News item:
The Gaza Strip’s four main universities have shut down, saying students can’t get to class because of fuel shortages created by Israeli cutbacks…
The shortages were aggravated last week by two developments. Gaza fuel distributors stopped selling the reduced amounts that did arrive in Gaza, to protest the Israeli cutbacks. Then Israel cut off all supplies after gunmen attacked the Israeli terminal that pumps the fuel to Gaza, killing two workers. — Jerusalem Post
Here is a photo of the Islamic University (IU) of Gaza. It certainly looks like an oasis of learning and peace in a place where there’s no shortage of ignorance and violence.
It may be a bit messier since Fatah and Hamas gangs fought here during the Hamas coup. IU was in the news last year, when it was suggested that USAID funds were used to pay for terrorism-related activities at the university:
In a report entitled “Audit of the Adequacy of USAID’s Antiterrorism Vetting Procedures,” dated November 6 and obtained by Fox News, U.S. Agency for International Development Inspector General Donald A. Gambatesa concluded USAID’s “policies, procedures, and controls are not adequate to reasonably ensure against providing assistance to terrorists”…
“In the basement of Gaza Islamic University, a U.S.-funded institution,” said Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who sits on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and requested the audit, “Palestinian police found several Iranian agents and an Iranian general teaching the students in the U.S.-funded chemistry lab how to make suicide bombs.” — Fox News
I am happy to be able to report that these suspicions are completely unfounded. FresnoZionism.org has received a copy of the IU course catalog, and you can see that it is a serious institution of higher learning. Here are a few of the offerings:
Physics 203: Dynamics — Students will learn the classical theory of the motion of bodies when forces are applied, with special emphasis on Newton’s Third Law. Students will construct their own experimental demonstration of the Third Law, showing how expanding gases in a tube closed at one end can propel the tube forward.
Chemistry 107: Physical Chemistry — This is a laboratory course in which students will learn in a practical manner about high-velocity chemical reactions which liberate large amounts of energy in short periods. Students will demonstrate how such reactions can be created using readily available compounds, like fertilizer.
Communications 250: Cellular Technology — Students will learn the use of cellular telephones for innovative purposes, such as remote control of, er, things. Students from Chemistry 107 will participate.
Civil Engineering 110: Underground Construction — Students will learn techniques used in underground construction projects. Laboratory experience will include tunneling very quietly and concealing tunnel openings.
Psychology 300: Seminar in Deviant Behavior — There has recently been an explosion of suicide in certain cultures. Students will study the reasons for it, and develop techniques to encourage discourage it.
Biology 120: Evolution — Students will learn how certain ethnic groups have evolved, especially from apes and pigs.
Poli Sci 150: Religion and Politics — No longer offered. What’s the difference?
Technorati Tags: Islamic University, Gaza