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Last update - 04:40 01/11/2009
Increasing numbers of Israeli Arabs studying at Jordanian universities
By Ofri Ilani
Tags: jordan, higher education 

Increasing numbers of Israeli Arab high school graduates are leaving the country to study at Jordanian universities, according to a recent survey. A decade ago fewer than 100 Arab Israelis were studying at Jordanian institutions of higher learning, but last year this swelled to about 5,000.

According to the study, sponsored by Dirsat: The Arab Center for Law and Policy, a major reason for the phenomenon is age requirements in many departments at Israeli universities, as well as the language barrier.


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hen Maria Shalash of the largely Arab city of Nazareth graduated from high school two years ago, she wanted to study occupational therapy and communication disorders. "The field interested me, and people also told me that there were jobs [in the field]," she said.

Shalash tried to gain a place at the University of Haifa and was invited for an interview. But the university later discovered she was under 20, which disqualified her. She is now studying law, where there is no minimum-age requirement.

De facto discrimination

Shalash is not alone. Thousands of young high school graduates who want to study nursing or occupational or physical therapy have to wait until their 20th birthdays because of limitations by universities. Organizations representing the Arab community are seeking to change the situation, saying that it constitutes de facto discrimination against Israeli Arabs.

Though similar age requirements are not generally imposed by universities abroad, Israeli universities say the policy is necessary to ensure that students are emotionally mature. On the other hand, the Israel Defense Forces allows recruits, most of whom are Jewish, to defer their military service and enter university at age 18.

In recent years, Israel Arab civil rights organizations have sought to fight the universities' minimum-age requirements. "This discrimination actually harms [students seeking to study] in the fields that are most needed by the Arab public," said Dirsat director Yusuf Jabarin. "Even if it was originally not designed to harm Arab students, it is appropriate to consider abolishing [the restrictions]."

A lawsuit filed by the Nazareth-based Karameh human rights organization seeking to abolish the age provisions is currently pending in Tel Aviv District Court.

"I finished high school with good grades and I wanted to do paramedical studies," said Fadel Sa'adi, who hails from an Arab village in the north. "Ultimately I decided to study nursing, but I couldn't because I wasn't 20. I didn't have anything to do so I worked in construction."

A spokesman for the University of Haifa declined to comment on the matter because it was the subject of legal proceedings. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev said that age is a "criterion that is a predictor of success relating to the need to deal with practical experiences." He said that "the university has an interest in maximizing the success rate [of its students]."

The university noted that there are other areas such as the granting of firearms licenses or a bus or taxi driver's license where the applicant needs to be over 18. Regarding the army's program that allows 18-year-olds to enter university, a spokesman said that "the university fulfills the dictates of the Israel Defense Forces ... on the understanding that it involves an important national need."
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  1.   TWISTED LOGIC EVEN FOR HAARETZ 05:25  |  Steve of Mevaserret 01/11/09
  2.   Discrimination? 07:53  |  Michael Davison 01/11/09
  3.   They want it both ways 08:30  |  Emir 01/11/09
  4.   Equal rights and obligations for all 09:06  |  Ben 01/11/09
  5.   #1 and #2 discriminatory thinking 10:08  |  David 01/11/09
  6.   I think the age barrier makes sense 10:23  |  ... 01/11/09
  7.   Michael Davidson: As many Israelis, you have just decided to go 10:52  |  Philip 01/11/09
  8.   Emir: Why would they serve the country that gives them nothing 10:55  |  Philip 01/11/09
  9.   age to start university 14:44  |  Allan Fox 02/11/09
  10.   why not. jordan is palestine. 05:49  |  ralph 09/11/09
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