* Written by Shir Hever, Alternative Information Center (AIC)
To read the whole bulletin, click here <http://www.alternativenews.org/aic-publications/the-economy-of-the-occupation/the-economy-of-the-occupation-13-15-report-on-the-educational-system-in-east-jerusalem-20070904.html>. * **Foreword*
The report does not purport to cover the entire educational system in East Jerusalem. Rather, it presents, as much as possible, an up-to-date and extensive picture of education, and recommends several alternative actions to change and improve the current situation. It goes without saying that none of these recommendations can be realized without the help of the Israeli educational system, since Israel’s illegal annexation of East Jerusalem by military force created a responsibility for the Israeli government to provide for the civilian services to the local population.
Despite the limitations of the research, the conclusions of the report make evident that the Education Ministry and the Jerusalem Education Authority (henceforth, JEA) have failed in their duties to provide the requisite infrastructure, design, construction, and operation of schools in East Jerusalem. Even officials with the best of intentions, who try to improve the educational situation within the institutional framework, are unable to initiate significant changes in a system that maintains educational gaps between the Jewish and Palestinian Arab sectors, under the cover of political and legal correctness, all the while distorting facts. Discrimination in education is not a new phenomenon. It has existed since the annexation of Palestinian neighborhoods following the war in 1967; over the years, it has gotten worse. Because of the uncertainty over the continuation of Israeli rule over Palestinian neighborhoods and because of the Separation Wall that prevent tens of thousand of Palestinian schoolchildren who live east of the city from attending schools, both local and national authorities refrain from long-term investment in a suitable educational infrastructure for Palestinian children in East Jerusalem.
The data presented in the report were collected from differences sources, but even after examining and crosschecking them, not all of them were corroborated. It is not a coincidence that the data and documentation connected to the educational system are not updated and do not reflect the actual situation. Rather, this general oversight reflects the attitude of the Israeli state towards education in East Jerusalem.
During the course of the interviews and testimonies that we conducted, the interviewees feared the price that they would likely pay for criticizing the educational system. Thus, we minimized citing testimonies as much as possible and avoided mention of names unless we received express permission from the interviewees. All who have ever visited schools in East Jerusalem can see with their own eyes how ingrained is the fear of the system, even in the area of education. The harsh things that were described in the interviews strongly suggest that workers in the educational system are exploited in many areas. Various complaints that we heard were removed from the report since we had not the tools to verify them.
All the same, despite tremendous difficulties, it is possible to find teachers, parents, community leaders and school principals who try to introduce improvements in the current educational system and raise the level of education.
[...]
To read the whole bulletin, click here <http://www.alternativenews.org/aic-publications/the-economy-of-the-occupation/the-economy-of-the-occupation-13-15-report-on-the-educational-system-in-east-jerusalem-20070904.html>.
To download a .pdf version of the bulletin, click here <http://www.alternativenews.org/images/stories/downloads/Economy_of_the_occupation_13-15%20.pdf>.