Most students catch the bus to campus, other come in cars, Mohammed is escorted from his cell to the university gates by soldiers. At the end of a day’s studying, while his peers go off to smoke argeela (water pipe) and shoot pool in the cafes around town, he is escorted back to his cramped cell. His story represents the wider tale of denial and disruption of education enacted by the Israeli occupation.
I meet Mohammed (name changed to protect his identity) near one of the West Bank’s eight higher education institutions. He is a calm, reserved 25-year old Palestinian studying to become a primary school teacher.
Five years ago, Mohammed threw rocks at an Israeli convoy on one of its routine raids into the refugee camp where he lives. For this he was shot in the leg and saw his best friend die in his arms. “I can’t forget that” he tells me. At first he took to sleeping in the streets to avoid arrest, but the Israelis warned his parents that if he didn’t turn himself in they would kill him and destroy the family home.
At the request of the Israelis, Mohammed was taken into a Palestinian Authority-run prison. He claims he did not receive a trial and for the first two years wasn’t allowed to leave.
After his two year internment he was granted permission to leave his cell during the day, provided he returned by eight o’clock to spend the night there. Mohammed has always wanted to be a primary school teacher and went about securing a place at the best local University, no mean feat for a boy from a refugee camp.
While the academic rigour required of all university students is a challenge in itself Mohammed’s predicament has made studying a far greater task. He is one of hundreds of Palestinian higher education students that have suffered at the hands of the Israelis. Birzeit University as of 2009 had 87 of its students incarcerated in jail, 47 of which had yet to be found guilty on any charge.
Every day Palestinian soldiers would escort Mohammed both to and from the University campus. I ask if he is able to study in his cell. He looks at me incredulously "can’t study"he replies, in reference to the prison‘s unbearable heat. We sit in a spacious room on the third floor with two fans whirring above our heads and the room’s numerous windows all open, "but in my cell the window is tiny". He uses his hands to indicate a window approximately 20 centimetres in both height and width.
It is not merely the climactic conditions that prevent him from studying he informs me, but the "bad, feeling" he experiences when sat in his cell. Recently his next door neighbour deliberately set his cell alight as an act of protest inadvertently setting himself aflame in the process. Such harrowing tales are common in the prison. This, coupled with his loneliness, makes writing essays and swotting for exams virtually impossible. Neither is he able to sleep, leaving him desperately tired during his classes.
Mohammed tells me that he never feels relaxed enough to fully concentrate on his studies. One teacher I talked to described how during a recent lesson Mohammed had left abruptly. His friend explained at the end of the lesson that, "the soldiers were calling him, they want to take him to jail." This occurs every time the IDF (Israeli Defence Force) launches a raid in the surrounding area. Should they see him out during this exercise he would almost certainly be shot.
Mohammed describes to me how his heart skips a beat every time his phone rings with an unrecognised number, fearing it is a summons to jail. I ask him what would happen if he ignored the call or didn’t turn up at eight, "Israelis will kill me" he replies. This is no idle threat, A fellow inmate was shot by the Israelis recently whilst walking with friends through town. This occurred before the curfew deadline of eight o’clock. He received no treatment and was left to die on the road.
Mohammed is constantly on edge, cars revving their engines and people shouting all make him cast a nervous glance over his shoulder. His parents are petrified for their son’s safety, having already had one son killed by the Israelis. He tells me his mum rings him every night at eight o’clock to make sure he is back in his cell. Despite being in constant fear for his life Mohammed still manages to keep up with his studies. One of his lecturers that I interviewed described him as a ‘bright and studious boy’.
Every three to six months the Israelis produce a list of prisoners to be freed. Though he has no idea if and when he will be on that list he prays that it will be soon. Mohammed is desperate to get on with his life, to finish university, begin a career as a primary school teacher and at long last be able to sleep, in his own bed.
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Sementara umumnya para mahasiswa datang ke kampus dengan mobil dan bus, Ahmed datang dengan kendaraan militer. Setelah jam kuliah usai, sebagian teman-temannya akan pergi ke kafe-kafe di sudut kota. Bermain bilyar atau menghisap sheesha. Tapi Ahmed sudah ditunggu tentara di gerbang kampus, ia harus pulang ke penjara. Inilah sejumput fakta dari kisah pahit dunia pendidikan Palestina sepanjang penjajahan Israel.
Penulis Palestinemonitor menemui Ahmed, sebut saja demikian, dekat salah satu dari delapan institusi pendidikan tinggi di West-Bank. Pria berusia 25 tahun yang tampak kalem dan pendiam ini tengah menjalankan studi untuk menjadi guru sekolah dasar.
Kisah Ahmed berawal lima tahun lalu. Waktu itu ia melempari tentara Israel dengan batu, bagian rutin dari kesehariannya di kamp pengungsi. Kakinya tertembak, sementara darah rekannya yang tewas membasahi kedua tangannya. "Saya tak pernah bisa melupakan peristiwa itu", katanya menerawang. Tentara Israel mengincarnya. Agar tak ditangkap, malam harinya ia tidur di jalanan. Tapi rupanya tentara Israel mengancam orangtuanya, bila tak segera menyerahkan Ahmed ke Israel maka mereka akan membunuhnya dan menghancurkan rumahnya.
