The Israeli military forces have issued a military order to shut down the Palestine Polytechnic University (PPU) for 14 days, which are renewable up to six months. This order, which is effective from 15 January, 2003, comes at the end of the first academic semester.

The Israeli forces have executed the closure by striking all of the university campus locations, destroying and confiscating many of the contents. They welded all main gates and doors.

This arbitrary military action, which also affected the University of Hebron, violates relevant international laws, human rights and values.

As a university dedicated to engineering and science, PPU is committed to the Palestinian rules and regulations of higher education. Over 2500 students and 400 employees study and work in Palestinian Authority control. Therefore, this military order is absolutely unjustified and illegal.

The current closure is an unprecedented escalation which interferes with the civil life of Palestinians and their educational institutions.

This absurd provocation aims at depriving our youth from the right of education and the opportunity of self fulfillment as normal human beings.

As we strongly condemn this military order, we at PPU appeal to international human right institutions and organizations, including the UNESCO, EU,USA and Arab and Islamic governments to immediately play their humanitarian role to effuse this order and to pressure the Israelis to revoke it.