Search Results for: Jerusalem
10 results out of 33 results found for 'Jerusalem'.
CONFLICT’S IMPACT ON ISRAELI HIGHER EDUCATION
The October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, and Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon, have hit the country’s higher educational sector hard, with roughly a quarter of all students, as well as faculty, called up to the armed forces, while budget cuts are expected as more money is allocated to the military.…
The October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, and Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon, have hit the country’s higher educational sector hard, with roughly a quarter of all students, as well as faculty, called up to the armed forces, while budget cuts are expected as more money is allocated to the military. Foreign funding to universities has also declined, although private philanthropy is partly offsetting the losses. Israeli universities’ international cooperation has also been impacted due to boycotts. “The impacts of the conflict have been unimaginable. Around 70,000 [university] students have been called up to the reserves [out of 300,000 total students]. At the same time there’s been a resurgence of antisemitism, anti-Israeli protests, and calls for boycotts from universities,” Prof. Daniel Chamovitz, president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and chair of VERA (Association of University Heads, Israel), told UWN. In the immediate aftermath of the Hamas-led 7 October attacks, students and lecturers joined the military reserve, and the academic year was re-scheduled until January. Due to lecturers being called up, certain classes were postponed, and some universities resorted to remote teaching. Some 62,000 Israelis have been displaced from the north due to the conflict with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, forcing the Tel-Hai College in Kiriyat Shimona to teach out of other locations. “They’ve been working elsewhere for an entire year,” said Chamovitz. Universities in the north, such as the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and Haifa University have also had to have medical school examinations held in different locations, said Chamovitz. While Israel has been targeted by rockets from multiple fronts – from Gaza, Lebanon and Iran – universities have continued to operate. “In Jerusalem, no one is safe, but we don’t need to do remote teaching. We are not in the border zones,” said Dr Michal Muszkat-Barkan, director of the department of education and professional development at Hebron Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Jerusalem. At other universities remote learning has become more common place, including for reservists. “All of us have had to deal with classes where up to half of students aren’t there,” said Chamovitz. “This academic year, we’ve seen students miss 100 to 150 days of classes, but they have succeeded, as we have found ways to give tutoring such as duplicate classes and remote teaching, and for professors to be available at strange hours. We’ve had one lecturer give a class remotely from the front line,” said Chamovitz. Some 6,500 out of 19,000 students at Ben Gurion University (BGU) are reservists, along with 600 BGU faculty. Around a quarter of Tel Aviv University’s 30,000 student body have been called up, the university reported. Now Israel has widened its military attacks in Lebanon, invading its northern neighbour in October, these demands are unlikely to fall. The ongoing conflicts on two fronts are requiring student reservists to continue with the military, causing a delay in reservists’ plans to study at the undergraduate and graduate levels. “For the past year, young reservists couldn’t start their studies, and for this coming academic year, they are not sure if they’ll be able to take the exams and get into universities. There is another whole year they may be in reserve, so can’t go to university,” said Muszkat-Barkan. All Israelis are required to carry out a minimum two-year military service and can be called up for reserve duty until 40 years old. There has also been a decline in international students studying in Israel, whether exchange students or enrolled at the country’s nine public universities. “It has been a massive drop. On October 7, many left,” said Chamovitz. He said Ben Gurion University had only had a small drop off, due to its specialisation in sustainability and climate change, and desert agriculture, whereas universities teaching more basic sciences had seen a larger decline in foreign students. Exchange and short-term visits have also declined. “It is understandable when you look at the news,” said Chamovitz. Israeli universities have been feeling the impact of calls for boycotts and disinvestment due to the ongoing conflict, with pro-Palestine demonstrations over the past several months at universities across the world, particularly in North America, calling for ending ties with Israeli academia. “We feel the anti-Israeli atmosphere in the academic world. It is not related to the subject area; it could be physics or medicine... And academics are not welcome for sabbaticals at other institutions. International collaborations among researchers are also very influenced by this situation,” said Muszkat-Barkan. Larger research funds and cooperation agreements are also at stake. In July, more than 2,000 European academics and 45 organisations issued a petition to the European Commission to end the European Union (EU)-Israel agreement https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:22022A0323(10) enabling