New school year kicks off in Palestinian territories

Insecurity persists over Israel’s harassment, killings

A new school year kicked off in Palestinian schools across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on August 29 amid political and security challenges.

For Jihad Abdul Nabi, a student from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, his first day at school was filled with sadness as his classmate Nazmi Abu Karsh would never come to school again.

Earlier this month, Israel launched a three-day preemptive military campaign against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza, killing at least 49 people, including 17 children, according to figures released by the Hamas-run health ministry.

Abu Karsh and four other children from Nejem family were killed during an Israeli strike when they were visiting their grandfather’s grave in Al-Falouja cemetery in Jabalia refugee camp.

“I have never imagined that I would not meet Nazmi on the first day of our new year,” the 15-year-old student told Xinhua with a breaking voice, as he looked at Nazmi’s picture surrounded by a wreath of roses on his desk.

“I was shocked when I heard that my best classmate died… I did not accept the news, but later I realised that Nazmi was gone and he would never be back,” the student in the first grade of high school said.

“In the coastal enclave, the only thing that we need is security. This will allow us to live in peace,” he said, urging the international community to pressure Israel to stop its wars against the Palestinians.

In a bid to reintegrate them into the educational process, clowns carried out psychological and recreational activities in some government schools for students who lost their friends in the latest military conflict.

The Hamas-run education ministry said that the first week of school will start with some educational programmes for psychological support for the children.

Nine out of 10 children in Gaza have been subjected to suffering from some form of conflict-related trauma, according to a report issued by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor in 2021.

“Unfortunately, a high rate of Gazan students live under insecurity conditions, mainly as the conflicts between Israeli and the armed Palestinian factions have not finished yet,” Dirdah Al-Shaer, a Gaza-based psychologist, told Xinhua.

He said that the children, mostly students, are the most affected by the consequences of the Israeli wars that disrupted their normal life.

“Teacher will have to put in lots of efforts to successfully integrate students into the educational process once again. Some students still suffer from the consequences of the Israeli war of 2021,” he said.

The same challenges have been experienced by the West Bank-based students who were subjected to daily raids by the Israeli army.

Khaled Al-Najjar from the Yatta Education Directorate told reporters that the Israeli forces detained a number of faculty members on the first day of school at the entrance to the village of Janba.

For an hour, the Israeli army prevented them from reaching the village school, under the pretext that it was located in a military training area. Later on, they released them.

Moreover, he adds, students in the school were facing the risk of harassment by the Israeli forces and settlers. Many parents have to accompany their children in schools for the sake of their safety.

During a new school opening ceremony in Ramallah, the Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye told reporters that his government called the new school year the “Year of Sovereignty of Education in Jerusalem.”

“Even if the occupation managed to seize our land, it cannot confiscate our minds. We are building on the land, in minds, institutions, and people, for the sake of a free, full, and independent Palestine,” he said.