The University of California, Davis students of the Article 26 Backpack Collective with the support of the UC Davis Human Rights Studies Program condemn Israeli attacks on schools and higher education institutions in Gaza and stand in solidarity and support with Palestinian students. As the academic and humanitarian organizations at UC Davis most involved with issues of human rights education and the rights of students in conflict, we issue this statement with grave concern for the well-being of Palestinian students and their educational journeys.

Since the bombing campaign on Gaza began on October 7th, at least 17,000 Palestinians have been killled and 1.8 million displaced out of a population of 2.2 million. 218 internally displaced persons sheltering in schools have been killed and 894 wounded [1][2]. The Islamic University of Gaza was bombed on October 11th, and Al-Azhar University was destroyed in a bombing campaign on November 4th [3][4]. On the same day, Osama bin Zaid school was bombed, killing 20 [5]. Al-Falah/Zeitoun School, also administered by UNRWA in Gaza City, was bombed on November 17th as it housed 4,000 displaced persons and Al-Fakhura School, administered by the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jabaliya, North Gaza, was attacked on November 18/19th, leaving 24 dead. All UNRWA facilities were marked as UN buildings [6][7]. 27 displaced persons were killed in a strike on Abu Hussein School, also administered by UNRWA, on November 23rd [8], and a bombing of Assad al-Saftawi school displaced again hundreds of displaced persons sheltering in the neighborhood on December 4th [9].

As designated by international humanitarian law, schools are “protected civilian objects” and attacks on schools have been condemned by the UN Security Council as one of six serious violations of the rights of children [10]. Attacks on Gazan schools and universities, in addition to violating humanitarian law and increasing civilian casualties, will destroy students’ educational documents—hindering their ability to continue their education [11][12]—and dramatically hamstring rebuilding efforts. Attacks on universities are attacks on a society’s future.

Higher education institutions have a unique responsibility to stand in solidarity with other institutions in times of crisis. We are particularly mindful of this duty in wartime. UC Davis Human Rights Studies has made statements of solidarity on similar occasions in the past, including in responses to violence in Sudan, the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Syria and Turkey, the brutal crackdown on protestors in Iran, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine [13][14][15][16]. Solidarity with Gaza’s academic institutions and Palestinian students is not a break from UC Davis Human Rights Studies practice, but rather its continuation.

Article 26 Backpack and UC Davis Human Rights Studies support an immediate and full ceasefire in the interests of ending all attacks on civil society and supporting Palestinian students' welfare and right to education. We believe it is both appropriate and necessary for all higher education institutions to condemn attacks on any institution of learning wherever they may be, and we encourage all partners in this space to do the same.