Demi mendengar ancaman itu, Ahmed akhirnya dimasukkan ke dalam penjara yang dikelola oleh pemerintah Palestina. Selama dua tahun, Ahmed tak pernah disidangkan dan tak pernah diizinkan meninggalkan penjara.
Setelah dua tahun diasingkan, akhirnya ia mendapatkan izin untuk keluar dari penjara di siang hari, dan kembali pada jam delapan malam untuk menginap kembali di sana. Ahmed memang memiliki keinginan kuat untuk kuliah di perguruan tinggi lokal terbaik demi cita-citanya menjadi guru sekolah dasar. Sebuah cita-cita tak biasa dari seorang bocah kamp pengungsi.
Beban kuliah yang sudah cukup berat bagi mahasiswa pada umumnya menjadi semakin menantang bagi Ahmed. Ahmed tak sendiri, ratusan mahasiswa Palestina bernasib sama dengannya: diasingkan di penjara oleh tentara-tentara Israel. Di Universitas Birzeit saja, pada tahun 2009 tercatat 87 mahasiswanya mengalami pengasingan serupa, hingga saat ini 47 di antaranya belum jelas ditahan atas tuduhan apa.
Setiap pagi Ahmed dikeluarkan dari penjara oleh tentara Palestina lalu dijemput kembali seusai kuliah. Penulis palestinemonitor bertanya pada Ahmed, apakah ia bisa belajar di dalam sel penjara? Iapun segera menjawab dengan tatapan yakin, "tidak bisa", seraya menggambarkan pengap dan panasnya sel tempat ia tinggal. Saat itu mereka berbicara di sebuah ruangan yang cukup luas, sementara dua kipas angin dan beberapa jendela dibiarkan terbuka. "Ukuran jendela di sel saya hanya sebesar ini", katanya seraya menggambarkan sebuah kotak berukuran 20 x 20 cm.
Tak hanya udara panas yang menjadi alasannya untuk tidak dapat fokus belajar. Kondisi psikologis penjara yang penuh depresi juga membuat perasaannya selalu kelam. Baru-baru ini saja tetangga selnya membakar sel sebagai aksi protes seraya membakar dirinya sendiri di dalam sel itu. Cerita-cerita mengenaskan semacam itu sudah biasa di dalam penjara, sehingga hampir sulit membayangkan untuk menulis essai atau mengerjakan ujian dengan tenteram. Bahkan untuk tidur saja sulit, ini membuatnya sering datang di kampus dengan kelelahan yang sangat sepanjang perkuliahan.
Ahmed mengatakan bahwa ia tak pernah merasa tenang selama kuliah, ia tak pernah bisa berkonsentrasi penuh. Seorang dosennya mengatakan bahwa suatu hari Ahmed pergi tergesa-gesa dari kelas. Saat dosen itu bertanya pada temannya tentang alasan Ahmed pergi setergesa itu, temannya berkata"tentara meneleponnya, mereka bilang akan membawanya ke penjara" . Itu terjadi setiap kali IDF (Israeli Defence Force) merazia area sekitar kampus. Bila sampai tentara Israel melihatnya, hampir pasti Ahmed akan segera ditembak mati.
Ahmed menggambarkan betapa hatinya selalu berdegup kencang ketika telepon selularnya berdering dari panggilan nomer tak dikenal. Ia selalu khawatir bahwa itu adalah panggilan ke penjara. Ini tidak main-main, seorang rekannya sesama tahanan tewas ditembak oleh tentara Israel saat tengah berjalan-jalan dengan teman-temannya di kota baru baru ini. Waktu itu belum sampai pukul delapan malam. Ia ditembak dan dibiarkan tewas tergeletak bersimbah darah di tengah jalan.
Kondisi Ahmed benar-benar bagai di ujung tanduk. Orangtuanya yang telah kehilangan satu anak terbunuh oleh tentara Israel sangat menginginkan ia selamat. Setiap jam sembilan malam ibunya menelepon untuk memastikan bahwa Ahmed berada di dalam selnya. Dapat dibayangkan bahwa ia dirudung ketakutan sepanjang hidupnya. Tapi semua itu tak melunturkan semangatnya untuk terus bertahan dan berjuang dalam studinya. Terbukti, seorang dosen yang sempat diwawancarai tentang Ahmed mengatakan bahwa ia adalah "mahasiswa yang cerdas dan tekun"
Setiap tiga sampai enam bulan, pihak penjara mengumumkan orang-orang yang dibebaskan. Secercah harapan yang membuat Ahmed tak lepas berdoa agar segera tiba gilirannya. Ahmed sangat ingin melanjutkan hidupnya, menyelesaikan kuliahnya di universitas, lalu menjadi guru sekolah dasar.... hingga saat pulang, ia akan dapat tidur...di tempat tidurnya sendiri...
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