Student from Gaza Denied Permit to Study in the West Bank214 “I am 20 years old and live in Gaza. I received my high school diploma in 2013. I wanted to study at the Independence University in Jericho and the university accepted me along with two other students from Gaza. I applied for a permit to cross the Erez checkpoint seven times, but I was declined every time. On my eighth attempt, on November 2014, I received the permit and I was very happy to be able to start my studies in Jericho. I went to the Erez checkpoint but I was interrogated from ten in the morning until nine at night by Israeli security personnel in an intimidating and stressful manner. The interrogator took out a map of Gaza, and started pointing to places of which he asked for information. He almost named every member of my family. He asked me for information about my neighbors and people living nearby. This was one of the most difficult experiences I endured in my life. I was afraid to get arrested. At the end, they refused to allow me to cross the checkpoint even though I had my permit. I went back to Gaza without even knowing why. Now, I have lost the opportunity to study at the Independence University because they only receive high school graduates the same year of passing or one year after, at most.” Restrictions on the Construction of Appropriate Educational Facilities All parts of the oPt suffer from a lack of educational facilities, which directly affects not just children’s access to education, but also the quality of any education received. In the Gaza Strip, OCHA estimated in 2012 that up to 250 new schools were needed.215 The need for new educational facilities has subsequently increased further as a result of Israel’s military assault on the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2014. The West Bank also suffers from a lack of educational facilities, with many schools having been demolished by Israeli forces,216 whilst an additional 1,100 classrooms are needed in order to meet the needs of Palestinian students in East Jerusalem.217 This lack of adequate school facilities in East Jerusalem, and the Israeli-imposed restrictions on the building of new classrooms for Palestinians in this area, has resulted in a situation in which less than half of the estimated 87,624 school-age Palestinian children are able to attend municipal schools. This, and the 214 BADIL’s interview with Rami Jamal, Palestinian student from the Gaza Strip denied permit to study in the West Bank, “Student from Gaza Denied Permit to Study in the West Bank”, the Gaza Strip, August 2015 215 OCHA – Occupied Palestinian Territories, “Occupied Palestinian Territory Consolidated Appeal 2013”, pages 34-35. Available at: www.lacs.ps/documentsShow.aspx?ATT_ID=6719 216 Ibid. Page 35 217 The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, “Failed Grade: East Jerusalem’s Failing Educational System”, August 2012, page 7. Available at: www.acri.org.il/en/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ EJeducation2012en.pdf 59