Scholasticide

Scholasticide, often used interchangeably with the terms educide and epistemicide, refers to the intended mass destruction of education in a specific place.

Educide has been used to describe the mass destruction in the Iraq War (2003–2011) and the Israeli invasion of Gaza (2023 – present).

Terminology

The terms are used interchangeably, covering various forms of the deliberate mass destruction of educational infrastructure. The suffix -cide, Latin for "killing", makes a connection with genocide.

The term scholasticide, where "schola-" is Latin for school, was first used by Karma Nabulsi in January 2009 in relation to the destruction of Palestinian educational infrastructure during the December 2008 to January 2009 Israeli war against Gaza.

The term "educide" was first used in March 2011 by Hans-Christof von Sponeck, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, in a speech concerning Iraq at the Ghent University Conference, with the prefix referring to "education".

The term epistemicide was coined by Boaventura de Sousa Santos in 2014 and describes the destruction of knowledge systems, where episteme means knowledge.

Epistemicide can be used in light of a coloniser destroying the existing knowledge systems of the colonised, to replace them with knowledge systems controlled by the coloniser.

Elements

Characteristics that are often mentioned as elements of educide include, but are not necessarily limited to;

• a strategy of intentional and systematic destruction of existing education;
• situations of extreme violence (war, invasion, conflict, genocide, etc.);
• destruction of educational institutions;
• mass killings of academics and students;
• and the destruction of educational materials.

Genocide

Educide has been linked to genocide. The United Nations (UN) established what constitutes a genocide in Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Genocide is the intentional killing and destruction of an entire group, based on their ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion.

Motives

Educide happens intentionally by an aggressor to a certain place and/or people. There are several reasons why an actor decides to commit educide. Motives for educide are for example colonisation. occupation, or annihilition of perceived threats.

When an actor wishes to impose power over a territory, this can go together with displacing or oppressing the native population and giving ruling power to the settlers or occupation forces. This process is often violent as the aggressor tries to suppress uprisings and resistance from the people living there. This suppression can happen via soft power, hard power, or both. Soft power is getting results not by coercion but by attraction, for example via payments, good affiliation, or education. Education plays a crucial role, as it reproduces ideas such as norms, and values of a society; identities and nationalism; and it determines how history is taught. Consequently, it establishes an idea of who is good and who is bad. The coloniser/occupier can use education institutions to control these ideas. It does so by taking over the educational infrastructure. In this process, the original infrastructure is often overruled and/or destroyed. The absence of the original educational infrastructure leads to the colonised/occupied having to mirror and adapt to the infrastructure that is present, that of the coloniser, and is thus (partially) under its influence and control. This can happen via hard power by coercing change and destroying the existing educational infrastructure, which leads to educide.

If an actor perceives a certain group of people form a threat to the actor's stability, security, or power, it could try to weaken or destroy this group of people. In this process, the actor could perceive the educational infrastructure as a danger, since this is where knowledge is developed that serves this group of people. The actor can then decide to destroy the educational infrastructure. For an example, see the case study on Iraq below.

Impact

The destruction of the educational infrastructure of a place has long-term effects on its people. Possible impacts of educide are

1. Inaccessibility to education;
2. Educational delays and disadvantages (e.g. higher illiteracy rate);
3. Underemployment: due to the absence of education, people will not reach their potential in the education they could have achieved, or are not able to receive their diploma. This leads to the possibility of people having work that does not reach their full capabilities and satisfaction in their job.;
4. Linguicide: if a certain language is no longer taught, there is a chance for the death of this language because people no longer know how to write or read it, nor develop their oral skills to the full potential;
5. Brain drain: during educide, academics and students can be targeted and thus fled their country, leading to a brain drain as high educated people leave the country;
6. Ethnic cleansing and/or genocide: removing the entire educational infrastructure can lead to a loss of collective memory and knowledge reproduction, and thus contribute to ethnic cleansing and/or genocide of a people and its identity;
7. Colonisation: by removing the existing educational infrastructure and replacing it with a new one, a coloniser can control the reproduction and access to knowledge, which are instrumental in colonising a territory.

International law

Educide is not discussed as a specific crime, such as genocide, in international law. Nevertheless, other elements in international humanitarian law (IHL) try to prevent the crimes committed during educide. IHL established for example the protection of schools and the protection of innocent civilians.

Cases

Iraq

For more background information, see Education in Iraq.

The first case in which the term educide was used, was for Iraq. The claimed educide in Iraq happened through multiple episodes. Before the 1990s, Iraq's educational infrastructure was good and improving. During the 1990s, the UN imposed sanctions decreased the education's quality and accessibility, as it reduced income via trade which would end up going to the educational system. The situation worsened further during the Iraq War (2003–2011) and the war in Iraq against terrorist groups such as Daesh (2013–2017).

