Streamed live on Dec 16, 2025In this episode of AAUP TV, we host two Palestinian scholars, labor organizers, and members of the Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza (https://www.gazauniversities.org/) and the ISNAD (https://www.taawon.org/en/isnad) program which were founded by the nonprofit universities in Gaza to coordinate global solidarity (https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/20…, and which were recently awarded the prestigious Academic Freedom Award (https://mesana.org/awards/awardee/mes… the Middle East Studies Association of North America. In conversation with Donna Murch (AAUP Executive Council Member and Associate Professor of History at Rutgers University), Dr. Ahmad Abu Shabaan (Al-Azhar University in Gaza) and Dr. Abdel Razzaq Takriti (Rice University) discuss scholasticide in Palestine, or the systematic destruction of the educational life of a national, ethnic, racial, or minority group. They talk about horrific conditions faced by faculty and students, the efforts to restore learning online against all odds, and the perseverance of Palestinian educational workers and their unions. They further reflect on the terrible impact of redirecting billions of taxpayer dollars away from funding education in the US so as to inflictdestruction upon educational institutions in Palestine and elsewhere, highlighting the importance of unifying educational workers and building solidarity across the labor movement.
