The File of the Dispute with the University

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 classes temporarily until the case was resolved, but that the university administration had not implemented the ruling, that the teachers had no say in the matter, and that the students remained silent. He added that whoever does such a thing does not deserve to have a state.

I was working at Al-Quds University at the time, but I gathered information on this matter, and I present it here briefly. On 4 April 2010, the administration of An-Najah National University permanently expelled a number of students over acts of unrest that occurred on campus. The students denied the charge and decided to turn to the Palestinian judiciary to overturn the university administration’s decision — the defendants, according to the statement of claim, being the university president and the board of deans — and to secure their return to their classes. The students went to the High Court of Justice on the advice of their lawyers, since the High Court has jurisdiction over such matters. Note that the students did not go to the court together but separately. They asked the court to issue an order suspending implementation of the decision.

The court, by majority, issued interim rulings in late May and early June 2010 ordering the students’ temporary return to their classes, on the grounds of irreparable harm that might otherwise befall them. The ruling was read publicly in the name of the people in the presence of the attorney, Mr. Shukri al-Nashashibi. The bench was composed of Judge Iman Nasr al-Din as presiding judge, with Judges Rafiq Zuhd and Salah Mana’a as members.

It was also decided, in accordance with Articles 286, 278, and 288 of Civil and Commercial Procedure Law No. 2 of 2001, to summon the respondent to state the grounds justifying the contested decision or… [to explain] the issuance of the decision that was the subject of the request — so that, if it objected to the issuance of a final ruling, it could submit a responding statement within fifteen days of notification, with a session set for Wednesday, 7 July 2010, as the date for hearing the case, and notifying the parties of the statement of claim, its attachments, the interim ruling issued in it, and the date of the session.

The university administration refused to implement the ruling, even though the university president himself was a member of the Central Elections Commission and was fully aware of 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 who always tell students that nations that do not respect the judiciary are destined for ruin.

Through my research, I found that Judge Iman Nasr al-Din did not complete the case, and the bench came to be presided over by Judge Mahmoud Hammad instead. From what I heard, there is a strong possibility that Judge Iman Nasr al-Din came under pressure to change her position, but refused, and so was replaced. This is a matter that needs clarification from the judge herself, as to whether it is true or not. What matters here is that the bench decided that the High Court of Justice did not have jurisdiction.

Where do the students go from there? If the High Court of Justice, which had issued an interim ruling, is not competent to hear this case, then which body is? This is a strange affair.

The two students, Ahmad Atta Ahmad Yousef Abu Sultah and Nimr Muhammad Sami Abd Rabbo, both residents of 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 immediately against a complaint filed against me — and lost it — while he waited about a year, or less, before acting on this case. The substance of the complaint was: violating measures issued by the courts, contrary to Article 473 of the Penal Code; and abuse of power and obstruction of the implementation 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 arm themselves with a letter from the university’s head of security stating that they had nothing to do with the unrest that occurred, and with a letter from Palestinian intelligence saying the same thing. But the problem is that these two students, it seems, are sons of the “cut-off ones” [a derogatory term for people without powerful connections], not sons of the notables. And since the case involves people with influence and power, justice finds itself constrained. The two students also reached out to the offices of Mr. Mahmoud Abbas and Dr. Salam Fayyad. I learned that Dr. Fayyad expressed his surprise at the matter, but he did nothing visible about it.

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 that does not respect its laws and its charters grows weak, and its enemies gain power over it, and that those who do not respect the judiciary threaten the nation’s fate.

The Problem

The problem is not confined to this one case, because the matter keeps recurring — the real problem 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 enthrone themselves as gods or emperors, and they see that intellectuals do not move, and that Palestinian youth activism is largely absent. They see people flattering them, and so they come to believe things about themselves that justify their sense of superiority and their subjugation of others.

