Despite the many obstacles imposed by Israel and even with all the damage inflicted against schools and educational institutes, the Ministry of Education was able to play a unique role in maintaining the Palestinian education process and getting through another school year. The hardships endured by Palestinian schools include the murder of 232 school children and injuring of over 2500 students. 197 schools were damaged as a result of shelling and shooting by the occupation forces; dozens of schools were turned into military camps while 7 were completely shut down by the Israeli forces.
Q. Let me start by asking you about the secondary school matriculation examination (Tawjihi) and how the Ministry was able to carry out the exams despite the curfews, checkpoints and reoccupation of PNA areas?
A. From the beginning we had aimed to maintain the education process in Palestine despite all hardships and obstacles. We have been operating under an emergency plan since the beginning of the Intifada, and had planned ahead with regards the exams which we were able to conduct, offering every potential high school graduate the opportunity to take the exam, even the students at prison. We had to restructure geographically the exam halls placing them in areas that might be easier to access as well as increasing their numbers in order to preserve a good chance for students to get there. Every hall had a proctor and assistant proctor as well as a fax machine for backup, in case the need to fax the questions would arise, so, they (the students) can start on time. There were towns that held the same exam up to 3 times, such as Nablus and Bethlehem, since the Israeli troops refused to allow students to leave their homes. The exams were supposed to start on June 17th and end on July 4th but instead it took 42 days to complete the exams, an unprecedented experience.
Q. How were you able to complete exams even though the Palestinian towns were under curfew?
A. I have to point out the important role played by the Red Cross, for they took care of transferring and disseminating exam papers and then collecting them and transferring them to faculty members who were in charge of correcting the exams and worked around the clock for 20 days in order to meet the deadline. The Red Cross helped by transferring the corrected exams allowing the results to be disseminated in all areas at the same day as planned. They, also, shuffled exam halls and correction halls transporting them in a way to avoid the curfews. In some cases like Jenin and Tulkarem the exams were taken, corrected and then posted the very next day. It was a difficult task but it was achieved with great debt to the tireless efforts and determination of the Palestinian civil society that refused to give in to the reality of occupation.
Q. In the past academic year, there were many school days missed as a result of the occupation, what effect does this have on the Palestinian students and education process?
A. First, I have to point out that this effect differs from one area to another. Some schools, for example at a village, had all its students attend since they all lived there. They were able to attend after we had secured those schools teachers of course. Generally, we had to adjust and readjust, sometimes moving an entire school and shuffling staff and teachers placing them in areas they can get to in order to carry on with our schooling. This is all part of the emergency plan we have been working under for the past two years.
Q. How has the destruction, shelling, imprisonment and murder affected the students and teachers mental well-being?
A. There is no doubt that the Israeli aggressions have left students and teachers disturbed, especially those at schools where students and teachers lost their lives or got injured by the occupation forces. School counselors have been assigned to every school, where professionals dealt with general and specific cases under the theme "continuing to learn is better than doing nothing." It is important to mention that the most affected aspect of education has been the extra curricular activities, which would have offered an outlet for the students, but having to make up the material and days lost became the priority taking precedence over such activities.
Q. Is there a national initiative to offer counseling to students suffering from negative consequences arising from a traumatic experience such as the loss of family members, friends or classmates?
A. This initiative will need many civil society organizations and different ministries in order to cover the broad and varying needs of students. Since 1994, the MOE (Ministry of Education) has hired 450 school counselors, who are working throughout the West Bank and Gaza. In the past two years, they have been working under the emergency program, helping students in need of special attention, such as those who have lost a classmate or were badly beaten or injured. These efforts include home and hospital visits, inviting the students to take their exams were ever they might be, and therefore, offering them an alternative and making things easier for them. In this specific year, we have increased the number of summer camps in order to make up for the gap felt by students in the absence of extra curriculum activities.
