News Roundup: 10/10/07
Iranian Students Protest President Ahmadinejad
The strongest base of Iran's 1979 Revolution against the Shah was the university campus; once again students are agitating against a brutally authoritarian government — in the face of extreme risk. AP:
About 100 students staged a rare protest Monday against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calling him a "dictator" as he gave a speech at Tehran University marking the beginning of the academic year.
While the demonstrators and hard-line students loyal to Ahmadinejad scuffled in the auditorium, the president ignored chants of "Death to the dictator" and gave his speech on the merits of science and the pitfalls of Western-style democracy, witnesses said. [Full article here]
In the late 1990s the reformist Mohammad Khatami was elected President. As a result almost all aspects of society saw a modest blossoming of openness and freedom, including the activist climate on campuses, where the world witnessed the first real student organizing and protests since the early 1980s. (It also bears reminding that all decisions made by the President can be overruled by the Guardian Council, which is hand-picked by the hard-line Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As a result of almost constant interference by the Guardian Council, the populace became largely disillusioned by Khatami's lack of progress, which was a key factor in the victory of Ahmadinejad in 2005.)
It will be fascinating to see if this signals the beginning of a renewed youth movement in Iran — if so, the numbers are on their side. Iran right now is an incredibly "young" country: while the average life expectancy in Iran is a standard 70 years, the median age of the population is only 25, with 2/3 of the population younger than 30 years old.
South African Students Protest Tuition Hike, Are Met With Rubber Bullets
Students have been campaigning against a 14% hike in tuition at the University of Johannesburg, and over the past few days, several campuses — both inner-city and suburban — have seen widespread protests. The stated reason for the hike is the otherwise noble goal of equalizing salaries between faculty and staff. This is just another example of administrators and elites winning by pitting potential allies against each other. On Monday, the University was granted an interdict by a High Court ruling, which barred protests and protesters from "disrupting academic or operational activities at any of the university campuses." Even still, hundreds of students protested openly, and were met with dozens of arrests, stun grenades, water cannons, and rubber bullets. IOL News:
Many protesters said the conflict, apart from increased fees, was about deeper issues related to the university merger and inequalities between the university's campuses.
One placard at the protest called for "updated library books and the library to be open 24 hours". [Full article here]
Israeli Blockade Stops Students from Leaving Gaza for School
Israel has taken control of the one free and open exit out of Gaza (the Egyptian border), and that has left thousands of students stranded there, unable to return to their schools. Reuters:
"Being held in Gaza affects my whole life," Mudallal told Reuters. "I need to return to the life I have built."
Israel has allowed a few Palestinian students to leave Gaza in time for the start of a new academic year at universities in Europe and the Middle East. But Palestinian officials say permits are issued sporadically and after long delays, meaning some 6,000 Gazans -- including hundreds of students -- have been forced to put their studies on hold.
"Gaza trap? I would say Gaza grave," said 18-year-old Talal Mohammad, a Gaza student who had been hoping to study in Cairo. "We built hopes like mountains but they have all collapsed." [Full article here]
Another Student Union Signs Onto the ASSÉ Strike Plan
The Canadian student union ASSÉ is calling for an unlimited, general strike later this month in response to the reneged promises of the Liberal government regarding education funding and tuition. However, some are claiming the mood is apparently somewhat different than in 2005 (when a massive student strike resulted in a complete victory for students). The McGill Daily:
A General Assembly of nearly 700 Social Science students at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) voted to approve a strike mandate Thursday afternoon, setting in motion the push for a general student strike across Quebec.
The Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ), a coalition of student unions in Quebec representing about 40,000 students, is hoping to call an unlimited general strike in the coming weeks to protest the Liberal government's lifting of the 13-year-old freeze on provincial tuition. ASSÉ is demanding free tuition, higher-quality resources and services, and increased rights for student-parents.
[...]
But support for a general strike has not been unanimous. Debate at the AFESH General Assembly lasted five hours, although the motion eventually passed with 62 per cent voting in favour. Many students reportedly expressed hesitation to go on strike so soon after the large-scale 2005 strike against the Liberal government’s $103-million cuts to grants and bursaries.
"Last time [in 2005], everybody was against the cuts to the bursaries. But this time it's more an ideological debate," Leduc said. "There were people [at the General Assembly] that were not convinced that the strike is the right way to go." [Full article here]
ASSÉ is also hosting the Student Unionism retreat being organized by the
Democratizing Education Network
later this month.