Free Speech in Palestinian Universities

Free Speech in Palestinian Universities (FSPU) is a pilot project that compares free speech debates within Palestinian academic and para-academic spaces in a broadly global context. Phase one comprises two case studies: Gaza and the West Bank. The second phase integrates materials from phase one into global debates around free speech. The project team consists of a student-teacher based in Gaza City with an interest in free speech, a mid-career academic based in Nablus in Palestine’s West Bank who has written on free speech issues, and a professor based in the United Kingdom with experience in the study of Palestinian rights and social scientific approaches to free speech and academic freedom.

The Gazan case study focuses on free speech debates within two universities in Gaza: the Islamic University of Gaza and the University College of Applied Sciences. Students and teachers from a wide range of backgrounds will be asked to share their perspectives on the role of free speech in their everyday lives. The second case study focuses on free speech violations in the West Bank, with a particular focus on the region of Nablus, where Palestine’s largest university, an-Najah, is located. Phase two will be dedicated to comparing the free speech debates that animate political life in Gaza with those that shape political life in the West Bank, and on situating these experiences within a global framework. Palestinian team members will also compare their research results with the practice and experiences of free speech in UK academic environments.

Overall, the project aims shed light on the ongoing importance of free speech within Middle Eastern societies, and to identify the strategies that local scholars, teachers, and students are developing for keeping alive their right to freedom of expression in the face of authoritarian states and under conditions of occupation.