Israel Reopens West Bank College Closed in Uprising : Mideast: The action is seen as a test case. If all goes well, other nearby Arab campuses shuttered for the last 30 months may also reopen.

Israeli authorities Saturday reopened the first of six colleges that have been closed for 30 months due to the Palestinian uprising in the occupied lands.

The reopening of Ramallah College of Paramedical Sciences, nine miles north of Jerusalem, is seen as a test case. If it goes well, the other Arab universities in the occupied territories could be allowed to open again.

The Palestinian institutions of higher learning were closed by the Israeli military shortly after the uprising erupted in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in December, 1987. The military contended the schools were hotbeds of unrest.

The shutdowns drew sharp criticism from the United States and Western Europe, which said it amounted to collective punishment.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir ordered the gradual reopening of the schools on May 14. But the order was suspended for a month after the May 20 massacre of seven Gaza laborers by a deranged Israeli gunman near Tel Aviv and the subsequent wave of riots in the occupied territories.

There were virtually no classes at the Ramallah school on Saturday because many students failed to appear. On the nearby Jerusalem-Ramallah road, long lines of cars were seen at army roadblocks, and some students said it was hard to pass through.

Most classes for students at the college, one of four colleges affiliated with Al Quds University, will begin Monday. Students have come from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with many spending the week near the school to avoid problems with curfews and military checkpoints.

The college’s director, Farsin Arabikian, said only 15 of the former 38 nursing students had re-registered.

“The fate of the college is unpredictable, and students are affected by what is going on outside the college,” she said.

Arabikian expects about 150 students to pursue studies this year in the college’s three departments--nursing, X-ray and medical technology.

The real test for Palestinian students will be the opening of the universities, especially the West Bank’s Birzeit University, where many Palestinian intellectuals teach. The military shut Birzeit 14 times between 1973 and 1987.

There are approximately 18,000 university and community college students in the occupied territories, and their numbers are growing with this year’s high school graduates. No dates have been set for the opening of other four-year universities.

Underground leaders of the rebellion have said in recent leaflets that resumption of studies is a top priority and that students must not give the army an excuse to close schools.