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

A statement distributed at An-Najah University against Abdul-Sattar Kassem

31 August 2011

I am distributing the text of the statement issued against me at An-Najah National University and on various media outlets on 23 August 2011, signed by:

The Employees’ Union of An-Najah National University

The Student Council of An-Najah National University

The Fatah Movement Office at An-Najah National University

This is the text exactly as it appears in the original, including the errors it contains, which are present in the original text itself. I am distributing it to people so that they may see the level of this statement, and the difference between it and my article, which spoke of the university president’s failure to comply with the ruling of the High Court of Justice.

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Important Statement

An-Najah National University is considered a shining beacon in the march of the Palestinian people and its determined journey toward freedom, excellence, and creativity. Since its founding in 1918 to this day, it has succeeded in being a national, intellectual, and academic cradle. It has managed to establish its roots and its presence across the length and breadth of the homeland, until its very existence and success became a shining proof of this people’s capacity to give and to struggle, despite the difficulty and darkness of the path.

Tied to it is the birth of the very names and words of resistance, siege, victory, struggle, youth, and national unity. All its people — administration, staff, and students — painted the seven colors of the rainbow: success, excellence, authenticity, love, solidarity, dignity, and pride. It became a home for all Palestinians, until the martyr Yasser Arafat called it “the first university of Palestine.”

Throughout its journey of success and its story of struggle, some troublemakers have sought to obstruct its confident steps forward, driven by their grudges, their delusions, their private interests, and their bank accounts, and by their persistent attempts to score failed victories in front of microphones and satellite television screens.

Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem is considered one of the people most skilled at trying 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, hurling balls of his hatred at their dignity when he described them, in more than one place, as slaves, serfs, and vassals. He labeled their scholarly and research achievements and awards a “farce,” dismissing outright the reports of the world’s leading scientific institutions.

He has taken to portraying the university’s students as a “fifth column” working in the service of collaborationist agencies (God forbid): Preventive Security and Palestinian Intelligence, participating in pressuring him and thwarting his ambition to become the sole leader of the Palestinian people. He is the “fighter” who has drifted through and belonged to every stripe of Palestinian movement and party, from right to left, from Sunni to Shia, and who has fought with nothing but the swords of insult and accusations of treason.

A conspiratorial mindset has taken up residence in his mind, so that he divides his students, according to their closeness to him, into patriots and agents, and organizes his relations with them, and their grades, on this basis. He has come to believe that their pens are recording microphones and their notebooks are cameras. He divides their origins into refugee camps, villages, cities, and rural areas, thereby sowing the seeds of discord in the university’s courtyards and lecture halls.

The silence of the union and student institutions at An-Najah National University over Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem’s transgressions has, by itself, reached its limit. His branding of the university community as traitors, and his insults toward it, in service of his own financial and political portfolio, must be brought to a stop. His attempt to tamper with the fate and future of the most important scientific and educational institution in Palestine must end, immediately and forever.

On this basis, we call on the administration of An-Najah National University — foremost among them the board of trustees and deans, as well as the university presidency — to take up their historic role and put an immediate end to Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem’s transgressions.

As soon as the new academic year begins, we will hold civilized sit-ins in the places where he is present, surrounding him and preventing him from delivering lectures of insult and abuse. We will also organize mass marches to the institutions of the Authority in Nablus and Ramallah, under the slogan “No to insult, treason-mongering, and takfir.” The time has come for whoever describes his own state as treasonous, his people’s institutions as brothels, its universities as pens, its judges and courts as a farce, and its security services as agents, to be held accountable under the law. The time has also come for everyone to know that Palestine is above all, and that An-Najah National University, and the future and reputation of its students and staff, is a red line that cannot be crossed.

O God, we have delivered [this message]; O God, bear witness.

Failed in Architectural Engineering: In Defense of An-Najah

Abdul-Sattar Kassem

23 August 2011

The name of a student who had not had the good luck to do well in his general secondary exams appeared on the list of those accepted into the Architectural Engineering program at An-Najah National University. The list at the time included fifty names, and this student held place number 43. I called officials, and others called as well, to inquire about the matter and who was responsible for it. We found no answer.