Q. What about the teachers and these programs?
A. The teachers have been carrying a great responsibility these past two years, for they had to play the role of father, mother, brother and advisor. Teacher training courses have been conducted in the areas, which allow teachers to offer maximum support. Subjects such as First Aid, mental support and optimism for the students have been the focus of these training courses. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the families of educators (employees of the MOE) who risked their lives on a daily bases, doubling their efforts in order to serve the community in a very strenuous and dangerous time.
Q. Having experienced two very tough academic years, what are you planning for the forthcoming year, at a time that is even more difficult than what you have faced in the past two years?
A. Honestly, this coming school year 2002/2003 is particularly difficult in light of the collective punishment being practiced against us, separating our towns, cities and villages. The education process is comprised of a community and not just the Ministry in order to ensure the following: first, the movement of 45,000 teachers throughout closed roads risking their lives; second, the movement of another 1 million students traveling in restricted areas endangering their lives; third, the movement of hundreds of trucks transferring books and equipment between the West Bank and Gaza as well as from one school to another; finally, the health and academic needs of the students, which are tied with schools and students in order to maintain a healthy environment providing medical assistance were needed. All of us work together in order to teach our children, while keeping Europeans, Americans and international institutes informed, as we continue to ask for immediate intervention to insure our children's lost rights.
Q. What Institutions offer help to our education system, and what type of help is offered?
A. There are different forms of international help. Pressuring Israel, for example, has been the most important help offered. We were able to ensure some students' rights through pressure applied by UNESCO and UNICIF, through their reports on the hardship and aggression practiced against our Palestinian children. Europe, for example, concentrates on monetary funding of Palestinian education, especially France and Norway, who have built schools and funded school construction as well as educational equipment projects. There are also Arab countries that offer their support. Saudi Arabia for example has a college fund to support Palestinian higher education students. There are five Arabic funds that help needy students pay for universities or books. It is important to note that local funding subsidizes 40% of all funds, showing the high regard held for education by our local communities.
Q. Israel's accusations of the Palestinian education system inciting violence have been discredited, can you comment on the matter?
A. I would like to first comment on the new curriculum, of which we are very proud. We started preparing the new curriculum in 92' with the participation of 80 academics, then the creation of a team headed by Dr. Ibrahim Abu Lughod. After four years of preparation, we launched the new five-year plan. This plan not only unites the curriculums used in Gaza and the West Bank, but it offers us a historical opportunity to leap forward and close the gap by improving the education process. This five-year plan is due to finish in 2005, at which time the entire education sector will be using the new unified curriculum. What's new in this Palestinian curriculum? Languages, with English being taught in first grade and French at the start of high school. Other subjects added include technology, health, ethics, environmental studies, and civic education, while at the same time continuing to offer a concentration in technical and vocational studies. We conducted discussions with the Ministry of Higher Education in order to meet their needs and offer all our students, whether concentrating on academic, technical or vocational studies, an opportunity to pursue higher education. We were surprised at the attacks against the new Palestinian curriculum by an extremist group of Israeli right-wingers, who sent complains all over the world in an effort to discredit Palestinian educational achievements. There were national political norms that this group of Israelis had a problem with and they sought to defeat them by branding our curriculum a prejudiced one, when we emphasize teaching our children tolerance. We sent clarifications worldwide, and both the Israeli and Palestinian curriculums were examined. A month ago, Europe issued a statement calling the Israeli accusations politically motivated and having no weight as far as education and the curriculum is concerned.
Q. Language, curriculum and education make up identity, so was Israel aiming to rob Palestinian students of their identity?
A. When we talk about our culture, about Al-Aqsa, Holy Sepulcher or Jerusalem, the Israelis seem to get worked up, since it represents a Palestinian identity. They (Israel) asked us to draw borders for 'Palestine' (West Bank and Gaza) in our new curriculum, I answered them by pointing out that members of parliament draw the borders and after signing official agreements the borders will be clear, from here I had to ask why doesn't Israel draw its borders (without including occupied land as part of Israel)?
Who will hear their screams?
