INTRODUCTION:
Birzeit University is the Palestinian Harvard or Oxford. Established in 1924 as a school, it adapted over the years to become the premier Palestinian institution of higher learning. During the years before the Palestinian Authority arrived, Birzeit stepped into the void and undertook some of the most necessary and dynamic work in the country, one example being the only water testing of Palestinian water sources in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. As the only truly independent national Palestinian institution, it became the focus of much media attention and Israeli repression during the 1980s and early 1990s. This section of the diary focuses in particular on the student political life at Birzeit, providing a window into one of the most vibrant arenas in Palestinian society.

THE POST-OSLO EXPERIENCE OF THE BIRZEIT COMMUNITY - REPRESSION & DETENTION, PROTEST & DEMOCRACY:

• "Making Education Illegal" - Students from the Gaza Strip: Israeli restrictions and international reactions from January 1995 - a special 15,000-word report by Nigel Parry for the Human Rights Action Project at Birzeit from the university's Human Rights Archive.
• Birzeit Elections 1995: A new system for a new era from August 1995.
• First Israeli closure of Ramallah [3 parts] from 12 February 1996 (Closure Diary).
• Universities meet McCarthy, Palestinian-style from 1 March 1996.
• Birzeit students in Palestinian detention [6 parts] from early March until 28 June 1996.
• Locked in Ramallah for two weeks [3 parts] from 5-18 March 1996 (Closure Diary).
• One-tenth of our university is missing [4 parts] from 28 March 1996.
• Birzeit students confront Arafat [4 parts] from 3 April 1996.
• Birzeit Elections 1996: A message for the Palestinian Authority from 15 May 1996.
• Stamping out terrorism from 17 July 1996.
• 'On the Ground in Ramallah' Diary from 25 September 1996
  An 18-part account of the clashes that started with Birzeit students and developed into a limited war betwen Israeli soldiers and the Palestinian Police and Israeli deployment of tanks and attack helicopters around Ramallah. Originally part of an independent section of Birzeit's website, this section received 3,000 visitors during the first ten days after the clashes began.
• Ramallah closed again after an attack on settlers [6 parts] from 11-14 December 1996 (Closure Diary).
• Birzeit students in Palestinian detention: Some statistics from 1996 from 25 January 1997.
• Birzeit students join in [3 parts] from 26 March 1997 (Abu Ghnaim Diary).
• Birzeit student shot [2 parts] from 29 March 1997 (Abu Ghnaim Diary).
• Birzeit Elections 1997: No easy answers for the situation outside the gates from 14 April 1997.
• The immediate situation beckons from 7-9 August 1997 (Closure Diary).
• "Checkpoint in the church aisle" - a closure story from Birzeit University from 10 August 1997 (Closure Diary).
• Israeli closure of Ramallah for 'security reasons' clearly untrue from 8 September 1997 (Closure Diary).
• Clashes after three shot dead near Hebron [5 parts] from 11 March 1998 (Ramallah Diary).
• Birzeit Elections 1998: No small change in the status quo from 3 May 1998.
• Birzeit Elections 1999: A growing sense of alienation from 24 March 1999.

RELATED SITES:


• Birzeit University homepage - the doorway to the university's website I was responsible for designing and maintaining, launched on 11 June 1996. The number of visitors rose from 1,000 that month to 20,000 a month only two years later.
• Brief information about Birzeit University - the online brochure about Birzeit, also available in French and German.
• Birzeit University Public Relations Office - an introduction to the office where I worked for four years.
• Birzeit University's Complete Guide to Palestine's Websites - one of the most useful resources on the Birzeit website.
• Birzeit, Palestine and the World Wide Web - more about Birzeit's work on the Internet and about Palestine's Internet community.
• Outloud - Palestine's first Internet radio station produced at Birzeit.
• Birzeit News - news from the university.
• Birzeit University Press Releases
• Birzeit University's Human Rights Action Project
• The Student Council, its election process, and its factional groups
• Birzeit University's Palestine and Arabic Studies Programme - the programme for international students who want to learn Arabic and study Middle Eastern social sciences in one of the most interesting environments around.