Birzeit University memorial destruction aims to crush Palestinian memory

After Israeli soldiers stormed Birzeit University near Ramallah to demolish a stone memorial dedicated to dead students, Rania Washaha, 47, felt the pain of bereavement again.Her brother, Fadi, 34, was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier near the northern entrance to el-Bireh in the central West Bank in May 2021.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4How reconstruction became Israel’s new weapon of ‘silent transfer’ in Gazalist 2 of 4Birzeit University raid seen as warning against Palestinian defiancelist 3 of 4Israeli assault on Palestinian university wounds dozens in West Bank raidlist 4 of 4Israeli forces raid Birzeit University in the occupied West Bankend of listHis name was among the 38 students from the university killed by Israel and listed on the stone pillar known as the Martyrs’ Monument.Israeli soldiers raided the university campus at dawn on Monday, accompanied by 10 military vehicles. A bulldozer demolished the pillar, and soldiers took away the marble stone. In its place, the Israelis left a planter containing a fig sapling, bearing the inscription: “Water it twice.”Targeting the UniversityThis raid marks the fifth Israeli incursion into the campus since th...