Cambridge students in Palestine study travel ban

Cambridge University. (Photo courtesy: social media)

LONDON: Cambridge Arabic students have been banned from studying in the Palestinian Territories as part of their year abroad.
It comes after some students were interrogated by Israeli security while traveling there. As part of their course, students spend eight months in a place where Arabic is the first language.
Most University of Cambridge students studying in Palestine will study Arabic language at Birzeit University in Ramallah. But to get there they need to pass through Israeli security.
A spokesperson for the University of Cambridge told Arab News: “Whilst we do not ban independent travel to, or study in, the Palestinian territories, students cannot choose to spend their year abroad in the West Bank for the time being due to recent difficulties faced by students in securing visa renewals from the Israeli authorities.
“This is regrettable but our first duty is to ensure that students are able to complete their year abroad in an Arabic-speaking region before commencing their final year of study at the University of Cambridge.”
Cambridge students said that they were saddened by the move but acknowledged that the university had little choice following “extremely distressing interrogations” by Israeli border authorities.
A spokesperson for the Cambridge University Palestine Society, said: “It is incredibly unfortunate that Cambridge students will now be unable to study at one of the leading universities in the Middle East, and denied the chance to see first-hand the effects of the Occupation on the West Bank.”
Five students, four female and one male, faced difficulties when landing at Ben-Gurion International Airport, in Tel Aviv over the last academic year, the UK’s Evening Standard newspaper reported on Sunday.
The Israeli Embassy in London was not immediately available for comment.