Date posted: April 01, 2024
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
When Israel claimed women were sexually assaulted on a mass scale on October 7, the world exploded. Almost the entirety of Israel’s genocidal war was based on these and other allegations, many unsubstantiated. We all remember the infamous’40 beheaded babies” story, do we not?
This article is not about Israeli allegations per se, neither will it only focus on violations against Palestinian women. This is about a world that is immediately up in arms when one side merely alleges atrocities while it turns a blind eye to actual documented violations against the “other”.
In Gaza, it is painfully clear that we indeed, are ‘the other’. How else can anyone explain the muted cries of women being stripped, raped, starved and murdered practically in real time, on our phone screens, documented in UN reports and described in horrific detail in eyewitness testimonies? There is no other explanation than that Palestinians are what Arundhati Roy calls “Children of a lesser God”. We are the victims of deep-rooted colonialism, one whose geographic demarcations may have vanished but whose insidious, dehumanizing mentality still prevails and manifests in the ugliest of manners.
For nearly six months, Palestinians have endured unspeakable atrocities at the hands of Israel’s occupying army. Today, the Gaza Strip has been reduced to an emaciated shell of what it once was. As Gaza is being systematically decimated and ethnically cleansed, the world, for the most part, looks on. Barring sympathetic supporters and a few well-intended but timid political actors, nothing has been done to stop the carnage. Palestinians once believed there was no way the world would allow Israel to erase Gaza off the map, no way it could see a live-streamed genocide and do nothing. But that is exactly what is happening.
Then, when we thought things could not get any worse, something unfathomable emerged from the deathtrap of Gaza. When this happened, we were certain it would be the turning point in this hellish nightmare. Well-documented reports, corroborated by the UN and eyewitnesses on the ground, told of harrowing stories of sexual assault against Palestinian women in Gaza.
We were paralysed with horror when we heard of women being raped by Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza, assaulted and stripped in front of their families. What’s worse, we all know that in times like these, the undocumented atrocities will far outnumber those documented. Who knows what horrors will unfold once the dust settles in Gaza; no doubt they will be so horrific, our entire nation will be traumatized for years to come.
The real question here is not how Israel’s soldiers perpetrated such gross violations. I think by now we can all agree that this depraved military establishment and its political echelon to boot, has dehumanized and vilified Palestinians so much and for so long, they will justify just about anything. No, the question is more about the moral compass of the rest of the world. While alliances and political interests are always part of the equation, even when the issue pertains to basic human rights, nothing can better explain the blatant hypocrisy, double standards and loss of collective humanity than the deafening silence today.
Our women have not only been killed, starved and displaced, they have been exposed to the very violations that sparked global outrage and a genocidal war against an entire population under occupation, unprecedented in modern history. This is not only unacceptable, it is an indelible stain on humanity. Sexual violence is a crime so heinous it is imperative to condemn and prevent, no matter the perpetrator or the victim. That must always be the baseline in any argument.
Palestinians will never get past this genocide; it is not something you can come back from. However, be assured, this is not only about the Palestinians. The world’s women, the majority of so-called feminists who have remained disgustingly silent, must know this: when you do not stand up for women, all women, no one will stand up for you in your time of need.
A new day will come
Date posted: February 14, 2024
By Joharah Baker
I once heard that anger is not a real emotion, but a cover for other feelings such as sadness, disappointment or fear. You need to peel back that outer layer to understand what is really going on inside.
Strange how this has lately resurfaced for me, but I think I know why. Lately, I and surely, millions of other Palestinians, have been filled with a blinding rage -- at Israel, at the United States, and at the world overall. This is a rage that is all-encompassing, the depth of which is palpable at the cellular level, permeating every molecule and every atom of our being. The genocide in the Gaza Strip has grated our emotions raw and we are left stinging and burning from our head to our toes.
Our anger is like a huge magnetosphere and we are all trapped inside, but its walls are translucent and we can see the source of our rage mocking us from beyond. We Palestinians are angry because we are so disappointed and we are angry because we are disillusioned and we are angry because we are drowning in sorrow.
