Student Life In Occupied Palestine

This is a free public talk by Brother Peter Bray, Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem University in Palestine. Peter is a New Zealander and a De La Salle brother who has been at Bethlehem University since 2008.

Peter will talk about the challenges of student life in occupied Palestine. The talk will be held in St Andrews on the Terrace from 6-7.30 pm. The talk is free but you will be invited to give a donation to support the the work of Bethlehem University.

"There are many challenges facing us as we seek to provide quality higher education for our students The most obvious are the restrictions on movement. At present, 46 percent of our students come from East Jerusalem. To attend class they must pass through a military checkpoint at the wall each day — an unpredictable and humiliating experience. What these students face on their way to and from the university is the possibility that their bus may be stopped once or twice or even three times by different groups of Israeli soldiers. They can be questioned, interrogated, arrested; they could have a gun held to their face without any warning. You can imagine how they might feel by the time they arrive at school." - Brother Peter Bray