Wednesday, July 11, 2007
In fact, there's material here not only for education-oriented busy-bodies, but also for reporters and human rights groups, as well. In this article about the growing military dictatorship being run by Mahmoud Abbas:
The gunmen were protesting against Abbas's refusal to allocate secret halls for them so that they, too, could sit for the exams, without risking being arrested or killed by the IDF. The gunmen were later allowed to sit for the exams in special halls.
One of the teachers said most of the gunmen cheated.
"They opened books and copied the answers word by word," he said. "We were afraid to stop them because they were carrying M-16 rifles."
PA security forces have detained more than 100 Hamas supporters in Nablus over the past three weeks. All the detainees are being held without trial or questioning and are banned from meeting with their lawyers.
Unconfirmed reports that some of the Hamas detainees have been tortured sparked a wave of protests in the city and other parts of the West Bank.
Citing "security concerns," PA policemen banned reporters and photographers from covering Tuesday's demonstration outside the PA lock-up. A university student who was suspected of using his mobile phone to take a picture of the event was beaten and taken into custody.
In a related development, Palestinian journalists complained that the PA had banned the Hamas-affiliated Falasteen newspaper from being distributed in the West Bank. The paper is based in Gaza City.
"One of the teachers said most of the gunmen cheated.
"They opened books and copied the answers word by word," he said. "We were afraid to stop them because they were carrying M-16 rifles."
Imagine what this information does to the credibility and status of Palestinian high school diplomas. Which university is going to trust that the certificate they see when they can't be sure whether it won by studies or by the gun?
Well if it's a British university, chances are it will accept it without a demur while rejecting a bona fide Israeli issued diploma.
Tangentially relevant: Solomon, what do you make of the speeches posted on "Engage" following yesterday's Engage meeting about rebuffing the boycott?
http://www.engageonline.org.uk/blog/article.php?id=1249
http://www.engageonline.org.uk/blog/article.php?id=1247
I thought Lipmann's speech was fine and to the point (though unfortunately somewhat dotted with factual errors).
(Due to the doctrinaire moderation of comments there it is nearly impossible for a free flowing discussion to take place there, which is a pity, because there are some first rate participants who cannot fully, errr... engage without being all too often censored or deleted).
I hadn't seen it yet, but will def check it out.