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The People's University for Palestine is a collective of educators, students, and community members committed to building a space for learning, teaching, and action rooted in justice for Palestine. Formed in response to increasing state repression of pro-Palestine activism and education, including Governor Greg Abbott’s Executive Order 44, the People’s University seeks to transform education into a tool for resistance and liberation. We exist outside traditional institutional confines, reclaiming the power of knowledge to challenge oppression and imagine a freer future.
Our initiative began on June 25, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas, a place with its own rich history of colonization and resistance. Inspired by the global movement to hold institutions accountable for their complicity in the oppression of Palestine, we have created a space that combines the urgent work of education with the imperative for liberation. By centering Palestinian voices and experiences, we aim to expose and resist colonial violence while connecting struggles for justice here and abroad.
Our Values
Our Values
Our work is guided by the following principles and values:
Members of the People’s University who were present collectively volunteered a list of principles and values to guide the planning, curriculum, and implementation of future meetings.
PALESTINE-CENTERED: The People’s University will center all of its programming and activities on local solidarity with the liberation of Palestine and the uplifting of Palestinian voices.
INDEPENDENCE: The People’s University will remain free from institutional influence or control, maintaining independence in the development of programming and activities, and focusing on making content and knowledge accessible beyond the confines of traditional institutions of higher education.
ACCESSIBILITY: The People’s University will be responsive to the community’s needs as they relate to digital, spatial, cultural, and (dis)ability-centered access to programming, activities, content, knowledge, and decision-making.
COMMUNITY: The People’s University is above all a community, connecting Yanaguana (including present-day San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.) to the SWANA Region (including present-day Palestine), upholding standards of inclusiveness and empathy, promoting sustainability and mutual aid, and uniting individuals within local and global movements for decolonization and the liberation of all.
LIBERATION: The People’s University will serve as a model of liberation, employing horizontal leadership and collective decision-making, promoting cooperation and equity among members, and decentering white and/or western narratives within higher education that have traditionally devalued and disenfranchised indigenous ways of knowing.
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