Al-Quds Open University apologizes for flier that does not show “Palestine” as including all of Israel together with the PA areas

Images and text posted on the official Fatah Facebook page

The image shows the map approved by Al-Quds Open University, which shows “Palestine” as including all of Israel together with the PA areas and the Gaza Strip. Colors mark the university’s branches in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The image shows the West Bank and Gaza Strip on the university’s flier, noting the location of the university’s branches. In the bottom right is an illustration of the Dome of the Rock. This does not show “Palestine” as including all of Israel together with the PA areas and the Gaza Strip – which is what led to protests.

Posted text: "An explanation issued by the Al-Quds Open University administration

A number of social media networks have published a flier for high school graduates that includes an illustration of the university's branches in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Despite the illustration being for information purposes regarding only the distribution of these branches, the intent is not the geographical map of Palestine that we study in our curricula and learn by heart. This university is soaked in the blood of Martyrs, and foremost among them founding Martyr [former PLO Chairman and PA President] Yasser Arafat, and it is the national hothouse that unifies and supports the prisoners and the support for all of our people's rights.

Accordingly, the university clarifies the following:

1. The university apologizes for this publication,despite the illustration being for information purposes and it does not represent the map of Palestine, but rather only the university's branchesthat are distributed in the West Bank and Gaza.
2. The university published its instructions regardingthe cessation of using the aforementioned publication.
3. The attached publication was published by one of [the university’s] centers without coordination with the authorized bodies to receive the university administration's permission for doing so.
4. There is a map of Palestine from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea which the university relies on in all of its various centers, branches, and departments, and which it uses in all of its publications.
5. Al-Quds Open University published an official and clear position of its academic, administrative, union, and student sectors a number of days ago, and it led central activities regarding the deal of the century (i.e., US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan; see note below) like the rest of the national institutions that are adhering to our firm national foundations, which are at the forefront of the struggle defending our rights that will not be satisfied by division or abandonment.
6. We request from everyone that loves and is dedicated not to be dragged after those that are attempting to harm the homeland's universitythat instills in our children’s souls the love of sacrifice and self-sacrifice for the homeland with its lofty message, as there are required courses that were approved in the academic program for all of the students, including: 'Palestine and the Palestinian Cause,' 'Jerusalem's History,' and 'The Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement.'

*Note: The map approved by the university administration is attached"

Yasser Arafat – Founder of Fatah and former chairman of the PLO and PA. During the 1960s, 70s and 80s Arafat was behind numerous terror attacks against Israelis. Although he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 together with then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and then Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres “for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East" after signing the Oslo Accords peace agreement, Arafat launched a 5-year terror campaign - the second Intifada (2000-2005) – in which more than 1,000 Israelis were murdered. Arafat died of an illness in 2004.

The Trump peace plan – US President Donald Trump announced his Israel–Palestinian peace plan "Peace to Prosperity" – commonly known as “the deal of the century” - on Jan. 28, 2020. Main points of the plan: 1- Israeli sovereignty would be applied to the Jordan Valley and all Israeli towns and cities in the West Bank. 2- Jerusalem, including all its holy sites, would remain under Israeli sovereignty with accommodations made to enable access for Palestinians. 3- The remainder of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and part of what is currently Israeli land in the Negev, the Galilee, and Jerusalem - creating a territory almost equal in size to the West Bank and Gaza Strip - would form the Palestinian state, with its capital in neighborhoods in East Jerusalem that are outside of Israel's security wall. 4- The Palestinian state would be demilitarized, with Israel responsible for external security and controlling all airspace. 5- All Palestinian prisoners except murderers, and those who attempted or conspired to murder would be released. 6- Palestinians in refugee camps would be absorbed into their host countries and, subject to certain limitations, into the Palestinian state. 7- Before becoming a state, the Palestinians would have to carry out extensive reform of their laws and institutions, including implementing a new governing system; granting its people due process and basic human rights and freedoms; end all incitement to and incentivizing of terror; end all glorification of terror and martyrdom; disarm Hamas; and adopt a culture promoting peace. The goal of the plan is to create a Palestinian state beside Israel, living in peace and security. The implementation would be facilitated through extensive international investment.