Palestinian schools in Jerusalem launch strike against being forced to use Israeli textbooks

Around 98,400 Palestinian students did not attend school in Jerusalem on Monday, as all Palestinian primary, middle and secondary schools in the city observed a full-day strike protesting the forceful imposition of the Israeli curriculum by the Israeli education ministry.
 
The strike was called for by the union of parents committees and supported by all Palestinian factions and civil society organisations.
 
The move was announced during the weekend, after families and students demonstrated in front of several schools on Saturday, against the Israeli attempts to impose Israeli textbooks on the schools' administration.

Palestinian schools in Jerusalem launched a general strike in resistance to the Israeli regime's attempt to impose its curriculum and school books on Palestinian children. pic.twitter.com/jltj45XhcN

— Dr. Yara Hawari د. يارا هواري (@yarahawari) September 19, 2022

"For years, we as families have provided the Palestinian curriculum textbooks for our schools in Jerusalem," Falasteen Zughayer, mother of a 5th grader and member of the parents' committee of Kufr Aqab, told The New Arab.
 
Kufr Aqab is a crowded neighbourhood north of Jerusalem that is historically and administratively part of the city, but has been separated by the illegal Israeli wall.
 
"About a month ago, one week before the beginning of the school year, the Israeli ministry of education sent Israeli textbooks to our schools and informed the directors that if they don't teach them, they will be dismissed from their jobs," Zughayer said.

Palestinian parents and students organized demonstrations in several neighbourhoods of occupied Jerusalem in protest against Israeli attempts at preventing schools from teaching Palestinian textbooks. pic.twitter.com/dhj4TpLYlU

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) September 18, 2022

"The parents' committees union had various discussions with the directors of the schools, but they told us that their hands were tied," she said. "It was then that we decided to take matters into our own hands and began protest actions."
 
Palestinian schools in Jerusalem are either public, run directly by the Israeli education ministry, UN schools run by the UNRWA refugees agency, or private, including Islamic and Christian schools, run by the Islamic endowments department, the 'Waqf', or by the church.
 
"All our schools in all areas of Jerusalem have responded to the call to strike, which shows that our refusal of the Israeli curriculum is unanimous," stressed Falasteen Zughayer.

It was only in 2006 that Palestinians completed the school textbooks for grades 1-12.

Prior to 1994, Palestinian textbooks that contained any sense of Palestinian nationalism were confiscated; students and teachers could be arrested and even killed (2013) https://t.co/LqWkzyVCOM

— Al-Shabaka الشبكة (@AlShabaka) September 19, 2022

"We all see this as an attempt to Israelize our children," she added. "This is part of the occupation's efforts to erase Jerusalem's Palestinian identity by distorting our children's education."
 
Photos circulated on Palestinian social media of the Israeli textbooks depicted how the material is considered problematic for Palestinians.
 
One excerpt from the textbooks claims that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and that it has grown since the foundation of the state which has built new 'neighbourhoods' in it.

 
Another page in the Israeli textbook depicts a dialogue between three children, stating that the state [of Israel] had 'developed the Arab towns' and brought electricity and health insurance to its people before the three children decided to sing the Israeli anthem.
 
In another passage, children are taught about the sanctity of the Sabbath in the Jewish faith, while another full page shows the flags of the countries surrounding 'the homeland', namely Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon, with the Israeli flag at the centre.

It was only in 2006 that Palestinians completed the school textbooks for grades 1-12.

Prior to 1994, Palestinian textbooks that contained any sense of Palestinian nationalism were confiscated; students and teachers could be arrested and even killed (2013) https://t.co/LqWkzyVCOM

— Al-Shabaka الشبكة (@AlShabaka) September 19, 2022

"This is erasing of our Palestinian identity and history," said Falasteen Zughayer. "We will continue to protest until the Israeli ministry allows us to teach our own history and culture to our children."
 
In late July, the Israeli education ministry withdrew the licences of six Palestinian schools in Jerusalem over accusations of "incitement" against Israel in the Palestinian textbooks.
 
Eastern Jerusalem, where all Palestinian schools are located, was occupied by Israel in 1967 and annexed in 1981 in a move that has ever since been considered by most countries illegal under international law.