The university president appeared at a press conference and spoke about the matter, laying responsibility on outside forces made up of students who had been expelled from the university. This is an unacceptable justification. I would not have needed to write about this subject had responsibility been assigned and had those who did it been punished. Expelled students do not register new students, do not administer exams for Architectural Engineering, and do not receive applications from secondary-school graduates. Who is responsible for this act? And who ordered such an act? Would a dean, acting of his own free will, dare to do such a thing? Would the head of the Architectural Engineering department dare to commit such an error? Or did the orders come from elsewhere?

Such an act reflects badly on An-Najah National University and on its teaching and administrative staff. I heard comments in the Palestinian street that would make a university professor shrink with shame, and would make one’s brow sweat. One person commented, saying: “You are first in everything — may God greatly reward you.”

I had previously published an article, two days before the date of this article, about the university administration’s failure to comply with the ruling of the High Court of Justice, and a statement was issued against me, signed by the An-Najah student council, the employees’ union, and the Fatah framework at the university. I had also previously criticized the smuggling of weapons into the university, and a statement was issued against me accusing me of stirring up strife. Weapons kept coming into the university until a student was killed inside the campus. I was in the right, and the authors of the statement were in the wrong.

…I call on everyone not to behave in the manner of the Arab regimes, and I call on them not to turn a blind eye to, or go easy on, such transgressions, because in that lies the destruction of society and the weakening of the Palestinian people. I say to those who issue statements that silence in the face of injustice is a greater injustice, and that whoever wants good for the homeland must not defer to private interests or the power of an official. I say that statements do not stand up against documents — statements are scattered by the wind, while documents remain forever. I say to those who issue statements full of abuse and insult that they know full well about the transgressions that occur, and some of them take part in them. These are transgressions that harm the university and everyone who works in it. I hope no one tries to outbid me on the question of the university’s standing, because through my articles and research published on the university’s website, I have contributed more than anyone else to bringing large numbers of visitors to that website — my articles in 2010 alone received about 60,000 reads. So where are you now, you who hurl insults?

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Press Statement (the text of the agreement reached between Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem and An-Najah National University, signed by the mediator, Mr. Osama al-Touri). Present at the agreement session, in addition to Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem and Dr. Rami Hamdallah, the university president, were board of trustees members Dr. Nihad al-Masri and Dr. Hani al-Nabulsi, and Judge Imad Salim.

9/9/2011

8:00 p.m.

Given the misunderstanding that occurred between Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem and An-Najah National University in recent days, and the various statements subsequently issued in the media, and attempts by some to exploit this misunderstanding, inflate the problem, and manipulate it —

And based on the generous intervention of the esteemed 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 disputes and disagreements that arose will be resolved within the applicable regulations and laws.

Counselor Osama bin Hassan al-Touri

Secretary-General of the World Encyclopedia of Excellence and Civilization

Academic Freedom Stops at the President of An-Najah University

Abdul-Sattar Kassem, Professor

On 21 August 2011, I published an article titled “Between the An-Najah Administration and the Palestinian Judiciary,” in which I addressed the problem of students expelled from the university over unrest that had occurred on campus. The High Court of Justice ruled that the students should return temporarily to their classes, 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 the non-implementation, and said that a nation that does not respect the law and court rulings is destined for ruin. I wrote that the university president’s conduct harms the university and its teaching staff, whose members always advise students of the need to respect the law if society is to be governed by a sense of security.

The university president accuses me of insulting him, and I challenge anyone to find any insult, offense, or defamation in my article.

A statement was issued against me on 23 August 2011, full of insults and abuse, signed by the employees’ union loyal to the university administration, the Fatah movement office, and the unelected student council. The statement did not address any substantive issue, and carried no reasoned justification — it was nothing but insults and abuse. For example, the statement reads: “Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem is considered one of the people most skilled at trying 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, hurling balls of his hatred at their dignity when he described them, in more than one place, as slaves, serfs, and vassals. He labeled their scholarly and research achievements and awards a ‘farce,’ dismissing outright the reports of the world’s leading scientific institutions.

