Amusing Tales of Palestinian Corruption

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem issued a statement calling for action to improve conditions at An-Najah National University, after gunfire was opened inside the campus. On 25 February 2004, a fight broke out among some students, during which shots were fired inside the campus during teaching hours. In his statement, the Doctor noted that weapons had been entering the university for years and being used for intimidation and extortion, and that, because of misguided conduct, the university was turning into something resembling the Beirut Arab University of the 1970s.

The university administration was displeased with the statement, and sent Dr. Abd al-Sattar a letter carrying a kind of reprimand. It is worth noting that not a single member of the university council defended Dr. Qassem’s position; all of them took refuge in silence, fearful for their own posts. This, even though many student groups constantly issue statements, some sweet in tone and some bitter, without anyone ever objecting. But it seems that the Doctor’s statement, carrying genuine national concern and built on a scholarly argument, struck a nerve with the factional administration beholden to Arafat.

What follows is the text of the Doctor’s statement, and the text of the university administration’s letter:

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

28 February 2004

From Beirut Arab [University] to An-Najah National [University]

(A Weapon Against the Homeland)

A number of colleagues at An-Najah National University will recall the repeated warnings they have been given about what could become of the university if certain negative aspects were allowed to take hold within it. They were told, in so many words, that the university could well witness what Beirut Arab University witnessed in the 1970s of the last century. Certain elements of the Palestinian revolution brought weapons into the university and into the classrooms, and the university, along with its grades and its degrees, became politicized. The university was ruined, and it no longer served Lebanon or the Arabs.

It is known that weapons have been entering An-Najah University for many years now, but it is the kind of weapon the occupation neither searches for nor cares about. Weapons carried openly and arrogantly, for nothing but intimidating citizens, pose no threat to the occupation and cause it no harm. Matters grew worse still with the arrival of the Authority and the multiplication of security services. Weapons came within reach of many hands, particularly those not engaged in any national work.

…-sisted on politicizing institutions at the expense of professionalism and the public interest. Administrative posts are handed out according to political affiliation, and a number of armed men, or those affiliated with the security services, have grown ever more entrenched within institutions. Private interests, personal whims, factionalism, and lies have all come together to hurl us, and our institutions, into ruin. And in the end, no one lacks for hollow, resounding slogans to cover things up, to hide behind, and to justify the collapse.

And just as happened at Beirut Arab University, the same is happening to us, and across our various educational institutions. Weapons enter with the greatest of ease, and gunfire rings out; the political faction interferes with grades, as do connections and favoritism, and it is no longer strange for an official to call you trying to talk you out of recording a grade, or to raise one, or for a political leader to call you, and so on. A great dysfunction is spreading, and in the end it is the people and the homeland who pay the price.

So that matters may be set right, even partially, I put forward the following:

First: responsibilities within the university must rest on professional, not political, foundations; and the faculty must stand up boldly and courageously in defense of the university. Passivity does harm to everyone;

Second: all factions, parties, and individuals ought to understand that scholarly achievement, built on sound foundations, shortens the road toward the liberation of Palestine. Scholarly achievement rises above political polarization;

Third: suspending classes must be forbidden except in the most extreme emergencies threatening people’s lives; festivals and celebrations, meanwhile, ought to be held outside class hours, or in enclosed spaces that do not disrupt the ordinary course of classes;

Fourth: the university’s regulations ought to be modernized and implemented to the letter, with the necessity of having a non-politicized legal authority to oversee their application; and it is important that the requirements of the educational system be raised and intensified;

Fifth: there ought to be a system of reward and punishment that treats teachers, students, and administrators on the basis of professionalism and the scholarly ethics recognized within the international scientific and academic community. Through our own ethics and our own perseverance, we can stand at the forefront.

Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

As for the text of the administration’s letter, it reads as follows:

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “من طرائف الفساد الفلسطيني” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.