Israel to close six Palestinian schools in occupied East Jerusalem

Israeli authorities withdrew the licences of six schools in occupied East Jerusalem for "glorifying" resistance against Israel's illegal occupation.

Israel's Minister of Education, Yifat Shasha Biton on Thursday decided to cancel the permanent operating licensces of the schools after finding alleged “dangerous incitement” in Palestinian curriculum textbooks, according to Israeli newspaper Maariv. 

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education condemned Israel's decision and called on the international community to intervene in order to stop it from being implemented.

The foreign ministry said the closures took place on "inconsistent" grounds adding that it was part of a project to erase Palestinian heritage from Jerusalem.

It accused Israel of attempting to impose the "colonial Israeli curriculum on native Jerusalemites".

The ministry called on the international community, the US administration, and UNESCO to ressure Israel to stop the implementation of this decision immediately.

Last year, the Palestinian education ministry warned schools falling under pressure to embrace the Israeli curriculum in occupied East Jerusalem were threatening national identity.

The Palestinian ministry released a statement saying attempts by schools in East Jerusalem to adopt the Israeli curriculum "including subjects such as history which are viewed by Palestinians as tantamount to adopting the historical narrative of the enemy" will not be tolerated.

Activists accuse Israel of pushing the Israeli curriculum on Palestinian schools in Jerusalem in return for financial support.

This is being done by Israel under the pretext of closing gaps in education, but critics say it is a way of undermining knowledge of Palestinian history among Palestinian youth.