He has taken to portraying the university’s students as a ‘fifth column’ working in the service of collaborationist agencies (God forbid): Preventive Security and Palestinian Intelligence, participating in pressuring him and thwarting his ambition to become the sole leader of the Palestinian people. He is the ‘fighter’ who has drifted through and belonged to every stripe of Palestinian movement and party, from right to left, from Sunni to Shia, and who 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, 25 August 2011, and interrogated me about the article. He said that the university president had filed a complaint against me and accused me of: libel, defamation, and contempt against the university president; obstructing the course of justice by naming the judges of the High Court of Justice; and stirring up social strife because I had written about the sons of “the cut-off ones” and the sons of the notables — as if to suggest that there are no sons of the cut-off and sons of the notables in Palestine, and that social justice is the master of the situation, 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 repeatedly pointed out that the judiciary does not go by interpretations but by texts. Despite this, I was detained, or held, in prison. It was clear to me that the prosecution was working hard to secure a conviction, that it was determined to do so, and that it would work to have me detained, especially since the interrogation continued until late in the working hours of Thursday. The choice of Thursday was no accident — it was deliberate, so as to detain me in prison through Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

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

I was taken to prison, while my lawyer rushed off searching for the power of attorney and found it in the office of the deputy prosecutor. He quickly 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. My lawyer submitted the request for release on Sunday, but was surprised to find that the investigation file was missing from 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 a life of its own. Numerous media outlets, at home and abroad, Arab and non-Arab, took interest in the matter, with fingers pointed at the Authority. Many media outlets broadcast the news that an academic had been detained for criticizing the university president, while other outlets analyzed the matter, most of them pointing an accusing finger at the Palestinian Authority.

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

This had happened once before, in the year 2000, when the High Court of Justice ordered my release while I was detained, but Arafat refused to implement the ruling; this time, however, the judiciary itself was riddled with questions, 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 council. The university deducted about $1,200 from my salary for the month of August, and I now have no salary at all. I am attaching a copy of the decision, which specifies no duration and no particular date.

I wrote to the university president on 5 September 2011, refuting his claims according to the university’s own applicable regulations. I am still considering filing a case against the university, even though confidence in the judiciary has been badly shaken.

On 25 August 2011, I filed a complaint against those who issued the statement against me on 23 August 2011 — this served as a test of the prosecution’s conduct, since it did not summon those against whom the complaint was filed. My own summons had come almost immediately when the university president complained about me, while the wasting of time was plain to see when it came to my complaint.

The Media Campaign

I got out of prison to find a wide-ranging media campaign against the administration of An-Najah National University. I received my share of the media campaign, but most of the arrows were directed against the university administration. I found the internet, Facebook in particular, filled with comments and reactions. Seven Facebook pages were opened in my support, while one was opened against me. But the difference was significant in terms of the quality of the comments. The page opposing me was preoccupied with abuse and insults, while the pages supporting me were occupied with commenting on the information presented. Among those who stood with me, some used insults, but most of those who supported me took a clear position that insults should not be used.

The media campaign extended to Palestinian and non-Palestinian human rights associations, and I did not find a single association standing on the side of the university administration, because my article criticizing the university administration did not depart from proper conduct and adhered to recounting the facts. My assessment is that the university administration and those who supported it did not fully appreciate the media and rights-based mobilization that could be marshaled on my behalf.

The Solution

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

Given the misunderstanding that occurred between Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem and An-Najah National University in recent days, and the various statements subsequently issued in the media, and attempts by some to exploit this misunderstanding, inflate the problem, and manipulate it —

And based on the generous intervention of the esteemed 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 disputes and disagreements that arose will be resolved within the applicable regulations and laws.

The agreement entailed the need to walk back practical steps that had already been taken. I would halt the media campaign and withdraw the complaint against the members of the employees’ union, the university would walk back its measures regarding my work there, and the university president would drop the complaint he had filed against me. I immediately carried out what was required of me, but the university administration has not, to this day, taken any of the steps required of it. I am still waiting for the university’s steps.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “ملف الخلاف مع الجامعة” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.