Two years ago Mohammed was looking forward to graduation. He was planning a life after university and preparing to apply for a master's degree abroad. Life was going according to plan and he was happy. All of this changed the day he was arrested. After being held by the Israelis for 68 days without charge, Mohammed was eventually charged for being politically active on campus and he was imprisoned for 11 months. Nevertheless, today Mohammed, 23, is smiling. After more than a year served in prison, he returned to Bethlehem University and spent another year with his nose back in the books, catching up on lost academic time. This year he will become the proud owner of a business degree and join 533 other Bethlehem University students on the stage at graduation. "It was my dream when I was in prison that I would get out to graduate," said Mohammed, who said although he's opposed to the Israeli occupation and has political leanings, he's never committed a crime. "All the time in my investigations the Israelis said 'you will die in prison' and they said 'after you are released you will not graduate because you won't be able to escape jail and what happened to you here.' But they failed and I succeeded. I am graduating." Despite his joy at finally being able to graduate after six years of study and hardship, Mohammed said his life will never be what he'd originally intended. He was forced to change plans to study abroad because he's not allowed to leave, and instead he's now looking for a job and hoping to permanently emigrate. "For someone like me who was arrested, it's different, it's much more complicated to live here normally. I can't travel abroad. I've been blacklisted - all my life has been changed." As well, he's lost touch with friends who graduated before him. Mohammed is one of many Bethlehem University students who've been imprisoned without charge or because of their political views. There are hundreds more who've overcome harassment, humiliation and other various daily obstacles to graduate this year. Manar is glad she'll never have to come back to Bethlehem. The 21-year-old Education graduate loved her Bethlehem University experience but hated the daily frustration of commuting from Jerusalem, just nine kilometers from Bethlehem, but often a journey of several hours. More than 27 per cent of Bethlehem University students live in Jerusalem and another eight per cent live elsewhere in the West Bank. Like Manar, many cross more than two checkpoints daily, often spending hours getting to and from university. "Sometimes they take our ID cards and they spend time writing down all the details, just to make us late," said Manar. "And if you happen to forget your ID you have to travel across town to another checkpoint." When they cross a checkpoint, sometimes students must remove their shoes, belt and bags. "It's like an airport," said Manar. "Many times we are waiting outside for up to an hour, whether it is hot or raining, they don't care."But she said the worst aspect of the daily crossings is the humiliation. Manar has seen soldiers attempt to forcibly remove the clothes of friends who set off a checkpoint alarm. Other times, she said they swore or shouted sexual slurs at Palestinian female students. Another 2008 Education graduate, Rula, has also experienced sexual harassment on her way to school. For the past four years she's been forced to walk between checkpoints, alongside an Israeli highway, going to and from university. The soft-spoken, tiny 22-year-old student said there is no space for pedestrians and she often waits 10 minutes just to cross the busy highway. One time on her way to school, she said an Israeli truck approached her and the passengers were shouting sexual slurs and making lewd gestures. Rula had to jump into a deep gully to escape the attackers. Other times she's had tear gas thrown at her near the checkpoint and many times she's been refused crossing and missed class. "I'm afraid every day because sometimes I'm alone without friends and there are only Israeli cars and soldiers," she said. "Sometimes I can't think in university because I am thinking about and worried what the Israelis will do when I return. All the time I can't concentrate in my lectures because of this." According to Dr. Hala Al-Yamani, a professor in the Faculty of Education, this is another more insidious consequence of the checkpoints and harassment. She said over the years she's noticed a dramatic decline in her student's motivation and concentration in the classroom. "When you are facing this sort of pressure or humiliation, your feelings toward yourself change and you feel worthless," she said, noting that she's also regularly held up for hours at checkpoints. "This feeling affects the energy as well as the motivation. Sometimes they keep their thoughts in and they think about it and I notice their concentration is less than before." Despite this, Dr. Al-Yamani said this year's graduation of more than 530 Bethlehem University students proves they are strong and committed. "Even though they are facing all these troubles, there is a resistance and they say 'hey, I want to do it,'" she said. "We've got that power that says nothing will stop us. When you lose your home and you lose your land and you lose everything, you have to prove yourself, we don't have any other way than education." Mohammed agrees. During the year he spent in prison, charged for a crime he knows he didn't do, the one thing that got him through it was a determination that he'd get out and finish his studies. One year late, he's accomplished just that. "I am proud and happy," he said, beaming from ear to ear.