Introducing
Carmela A. Omary,
Champion of
Birzeit University
for Over 30 Years
kicking off a 34-year career in teaching and administration.
“I think [the university] offers a unique learning
experience for students,” said Carmela in an interview with
Al Ghadeer. “I have attempted to creatively integrate all
the lessons and experiences that I’ve been through into
each and every one of my lectures. I would ask students to
analyze newly-released articles on complex mathematical
problems, and they would hand it in the next day. They
have what it takes.”
Bright as Birzeit University students were, the Israeli
occupation, with its restrictive measures and penchant for
obstructing Palestinian education, cast an ever-present
shadow over their daily lives and academic careers.
“Five months after I started teaching at Birzeit, I
received an Israeli military order forbidding me from
going out of Jerusalem. Teaching never stopped, however.
I gave students lectures at my house and at the YWCA
headquarters in Jerusalem,” said Carmela, recalling
the rough era of campus closures by the Israeli military
authorities.
While extraordinary, Carmela’s
experiences in “guerilla” teaching
were not unmatched.
Israeli military authorities made it
a habit to close-off Birzeit University’s
campus. To date, there have been
15 closures of the campus since
Birzeit transformed into a university
in 1972, the longest of which lasted
51 months, from 1988 to 1992.
During that period, many professors
held lectures in their own homes
and backyards, and when that was
not feasible, they met with their
students in cars, hotel rooms, schools,
churches, and mosques.
In 1992, Carmela took over
as director of the Department of
Registration and Admissions, and
in just four months, she was able
to completely change department
procedures and how it handles a
multitude of requests.
When asked about the most
pressing issues during her tenure
as director of the registration
department, she mentioned
acceptance requirements. “A lot
of people were calling for lower
grade requirements, saying that
the threshold is too high. But I
persevered. I was determined to
“
uphold Birzeit University’s bylaws and regulations,” she
explained, noting that the only way the university could
attain international rankings was by following well-defined
rules and procedures.
Carmela moved up again in Birzeit University’s hierarchy,
from serving as director of the Registration and Admission’s
Department to a post as the president’s administrative
assistant, a position that would later be renamed into “vice
president for administrative and academic affairs.”
Just as Carmela was beginning her duties as vice
president, the university was hit by a major financial crisis.
With her characteristic poise and shrewdness, Carmela was
able to mitigate the effects of the deficit by reducing the
number of employees and increasing efficiency – while
paying fair compensation – and granting the Union of
Employees and Professors access to the university’s budget
and the full range of decisions that were made to counter
financial challenges.
Exacerbating the financial issues affecting Birzeit
University were the Israeli military authorities’ constraints
and harassments, which culminated
in closing off the main road to the
university. Carmela, who fiercely
believed in the Palestinian right to
education, was among the first to
stand up to Israeli violations.
One peaceful march by Birzeit
University professors and students
was able to open the main road to
traffic (that is, before Israeli soldiers
attacked the protestors, injuring
20). Carmela, defiant, headed to
the soldiers’ position to deliver two
petitions, in English, Arabic, and
Hebrew.
The first petition was based on
articles 3, 27, 33, of the Fourth
Geneva Convention, while the second
called for Israel to stop its blockade of
Palestinians and its policy of collective
punishment.
Summing up her experiences,
Carmela says that Birzeit University
“taught me to give as much as I
want, and assessed me only by my
capabilities, and nothing else. Birzeit
University never stood in my way
toward success; on the contrary, it
helped me develop and grow, and it
will do the same for others, according
to their capabilities, and only their
capabilities.”
She has always
held fast to her
beliefs, whether
at the Technion in
She defied blockades, curfews, and financial troubles in her quest
to maintain the university as a leading light for Palestinians
C
armela Armanious Omary, a member of Birzeit
University’s Board of Trustees and one of the
university’s luminaries, views education as a vital tool
in the path toward Palestinian freedom. She challenged
Israeli restrictions and oppression through education, and
helped turn the university into a bastion of Palestinian
ingenuity.
She has always held fast to her beliefs, whether at
the Technion in Haifa, where she actively advocated for
the rights of Palestinians – even though she was only the
second female Palestinian student at that time at that
university – or at I’billin, a town in northern occupied
Palestine, where she was one of the earliest Palestinian
14
Al Ghadeer - Fall 2018
mathematics instructors in the area.
In 1977, a year after her appointment at I’billin, she
was laid off by the Israeli Ministry of Education due to her
activity as a proponent of Palestinian students’ rights. A
year later, in 1978, her parents moved to Australia, where
she earned her Ph.D. in mathematics.
Her father, Habeeb Armanios, was a Birzeit University
graduate. He often told Carmela about Birzeit College,
later Birzeit University, describing it as a place that
celebrates the free spirit, passion for knowledge,
intellectualism, and Palestinian national consciousness. She
had to see and experience the campus for herself; after
earning her doctorate, Carmela headed to the university,
Haifa, where she
actively advocated
for the rights
of Palestinians
– even though
she was only the
second female
Palestinian student
at that time at that
”
university.
Birzeit University
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