Speaker of the Palestine National Council, Mr. Salim Al Zaanoon, explained in identical letters sent to a number of international Islamic Arab, African, Asian and European Parliamentary Unions, foremost of which are the IPU and the European Parliament, pointing to the objectives and dangers resulting from implementing the recommendations of the so-called Israeli National Security Council which adopted the plan of the former Israeli Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat, announced in October, 2018, aimed at closing UNRWA schools in Jerusalem and replacing them with schools belonging to the Israeli Jerusalem municipality.

The PNC pointed in its letters that UNRWA has five schools in Jerusalem: Shu’fat, Sur baher, Silwan and Wad al-Jawaz, as well as a major medical Center in the City and several child service centers. The number of Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA in Jerusalem is more than 100.000. For years the Israeli authorities have prevented the renovation of existing schools and the construction of additional rooms or schools for Palestinian students. This decision was accompanied by the closure of two historic school, one of them is the Qadisiyah Schools, and intends to hand the schools over to the settlements associations.

The PNC warned that these steps come in the context of attempts by the occupying power to liquidate UNRWA and the Palestinian refugees issue and to Judaize the Palestinian Educational Curricula, and control the buildings used as schools for the purpose of Judaization too, in the context on the broader Judaization of occupied Jerusalem.

28 January 2019

Photo: AFP