student council officers are normally along party affiliations. Although the establishment of the universities was initially allowed by the Israeli authorities, some were sporadically ordered closed by the Israeli Civil Administration during the 1970s and 1980s to prevent political activities and violence against the IDF. Some universities remained closed by military order for extended periods during years immediately preceding and following the first Palestinian Intifada, but have largely remained open since the signing of the Oslo Accords despite the advent of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (Second Intifada) in 2000. The founding of Palestinian universities has greatly increased education levels among the population in the West Bank. According to a Birzeit University study, the percentage of Palestinians choosing local universities as opposed to foreign institutions has been steadily increasing; as of 1997, 41% of Palestinians with bachelor's degrees had obtained them from Palestinian institutions. According to UNESCO, Palestinians are one of the most highly educated groups in the Middle East "despite often difficult circumstances". The literacy rate among Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) is 94.6% for 2009. See also West Bank closures References Notes Citations Sources Summary: West Bank and Gaza - Area C and the future of the Palestinian economy (English) Further reading Albin, Cecilia (2001). Justice and Fairness in International Negotiation. Cambridge University Press. Bamberger, David (1985, 1994). A Young Person's History of Israel. Behrman House. Dowty, Alan (2001). The Jewish State: A Century Later. University of California Press. Eldar, Akiva and Zertal, Idith (2007). Lords of the land: the war over Israel's settlements in the occupied territories, 1967–2007, Nation Books. Gibney, Mark and Frankowski, Stanislaw (1999). Judicial Protection of Human Rights. Praeger/Greenwood. Gordon, Neve (2008).Israel's Occupation. University of California Press, Berkeley CA, Gorenberg, Gershom. The Accidental Empire. Times Books, Henry Holt and Company. . 2006. Howell, Mark (2007). What Did We Do to Deserve This? Palestinian Life under Occupation in the West Bank, Garnet Publishing. Oren, Michael (2002). Six Days of War, Oxford University Press. Playfair, Emma (Ed.) (1992). International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories. Oxford University Press. Shlaim, Avi (2000). The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World, W. W. Norton & Company. External links Statistical Atlas of Palestine – Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics Global Integrity Report: West Bank has governance and anti-corruption profile. West Bank. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.