GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — On Aug. 9, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Ramallah announced its official withdrawal of accreditation from Al-Aqsa University in the Gaza Strip. The ministry issued a statement the following day appointing the current chairman of the board of trustees as chairman of the university.

This decision to invalidate new degrees sparked the concern of high school students from Gaza who want to enroll in the university and reflected the deep division that prevails between the Gaza and Ramallah ministries of education. 

In August 2015, a crisis broke out at Al-Aqsa University when former chairman, Ali Abu Zuhri, resigned for unknown reasons after occupying his position for only four months. Khawla Shakhsheer, who was the minister of education and higher education in Ramallah at the time, tasked Abdul Salam Abu Zaida with handling the chairman’s responsibilities until a new chairman was appointed. Abu Zaida was the most senior serving employee at the university. This decision came in line with Article 17 of Law No. 4 of 2009 on the statute of public universities in Palestine, stating that the oldest serving person at the university shall handle the president’s tasks until a new president is appointed.

The ministry in Gaza did not approve of Abu Zaida’s appointment and tasked Mohammed Radwan, who was deputy president of Al-Aqsa University for Information Technology Affairs, to fulfill the chairman position. The Gaza ministry based its decision on the same law. However, according to the Gaza ministry, the law stipulates the appointment of the oldest serving deputy, not the oldest serving employee.