Jerusalemites reject Israel curriculum, leaving them out of school

Some 480 students in the Al-Sala’a Technological School for Boys in East Jerusalem have been out of school since the beginning of the academic year, as their parents protest the Israeli municipality’s plan to impose the Israeli curriculum on them.

The Student Parents Committee, along with a number of families, have been organising daily sit-ins in front of the school, demanding the Palestinian curriculum be taught in the school.

Ahmed Jaabis, head of the Student Parents Central Committee for Jabel Mukaber Schools, said the old school building is not qualified to receive students at the secondary level, while the new building was opened by the Israeli municipality in West Jerusalem which demands the Israeli curriculum be taught. The families have, therefore, closed both schools.

Jaabis told reporters that the families demand the new building be opened and for the Palestinian curriculum to be taught in it.

Last week, the Israel Police confiscated Palestinian curriculum books from a number of students outside Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem while they were heading to the Sharia School and the Riyad Al-Aqsa kindergarten.

The police officers searched the students’ bags and confiscated a number of books that bear the Palestinian flag.

For years, Israel has been trying to prevent Palestinian children in Jerusalem from following the Palestinian curriculum, claiming they must follow the Israeli curriculum, which provides a distorted view of Israel’s illegal occupation of their land.

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