Israeli participation with the EU research programme Horizon Europe, which has provided some EUR2.6 billion in research funding to Israel since 2007. https://bricup.org.uk/article/thousands-of-academics-call-on-eu-to-sever-research-links-with-israel/ https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/news/all-research-and-innovation-news/third-meeting-eu-israel-joint-research-and-innovation-committee-under-horizon-europe-2024-05-06_en In applying for funding, Chamovitz said there was a fear of a “passive boycott, where reviewers may negatively try to impact Israeli proposals, like for the European Research Council [ERC], but we’ve not seen that yet.” Foreign funding for research at Israeli universities has declined, including in high-tech sectors as the conflict has continued. However, private donations to universities are helping to offset losses. “We’ve seen a huge uptick in philanthropy from donors that are frustrated with universities in North America move funds to Israel,” said Chamovitz. Government budget discussions continue in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, hampered by disputes in the ruling right-wing coalition https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-823759, with ultra-orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) threatening to withhold support without guarantees that haredi men are exempt from military service. Public universities are concerned that upcoming changes to the national budget to pay for the conflict will allocate more money to the military while education will be cut. “Our fear is a war on the general budget on education in Israel. If there are massive budget cuts, we will have to decide to cut back on staff, hiring or research, I’m not sure how we will do it. Our biggest fear is a lost decade of higher education,” said Chamovitz. ENDS
New members of the European Commission have been proposed for the next 2024-29 term, starting November 1, with knitwear lobbyists facing experienced hands in the key trade and economy/de-regulation portfolios. Re-appointed Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has nominated Maroš Šefčovič, of Slovakia, as trade and economic security; interinstitutional relations and transparency Commissioner, for example.…
LEVANT PAINT INDUSTRY AND MARKET MARRED BY ARMED CONFLICT AND CIVIL TURMOILLEVANT PAINT INDUSTRY AND MARKET MARRED BY ARMED CONFLICT AND CIVIL TURMOIL
The paint markets of the Levant – Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine (now recognised by the UN as a state, even though it has no unified governance) – are all reeling from ongoing conflict and economic instability. The more developed and export-orientated markets of Lebanon and Israel are however releasing new innovative paint products.…
MALAWI CONVICTS BOGUS UNIVERSITIES OWNER, CIVIL SOCIETY CALLS FOR MORE ACTION
An executive of an unregistered university in Malawi has been convicted and fined, the first legal fruit of a government crackdown launched in 2022.
Tuweh Gusto Gadama, 55, on January 17 (2024) was ordered by Principal Resident Magistrate Rodrick Michongwe, sitting in the capital Lilongwe, to pay Malawi Kwacha MWK3.4 million (USD2,000) for operating higher education institutions illegally.…
WELL-USED FRAUDS STILL WORK – BUT THEY ARE NEW WINE IN OLD BOTTLES, WARN EXPERTS
Anti-fraud managers see the same old tricks and swindles repeatedly, even if repackaged and more digitalised than in the past. But why do people keep falling for well-worn scams?
To some extent it is that there are more fraud attempts targeting more people, who lack experience of such deception.…
MALAWI GOVERNMENT CRACKS DOWN ON UNREGISTERED PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES
The Malawian government has cracked down on 20 private universities and tertiary education colleges it says lack formal permission to operate, ordering that they close with immediate effect.
Formal applications must be made to the Malawi National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) for operational licences should any of the blacklisted institutions want to resume operations.…
GREECE COURT CASE UPSETS MUSLIM COMMUNITY BY BANNING NO-STUN SLAUGHTER
A recent verdict (judgement 1751/2021) by Greece’s top court, the Council of State, regarding the ritual slaughter of animals has raised significant concerns to the Muslim and the Jewish communities of Greece, potentially impeding growth in Greek halal exports. The ruling effectively withdraws a permit that has allowed the slaughter of animals without stunning them first, as (usually) required to produce halal and kosher meat.…
LEADERS THAT HAVE TURNED PALESTINIAN LIVES INTO UNBEARABLE HELL!
The question of how to deliver human rights and self-determination to the Palestinians has been debated in many ways and forums, from the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, through the Oslo Accords of 1993, until the present day.…
THE DEAL OF THE CENTURY AND NEGOTIATIONS IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
While in recent years, the peaceful approach to progress associated with Islam has not been given a high-profile, because of the activities of extremists, the truth is that there is much to be learned from the Noble Prophet Mohammed about the value of incremental negotiation.…
THE BITTER FRIENDS - HANIYEH AND NETANYAHU SERVE EACH OTHER, WHEN NECESSARY
For nearly a hundred years, the city of Jerusalem has been the scene of violent confrontations between Jews and Arabs. This is the most recent of struggles over this most disputed city that have continued for more than three thousand years.…