Israel has long had a policy of undermining Palestinian institutions of higher education, and this has had a profound impact on scientific research. “What is easy in Palestine?” asks Yousef Najajreh, an Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at Al-Quds University. “Driving on the road is not easy. Going to the supermarket is not easy. No, doing science in Palestine is something like a miracle, if you manage to do science.”

Join Scientists for Palestine for renowned Palestinian astrophysicist Imad Barghouthi’s first interview since being released after nearly a year of Israeli administrative detention.

“Dear colleagues, I ask you to take a few minutes of your time to act in support of Palestinians and against the illegal procedure of administrative detention.” Prof. Imad Barghouthi asks for international support as he waits for an Israeli court to review the military order that put him under administrative detention for four months.

“The repeated arrest of one of Palestine’s most active and prominent scientists is a direct attack to Palestinian’s right to science protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” says 2018 Chemistry Nobel Laureate George Smith. “The violation of the right to science anywhere is an attack to scientists everywhere”.

Prof. Imad Barghouthi, a faculty member in the physics department of Al Quds University, writes from Ofer prison where he has been held since July 16. He asks the international community for support in demanding his release, or least the ability to continue teaching during his detention.

On Thursday, July 16th 2020, renowned Palestinian scientist Imad Barghouthi was detained by Israeli military forces during a routine stop at a military checkpoint outside of Anata. This is the third time he has been detained since 2014.

Scientists from around the world write an open letter deploring a particle physics conference being held at Ariel University, an academic institution located in an Israeli settlement deep in the West Bank. Attending the conference “amounts to accepting the Israeli government’s policy of gradually annexing the occupied territories to Israel,” they say.

Palestinian astrophysicist Imad Barghouthi, a professor at Al-Quds University, is currently being held in Israeli administrative detention – imprisonment without charge or trial. His three-month sentence is indefinitely renewable on the basis of “secret evidence” to which he and his lawyer are denied access. “Imad is the source of love and kindness in our house. He is very joyful and he spreads positivity wherever he goes,” says Duha Barghouthi, 17, Imad’s daughter and a graduating high school student. “My father is a man who loves his country and he has paid a price for that.”

For the second time in 16 months, Israelis arrested a renowned Palestinian astrophysicist, Imad Barghouti. The last time it was because of his Facebook posts, and an international campaign helped to free him over the issue of freedom of expression.