Between An-Najah's Administration and the Palestinian Judiciary

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

An American professor from the University of Chicago wrote to me asking about the story of four Palestinian students expelled by the administration of An-Najah National University. He said he had heard that the Palestinian High Court had ruled that the students should return to their seats in class, temporarily, until the case was fully heard. But the university administration did not carry out the ruling, the teachers had no say, and the students kept silent. He added that whoever does such a thing does not deserve to have a state.

I was working at the time at Al-Quds University, but I gathered information on this matter, and here I present it briefly. In April 2010, the administration of An-Najah National University permanently expelled a number of students because of riots that had taken place at the university. The students denied the charge, and decided to turn to the Palestinian judiciary to have the university administration’s decision annulled — a decision that, according to the statement of claim, was made by the university president and the board of deans — and to secure their return to their seats in class. The students turned to the High Court of Justice on the advice of lawyers, since the High Court has jurisdiction. It should be noted that the students did not go to the court together, but separately. They asked the court to issue an order suspending enforcement of the decision.

The court issued, by majority, temporary rulings in late May and early June 2010, ruling that the students should return to their seats in class temporarily, on the grounds of irreparable harm that might otherwise befall them, and this was read publicly in the name of the people in the presence of the agent, Mr. Shukri al-Nashashibi. The bench was composed of Judge Iman Nasser Eddin as presiding judge, with Judges Rafiq Zahd and Salah Manna’ as members.

It was also decided, in accordance with Articles (286, 278, 288) of the Civil and Commercial Procedure Law No. 2 of 2001, to summon the respondent party to state the grounds for the contested decision, or … from issuing the decision that is the subject of the request. And that, should it object to the issuance of a final ruling, it submit a reply within fifteen days of the date of notification, and a session was set for Wednesday, 7/7/2010, as the date for hearing the case, and that the two parties be notified of the statement of claim and its attachments, the temporary decision issued in it, and the date of the session.

The university administration refused to carry out the ruling, even though the university president, a professor, is a member of the Central Elections Commission and fully understands the importance of respecting the judiciary. In this refusal there is something that harms the university and its reputation, and harms its teaching staff, who insist on good scholarly performance and always tell the students that nations which do not respect the judiciary are doomed to ruin.

…Nasser Eddin had come under pressure to change her positions, but she refused, and so was replaced. This is a matter that needs clarification from the judge herself, as to whether that is true or not. What matters here is that the court bench decided that the High Court of Justice does not have jurisdiction. Where do the students go after that? If the High Court of Justice, which issued a temporary ruling, is not competent to hear this case, then which body is competent? This is a strange thing.

The two students, Ahmad Atta Ahmad Yousef Abu Sattouh and Nimr Mohammed Sami Abd Rabbo, both residents of the Balata refugee camp, then went to the Attorney General with a complaint against the university president and against the members of the board of deans, each named individually, on 5 June 2010. The complaint sat in the Attorney General’s drawers for several months. Here I recall how the Attorney General moved a complaint against me immediately — and lost it — while he waits about a year or less before moving this case. The subject of the complaint was violation of measures issued by the courts, contrary to Article 473 of the Penal Code; and abuse of authority and obstruction of the execution of a judicial decision and court orders, contrary to Article 182/2 of the Penal Code. The case remains before the court to this day.

The two students are armed with a letter from the university’s security director stating that the two students had no connection to the riots that occurred, and with a letter from Palestinian Intelligence stating the same thing. But the problem is that these two students, as it appears, are sons of the common folk (“al-maqati’”), not sons of the notables. And since the case involves influential people and men of power, justice finds itself in a bind. The two students, moreover, contacted the offices of Mr. Mahmoud Abbas and Dr. Salam Fayyad. I have learned that Dr. Fayyad expressed his astonishment at the matter, but he did nothing visible to the public.

Here I am not the one to decide acquittal or conviction, since that is a matter for the judiciary, but I say that a nation which does not respect its laws and its covenants grows weak, and its enemies gain dominance over it, and that those who do not respect the judiciary threaten the nation’s fate.

The Problem

The problem is not in this case alone, because the matter recurs; rather, it lies in a people who see injustice, corruption, and recklessness toward the homeland, and do not act. Many officials see themselves as above the judiciary and above justice, and perhaps wish to install themselves as gods or emperors, and they see that intellectuals do not act, and that the Palestinian youth movement is, to a large extent, non-existent. They see people as compliant toward them, and so they come to believe things about themselves that justify their sense of superiority and their subjugation of the people.

All the documents related to the case are available with me, and I will not withhold them from anyone

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “بين إدارة النجاح والقضاء الفلسطيني” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.