate it.

And based on the generous intervention of His Excellency Counselor Osama Hassan al-Touri, Secretary-General of the World Encyclopedia of Excellence and Civilization, based in Paris, and out of concern for the academic and administrative interests of the university, Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem announces the halting and ending of all media campaigns and statements, past and future, and on this basis all the problems and disputes that have arisen shall be resolved within the regulations and laws in force.

The agreement entailed the necessity of reversing certain practical steps already taken. I would halt the media campaign and withdraw the complaint against the members of the staff union, the university would reverse the steps it had taken regarding my employment there, and the university president would drop the complaint he had filed against me. I carried out immediately what was required of me, but the university administration has not taken any of the steps required of it to this day. I am still waiting for the university’s steps.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “توقف الحرية الأكاديمية عند رئيس جامعة النجاح” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.