Five Fully Funded Scholarships at King's College London for Gazan Students

We, the undersigned, hereby declare our strong support for the distribution and allocation of five fully funded scholarships for Palestinian students, specifically those residing within Gaza.

We find it both disturbing and despicable that these scholarships, one of the eight demands of the K2.31 Occupation of January 2009, have yet to be arranged by the College after almost a year since its conclusion. The Occupation members left K2.31 in good faith that the demands agreed upon would be fulfilled. To date, only three of the seven agreed demands have been met. Disgraceful as this is, the demand we are placing particular emphasis on is that of the scholarships.

During Israels barbaric offensive, described even by the UN in the Goldstone Report as a military action designed to punish, humiliate and terrorise a civilian population, many educational establishments were targeted, bombed, and decimated. This included the almost total destruction of the Islamic University of Gaza; classes were even held in portable sheds, where the heat of the sun baked the interiors of these shelters making it almost impossible to study.

In light of these disastrous educational conditions, we reiterate our firm insistence that these five fully funded scholarships be provisioned for and supplied urgently. We are sure that you are fully aware that the situation in Gaza (and Palestine by extension) is unique. As educational establishments were specifically targeted, we demand immediate action to provision these scholarships to alleviate some of the educational strain imposed by the Israeli war-machine during last years wanton destruction of Gaza, and the unjust and illegal siege before, and now after it. The right to education has been enshrined by the UN as a basic human right; a right that has now been devoured, chewed, and spat out by Israel.

We end by quoting the Principals statement, where he promised to devote resources to the aforementioned efforts; Where appropriate we also intend to build on existing links with Palestinian universities, and we will play an active role in the national initiative, encouraged by UUK, to increase scholarships for Palestinians to study in this country. The Principal failed to rally UUK during his presidency, so now the onus is on him and his senior staff to provide these five fully funded scholarships to affected Palestinians in Gaza who have not had access to the same educational opportunities that they themselves had.