Mona Chalabi Instagram – Students across the US are demanding that their universities disclose and divest from companies that support the Israeli occupation. These brave protesters understand that their institutions and their tuition fees are supporting this genocide. But even if you’re not a student at one of these big colleges, the misuse of money is clear. Israel controls everything that enters and leaves Gaza (including books to read, and bricks to build colleges) but the people of Gaza still managed to create 12 universities to educate themselves. Palestine has one of the highest adult literacy rates in the entire world. Now Israel, with the support of the US, has now severely damaged or entirely destroyed every single one of those universities. Children in Gaza have not been able to attend school since October. In the West Bank too, children are forced to miss school or do remote learning because of Israeli road closures and Israeli settler violence. Call it educide, call it scholasticide, call it epistemicide – whatever words you say, it reveals the desire to eradicate Palestinian culture and dignity. It also shows us that the US government is far more interested in its allyship with Israel than educating its own people. Source: United Nations, 2023