2020-06-30

West Bank and Gaza Strip

West Bank / Gaza

MUSAWA Holds Electronic Meetings to Strengthen the Role of Palestinian Youth in the Palestinian Public Space and Legal Scene

In light of the outbreak of the Coronavirus in Palestine, MUSAWA- the Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession, in partnership with IM, the Swedish Development Partner, has been organizing electronic meetings aiming at strengthening the role of Palestinian youth in public spaces and the Palestinian legal scene. In this context, the center held two electronic meetings during May and June, entitled, “E-learning as a tool to address the Coronavirus: The experience in the legal framework, the quality of the output, and the legality of the fees”, and “The role of youth, the mechanisms for monitoring public funds, the right to access information, and the performance of duty-bearers during the Coronavirus crisis”.

On 21/5/2010, the center held an electronic meeting entitled “E-learning as a tool to address the Coronavirus: The experience in the legal framework, the quality of the output, and the legality of the fees”, which was attended by 26 participants, and it hosted Dr. Ahmad Al-Salibi, the Director of E-learning at Al-Israa University, Nour Nshawan, a Media Faculty-student at Gaza University, Nour Sheikha, a Lecturer at Gaza University, Amal Dader, a Lecturer at the University of Palestine, Dr. Saeed Abu Fara, a representative of the Arab American University in Jenin, and Dr. Manal al-Ishi, a representative of the Islamic University of Gaza. 

The pillars of discussion included the credibility of electronic education, the mechanisms for guaranteeing it, and controlling its quality, credibility and output, in light of the effective role of the Ministry of Education, the effectiveness of electronic education for different degrees and specializations, the impact of awareness and availability of electronic technologies on the success of the adoption of electronic education, the legal value of E-learning in the absence of a governing legislation, the ability to challenge the decisions on E-learning before the competent court, given that they are administrative decisions, the importance of cooperation between academics and students to achieve the best results, the evaluation of the Palestinian experience in electronic education, the audience suggestions on the development of this field, and the electronic education reliance on the operational expenses of universities and how it impacts the fees, in terms of value and payment mechanism. In addition, several questions were raised, including whether students received training on the use of electronic learning tools, whether E-justice had been achieved for all students alike, and what measures the universities adopt to that end. The meeting concluded that E-learning is the best option available for the continuity of the educational process. However, the E-learning experience is marred by some obstacles related to the electronic capabilities of the students. The meeting also concluded that universities must evaluate and develop this experiment to serve the educational process and achieve E-justice for all students. This, in turn, will be reflected on tuition fees by balancing them with the educational services offered to the students.

On 25/6/2020, MUSAWA held another electronic meeting, entitled ”The role of youth, the mechanisms for monitoring public funds, the right to access information, and the performance of duty-bearers during the Coronavirus crisis. The meeting was attended by 12 participants, and it hosted Dr. Ashraf Syam, a Public Law Professor at Birzeit University, Dr.Joman Qneis, a Media Professor at Birzeit University, and Dr. Soleiman Abu Salameh, the Legal Adviser of Al-Israa University. 

The pillars of discussion included the formal and informal control mechanisms over public finances, and the legality and credibility of social media in overseeing public money and the performance of duty-bearers during the pandemic. The meeting concluded that a law on the right of access to information should be adopted to ensure credible informal oversight over the two mentioned pillars.