ALEP Hosts Panel Discussion on Terrorist Attacks Against Educational Institutions
On Thursday November 3, 2016, Stanford Law School’s Afghanistan Legal Education Project (ALEP) hosted a special lunch panel entitled “War on Education: Spotlight on the Recent Terrorist Attack at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF).” The panel was moderated by ALEP Executive Director Mehdi Hakimi, with panelists consisting of ALEP’s founding professor Erik Jensen, AUAF alumni Sayed Madadi and Onaba Payab, and a current student of AUAF’s law department, Samira Abrar.
The panelists spoke about recent disturbing global trends where extremists have increasingly been targeting academic institutions, and the consequent risk that many students and faculty members face in receiving and providing education in these dangerous environments. Such danger became especially apparent this year on August 24 when terrorists attacked AUAF in Kabul, killing numerous innocent students and staff, including former SLS Visiting Scholar, Professor Naqib Ahmad Khpulwak.
Professor Jensen began the discussion by describing Stanford Law School’s strong partnership with AUAF, the Afghan government’s resolve to improve security at AUAF, and ALEP’s firm commitment to assisting AUAF in any way that it can in response to this year’s tragedy. Sayed Madadi then discussed the historically important role that educational institutions have played in Afghan society and politics, and how AUAF’s unique characteristics have rendered it susceptible to targeting by extremists.
Onaba Payab then spoke about Afghanistan’s progress in education over the last 15 years, including increases in literacy, numbers of schools and universities, and in female students attending educational institutions. Despite these developments, however, Ms. Payab also acknowledged the many remaining challenges, including weaknesses in security, corruption, and cultural resistance to female education which have also been accompanied by targeted attacks against girls’ schools in Afghanistan.
Lastly, Samira Abrar described her experience escaping from the terrorists on the night of the August 24 attack, including the terrible realization that after a 10-hour long siege of the campus, one of her classmates who she had just spoken with that day had been killed. Ms. Abrar concluded with an inspiring and hopeful message, emphasizing that AUAF students are even more committed now to moving forward with their education and showing that they will not be deterred by these acts of terror.
