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This
article outlines the impact of the Israeli military actions on the state
of Palestinian education. As an addendum: I am a trauma therapist.
Prior to the Israeli incursion, I am convinced from personal observation
and experience that the majority of Palestinian children suffered
significant trauma symptoms. While I have no current data, I am certain
that that number in the West Bank today would be at least 90-95%.
The overall damage to Palestinian infrastructure described below is based
on the pioneering model used by the United States in the Gulf War, and
this destruction, coupled with 12 years of economic sanctions, has led to
the flight of the Iraqi middle class and the deaths of well over a million
Iraqi civilians, mostly children and the elderly.
We are facing a world-wide pattern of horrible destruction (military and
economic), all subsumed under the rubric of "fighting terrorism" and "combatting
weapons of mass destruction", when in fact, the greatest purveyor of
terrorism and mass destruction in the world today is the United States
government and its subservient allies--Bill.
From: giacaman@baraka.org
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 08:01:24 +0200
April 10, 2002
Palestinian NGO Emergency Initiative in Jerusalem
EMERGENCY BRIEFING ON PALESTINIAN EDUCATION:
FROM SURVIVAL TO DEVELOPMENT TO ….SURVIVAL?
Penny Johnson, Birzeit University
At the beginning of the interim period in 1995 when the Palestinian
Authority assumed authority over Palestinian education through the new
Palestinian Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education,
Palestinian educators in schools, community colleges and universities were
able to change their course from struggling for survival to planning for
educational development. Israeli’s invasion of Palestinian cities, camps
and villages has damaged educational infrastructure, records and
equipment, threatened the institutions and the very system’s financial
solvency and harmed teachers and pupils. Years of development have been
threatened and survival is once more on the agenda.
The seven Palestinian universities, several of had remained closed or
partially closed by Israeli military order since 1989 had gradually
re-opened in 1992 and 1993. Along with other post-secondary institutions,
their new goal was not to resume and improve their traditional teaching
and research, but began to establish new initiatives in graduate
education, training, policy
research and community outreach. The school system, once controlled and
supervised by army officers, begin to train teachers in new pedagogical
methods, expand classroom and institutional infrastructure, and develop
new curriculum. In the school year 2000-2001, a phased introduction of new
curriculum began grades 1 through 6 in all government, UNRWA and private
schools. With almost half of the Palestinian population under age 15,
education is a cornerstone of Palestinian society. Almost a million
children -- one-third of the population are enrolled in the school
system.
The ten days of Israeli invasion of Palestinian cities has not only turned
back the clock on educational development but raised
questions of basic survival for a number of institutions and for critical
elements of the educational system itself. Sadly, ten days of military
operations in civilian areas can undermine decades of patient institution
building to serve that same civilian population. In the enterprise of
education, it is also not only the institutions and systems that are at
risk in armed conflict and violence, but the children and youth who learn
in these institutions and who constitute the main resource of Palestinian
society for the future.
· Lasting effect on invasion on children: “Up to 600,000 children
vulnerable in the ongoing violence….. No lasting peace can be built on
such foundations.” (UNICEF, 5 April 2002). Children in cities, camps and
villages under curfew and attack have not only been to go to school; they
have experienced days or weeks of terror and physical and psychological
distress, with long- term consequences.
· Systems, records and equipment destroyed at Ministry of Education: On 3
April 2002, about thirty Israelis tanks entered the walled compound which
houses the Ministry of Education in Ramallah. Despite the willingness of
employees there to open the building,
soldiers exploded outer and inner doors, as well as the main safe and
filing and storage cabinets, and detained staff for six hours. Soldiers
took computer net servers, computers, hard disks, files, and documents
from the Ministry. The Ministry’s Examination Room suffered considerable
damage from explosions and the ransacking of the room by soldiers: years
of student records were damaged or reduced to rubble. The Ministry hopes
to be able to rebuild its files from duplicate records in district offices
but fears some of these may also be destroyed. Audio-visual equipment and
other learning tools were taken and destroyed. The Ministry reports
estimated losses in equipment and infrastructure and damaged schools in
the millions of dollars, much of which was provided through donor funds
from the international community. (Ministry of Education 4 April 2002) On
10 April 2002, the Assistant Deputy Minister noted that employees have not
yet been able to enter Ramallah to assess the scale o f looting from the
main safe but confirmed that at least 2.5 to 3 million dollars would be
needed to restore infrastructure, repair buildings and hold remedial
courses for students in the summer.
· Schools destroyed or damaged: As of 5 April 2002, “some 166 schools were
destroyed or damaged, and three schools were taken over by the Israeli
military and converted into army posts, displacing 3000 students” since
the intifada began in October 2000. “In addition, some 275 schools are
situated close to flash points in the current conflict.” (UNICEF, 5 April
2002) There are
1,968 schools in the West Bank and 642 in Gaza. The damage to schools in
Israel’s invasion that began 29 March 2002 is only partly known: when the
Israeli army redeployed from Tulkarem, for example, employees were able to
report to the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education that
the girl’s four-story secondary school ironically named As Salaam
(Peace) School had received about twenty hits from tank fire and was
unusable, with extensive damage also to the boy’s secondary school. The
Ministry’s vocational facility in Tulkarem also suffered extensive damage.
On 4 April, the Director of the World Bank in the West
Bank and Gaza and the UN Special Coordinator called on the Israeli army to
“desist from the destruction of water pumps, electricity generators and
sub-stations, roads, schools, hospitals and business premises.” (World
Bank and UNSCO 4 April 2002)
· At least two universities taken over by Israeli army: Bethlehem
University and An Najah National University in Nablus have also been taken
over by the Israeli army which has stationed tanks in both locations. In
Bethlehem, about seven tanks were stationed on campus and British,
American and other faculty from the Catholic teaching order of the La
Salle Brothers that lives in a facility on campus were placed in direct
danger. Damages from these take-overs have not yet been assessed. In
addition, the American University in Jenin has not been able to report its
fate in the midst of the fierce assault on that town. The Al Quds
Educational television station in Ramallah, part of Al Quds University,
was also invaded and its technical director prevented from surveying the
damage on 5 April 2002. The destruction of other TV and radio stations in
Ramallah suggests that the state-of-the-art TV station in this facility
may also be destroyed.
· Schools and universities threatened with financial collapse: The
education budget constitutes about 19% of the regular budget of the
Palestinian Authority. In addition, the international donor community had
contributed $369,644,000 to Palestinian education by the end of 2000. (MOPIC,
2000), a large portion of which went to building new schools and
classrooms, some of which are now damaged or threatened with destruction.
Even before the invasion, the Authority was “effectively bankrupt” (World
Bank, 25 March 2002) with tax revenues fallen to one-fifth of previous
level and Israel withholding revenue clearances owed to the PA since
December 2000 to the amount of $0.5 billion, but was managing to continue
paying teacher and maintaining schools under an austerity budget. This
ability is gravely threatened, with the Ministry’s ability to pay current
salaries of teachers and staff already at risk, and it is vital “to
recognize the essential functions and achievements of the Palestinia n
Authority in providing basic essential
services under very adverse conditions during the past five months” (World
Bank and UNSCO 4 April 2002) and the dire consequences to education if the
Authority is incapacitated.
The Israeli government has justified its actions in the Palestinian
territory as an attack on the infrastructure of terror. The Israeli
army’s attack on education and educational institutions, as well as other
Palestinian institutions of self-government and non-
governmental organizations, strongly indicates that the target is in fact
Palestinian infrastructure, organizational capacity and self-
government, with lasting consequences on the ability of Palestinian
society to survive and develop.
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