Rights group: Israel to force Palestinians out of Jerusalem after closing UNRWA schools

Israeli occupation authorities are planning to force Palestinians out of Jerusalem by threatening to close UNRWA schools, Insan Centre for Democracy and Rights said yesterday.

Recent news reports revealed Israeli plans to stop the activities of UNRWA in occupied Jerusalem and move the supervision of its schools into the hands of the Israeli Ministry of Education and the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem.

“Carrying out such measures by the Israeli occupation,” the group said in a statement, “is considered a clear violation of international resolutions and the UN conventions, mainly the UNESCO, which enlisted Jerusalem and its civil and cultural sites as under occupation.”

According to the rights group, the Israeli occupation had sought to Judaise Jerusalem and impose its new plans on its residents in order to erase the Palestinian heritage and impose its syllabus.

READ: UNRWA classrooms to stay open despite funding crisis, agency reports

“These Israeli measures need urgent international intervention in order to put pressure on the Israeli occupation to stop its racist and apartheid policies in the holy city and stop changing its educational and cultural sites,” the rights group said.

US decision to cut UNRWA funding – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]