The education sector in the occupied city of Jerusalem is subject to systematic targeting, and continuous attempts to impose the teaching of the Israeli occupation curricula in all schools of the occupied city, and to delete everything related to the Palestinian national affiliation.
Israel is putting pressure on private Palestinian schools in the occupied city of Jerusalem, bargaining with them to grant them licenses and financial assistance in return for teaching the Israeli curriculum.
The occupation plan to control education in the city of Jerusalem and to assimilate Palestinian education by imposing the Israeli curriculum or distorting the Palestinian curriculum began in 2017, according to Mr. Ayoub Alyan, Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs at the Palestinian Ministry of Education.
In an exclusive interview with the Qatar News Agency (QNA), Olayan says: Education in Jerusalem is distributed among the endowment schools, which are affiliated with the Directorate of Education in Jerusalem, and operate within the framework of the Palestinian Ministry of Education, and are committed to the Palestinian curriculum, and private and private schools, which are affiliated schools. For churches, charities, or individuals, and adhere to the Palestinian educational programs and the Palestinian curriculum. To apply the distorted Palestinian curricula, and part of it applies the curricula of the occupation.
Elyan added that the threat to deny the occupation government financial support for schools in occupied Jerusalem that teach the Palestinian curriculum is related to private schools only, which receive aid from Israel, which may reach millions of shekels and there are 85 schools, stressing that the rate of response to the demands of the occupation is very weak. "We are betting on the Palestinian teacher who enters the classroom, who can teach whatever he wants without adhering to the Israeli or Palestinian curriculum that has been distorted by the occupation.".
Elyan adds: "This is a systematic Israeli policy, which began with small aid for these schools, and today there are some ecclesiastical schools that receive millions of shekels, which makes it easier for Israel to blackmail these schools and put more pressure on them."He pointed out that the aid provided by Israel to these schools is deducted from the tax money paid by the Palestinian residents of the occupied city of Jerusalem.
And whether these private schools belong to the Palestinian Ministry of Education, Olayan said: They obtain a license from the Palestinian Education and a similar license from the occupation authorities, which makes it easier for the occupation to blackmail these schools to impose the Israeli curriculum in return for obtaining a license and financial aid.
He stressed that the occupation authorities are launching a fierce and unprecedented attack on Palestinian education in Jerusalem, as an integral part of their plans to annex it and erase all that is Palestinian from its material, moral and spiritual features, obliterating and distorting it.
Regarding the position of the Palestinian Authority and the Ministry of Education towards the response of some private schools to the pressures of the occupation, Elyan told QNA: The reality on the ground in the city of Jerusalem is very complex, especially that some schools are distributed inside the separation wall and follow the occupation authority, and others are located outside the separation wall and follow the Palestinian side, adding: "It is not easy to take a Palestinian decision against these schools, such as withdrawing the Palestinian license, for example, or closing the school for several reasons, including that there are hundreds of high school students, and they are the most affected, in addition to the fact that these schools do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, even the governor of Jerusalem is under residence. Al-Jabriya is in his home in Silwan, and we cannot communicate with him".
He continued: "The situation is difficult, and the Palestinian Authority cannot do anything inside the separation wall, and revoking the license means pushing these schools to turn completely towards Israel, and this is what Israel wants".
He stressed that the Palestinian Authority is working hard to protect the Palestinian curriculum, as it has provided Palestinian books to all students in all schools, including schools under the occupation’s jurisdiction, and these books have been sent to parents’ councils and distributed to all students in Jerusalem. "Thus, every student has a Palestinian copy, even if he is receiving education in schools that follow the Israeli system".
He said: The number of students in each of the primary, preparatory and secondary levels is about 98,428 male and female students. Elyan stressed that there are very few schools that officially follow the Israeli side and have agreed to teach the Israeli curriculum. "This is a source of strength for us, and we count on the steadfastness of the Jerusalemite citizen, and the standing of everyone who has religious, national and moral scruples in the face of the occupation.".
Last year, the so-called Israeli Ministry of Education revoked the granting of permanent licenses to Palestinian schools in occupied Jerusalem, claiming that they "Incites against Israel in school textbooks, and includes inflammatory content in East Jerusalem schools". Israel seeks to cancel and distort everything that is mentioned in the Palestinian curriculum on the prisoners, the occupation of Palestine, the Nakba of 1948, the massacres against the Palestinians, the settlements and the separation wall.
