On October 14, 2025, Israeli officials banned Bana Al-Ghoul, an undergraduate student at Birzeit University, from the West Bank in apparent retaliation for her student activism.

Israeli authorities summoned Al-Ghoul, a resident of Jerusalem, to the Moskobiya Detention Center. There, they gave her an order banning her from entering the West Bank, where Birzeit University is located, for six months until April 12, 2026. According to local media sources, the justification for the ban was that Al-Ghoul posed a danger because of her student activities and Birzeit University. The ban effectively prevents Al-Ghoul from continuing her studies.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about state authorities denying a student entry to the territory where her university is located in an apparent effort to restrict or retaliate against his nonviolent exercise of academic freedom and freedom of speech – conduct which is protected by international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Israel is a signatory. State authorities have an obligation to respect academic freedom and to refrain from imposing arbitrary restrictions on movement that limit academic freedom. In addition to harm to the immediate victim, such travel restrictions deter academic activity and undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://imemc.org/article/palestinian-student-banned-from-the-west-bank-for-6-months/
https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/163361
https://yaffaps.com/en/page-52384.html