Hunger-striking Bethlehem students hospitalized

Ambulances of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society on Sunday evening evacuated five students from Bethlehem University to hospital after they were on hunger strike for almost a week. The hunger-striking students were evacuated to the Bethlehem Arab Society Hospital in Beit Jala. Onlookers identified three of the students as Jalal Hamdan, Muhammad Suman, and Ali Farhan. Medics said the students collapsed because of a lack of food as well as stress. Another group of students announced they would join the hunger strike. Their names have yet to be announced. The university’s administration is scheduled to convene later Monday. Striking students say they disapprove of the administration’s response highlighting that the vice chancellor has travelled abroad. The administration suspended classes last Tuesday, saying it could not ensure students' safety on campus because of the protests, which have included all-night sit-ins. The student senate, which is leading the protest, said it had tried to end the crisis by offering the university 40,000 Jordanian dinars ($56,400) from the Fatah movement to exempt students from tuition fee increases. It said the university had not responded to the initiative. In mid-December, university staff in the West Bank held a strike to protest the government's failure to abolish taxes on their end-of-service pay. Their union also demanded the payment of university budgets approved by the government, noting that delays in the payment caused late salaries.