Iraq War

During the Iraq War, the US aimed for a regime change in Iraq to fight the perceived threat of terror and weapons of mass destruction as part of the "war on terror" campaign, which is described by critics as an illegitimate invasion motivated by imperialism (see also: Rationale for the Iraq War; Legitimacy of the 2003 invasion of Iraq; Opposition to the Iraq War, Protests against the Iraq War; and Legality of the Iraq War). Changing the regime, by changing the political and economic status quo, was partially done via educide. The US dismantled the educational system, replaced it with a system dependent on British and American universities, and promoted "Western values," which were criticised for being Islamophobic. However, this led primarily to the Iraqi educational infrastructure being destroyed systematically and with the intention to do so. Between 2003 and 2007, school attendance dropped by almost 70%, at least 280 academics were killed, and 30% of the total number of professors, doctors, and engineers left Iraq. Iraq's educational infrastructure faced many problems due to a lack of materials, a fear of bombings and kidnappings that prevented people from going to their educational institutions, and many professors fleeing the country. Additionally, around 2007, many could not perform their professions due to missing certificates, while governmental officials sometimes missed the actual education they claimed to have. The absence of education had a lot of impact on the Iraqi population, as more than 40% of the Iraqi people are aged 15 years or younger.

Daesh

Between 2013 and 2017 the educational infrastructure suffered again. Due to the war against Daesh (also known as "IS", "ISIS", or "ISIL"), the Iraqi government reduced assistance to 5.2 million children. As of 2023, 770,000 children are displaced. Between 2013 and 2017, in places under Daesh control, the curriculum was changed. Classes such as history or literature were replaced for religious teachings. The change of curriculum resulted in parents taking their children out of school to prevent indoctrination. Girls were disadvantaged in their access to education, with an adapted curriculum based on gender and having access to education only up to the age of 15. Girls dropped out due to marrying young, as this could prevent them from being forcefully married to a Daesh fighter. Moreover, from 2013 to 2017, educational institutions were attacked. Refworld reports that more than 100 attacks happened in which 300 people (students and staff) were injured. Additionally, there were targeted murders, kidnappings, and threats which harmed 60 students and more than 100 staff. Finally, the buildings of educational institutions were used for military purposes, such as Mosul University.

The educide in Iraq, although throughout different circumstances, was intending to change the status quo by replacing the existing educational infrastructure with a new one. In both cases, it led to significantly destruction of education and access to education.

Gaza, Palestine

See also: Education in the State of Palestine and Attacks on schools during the Israeli invasion of Gaza

The terms "educide," "scholasticide," and "epistemicide" have been used to describe Israeli repression of Palestinian educiational infrastructure. After the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7 (for more background information, see Blockade of the Gaza Strip and Gaza-Israel Conflict), Israel attacked Gaza. This attack has been ongoing ever since and developed into a war on Gaza as well as a possible case of genocide on Gaza. The war on Gaza has destroyed the entire infrastructure and thus forms a case of educide.

As a result of the war on Gaza, most educational institutions are destroyed, including 80% of all schools in Gaza. Critics have claimed that Israel has systematically and intentionally destroyed all the universities in Gaza. Some of the educational buildings have been changed into military bases by Israel. In addition to the material infrastructure, Israel has targeted those connected to the educational infrastructure, such as students and academics. In April 2024, 5479 students, 261 teachers, and 95 university professors were killed and 7819 students and 756 teachers injured. The numbers have been increasing ever since. According to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Gaza, 625000 students cannot access education. For further information, Scholars Against the War on Palestine, has listed the acts that are part of the scholasticide, and which have happened in Gaza.

See also

• Cultural genocide

Bibliography

• Glück, Zoltán (2024-04-26). "Introduction – Anthropology and the security encounter: Toward an abolitionist anthropology in the age of permanent war" (PDF). American Anthropologist. doi:10.1111/aman.13977. ISSN 0002-7294.
• Suslovic, Brianna; Rasmussen, Cameron; Kim, Mimi; Sarantakos, Sophia; Dettlaff, Alan; Roe, Christina; Guevara, Vivianne (2024-06-17). "Speaking Against Silence: Examining Social Work's Response to Genocide". Abolitionist Perspectives in Social Work. 2 (1). doi:10.52713/5sehsp64. ISSN 2832-1154.
• Alousi, Rula (2022-08-10). "Educide: The Genocide of Education. A case study on the impact of invasion, and conflict on education" (PDF). The Business and Management Review. 13 (2). Centre for Business and Economic Research: 331–335. doi:10.24052/BMR/V13NU02/ART-28. ISSN 2047-2862.
• Wind, Maya (2024). Towers of Ivory and Steel: How Israeli Universities Deny Palestinian Freedom. Verso. ISBN 978-1-80429-176-4.

Further reading

• Scholasticide Definition by Scholars Against the War on Palestine
• Scholars Against the War on Palestine Toolkit