Our disappointment lies in the fact that the world has failed us in the worst possible way and has allowed the unspeakable to be committed against us. Genocide is the ‘mother of all crimes’ and, contrary to the promises, the conventions and the historical lessons the world was supposed to learn, it has been committed over and over again. The Palestinian genocide, however, is unique in at least one way: it is live-streamed, which means no one can claim ignorance and everyone has a responsibility in stopping it. Hence, our disappointment is not limited to countries, Arab or otherwise, or to international and human rights organizations. It has spread to everyone in our orbit; acquaintances and people we thought were friends, but whose silence towards our slaughter is a deafening betrayal. Our sense of disappointment has discolored every relationship it touches because every relationship for us is a dichotomy: you are either with or against genocide and either support Palestine in word and deed, or not.
Our anger is a thin veil concealing our disillusion with the international community and its institutions, supposedly established to protect people in situations precisely like ours. We have confirmed what we knew all along, that these organizations were constructed for some and not all, for colonial powers and not those who suffer beneath them. Even when the highest court in the land rules in our favor, the Global North ensures that its ruling will not be implemented to save us, the oppressed, indigenous brown people whose lives apparently do not matter.
And finally, our anger is a survival mechanism to shield us from our own grief. Our sorrow over the murdered men, women and children, defenseless, homeless, starving and shivering in the cold, is so deep, so immense, we ourselves cannot fathom it. If we dare peek behind this anger and truly feel a fraction of the aching in our hearts, it will paralyze us for sure, because no people can endure the magnitude and scale of such suffering and not lose their minds.
We Palestinians know we cannot let go and that a new day is near. We know we must hold on just a little bit longer, because Palestine depends on it. We are no strangers to oppression, suffering and sacrifice and we know the price of our freedom has and continues to be painfully high. Still, we also know that a life without shackles and the yoke of oppression around our weary necks is the only life worth living.
Killing the flowers will not delay spring
Date posted: February 01, 2024
By Joharah Baker
This may be the hardest article I’ve written so far, for obvious reasons. As the genocide in Gaza grinds on into its fourth month, with winter in full force, the situation is so dire it has been described as hell on earth. To date, some 27,000 Palestinians have been murdered by Israel, nearly 70% of them women and children. Another 70,000 have been wounded and at least 1.9 million people have been displaced. With only 2.3 million in the Gaza Strip to start with, this computes to 1% of its population being exterminated, and in less than four months.
However, in the midst of these horrific times, let us allow ourselves a sliver of hope. The ICJ ruling, announced on January 26, prompted mixed feelings among Palestinians who naturally, wanted to hear a clear and firm demand on Israel to stop its onslaught. However, even without the express demand for a ceasefire, the ICJ offered something to the Palestinians for which they have been demanding for many years: their suffering, their plight and the brutal oppression they live under, was finally acknowledged by the highest court in the world. More importantly, Israel is being called out for its crimes, displayed in real time for all to see. For this, we will be eternally grateful to South Africa and its exceptional legal team for bringing this case of genocide to the ICJ and forcing the world to look straight down the barrel of Israel’s cruel intentions.
Of course, for the Palestinians, we did not need an international court to tell us that Israel is committing a genocide, but it was cathartic to hear this acknowledged on a global platform. While we are aware that the actual charge of genocide perhaps needs years to prove, it only takes hearing the ruling and the case argued by South Africa to surmise that Israel is as good as convicted.
This is not insignificant, and we will cling to any shred of hope we can find in this unjust world. Having said that, this is no time to rest. If anything, it is time to push even harder because now, we have ICJ rulings in our favor and legal backing to claims we already knew were legitimate.
However, while this may have offered us some ray of light in the darkness in which we are all engulfed, the fact of the matter is that things continue to worsen on the ground in Gaza. This genocide is so heinous, not only in the brutality of the Israeli bombs and denial of basic aid to the people of Gaza, but in the fact that its people are suffering from multiple and simultaneous injustices. That is, those who are being starved are the same people who have been displaced and the same people who have been injured and cannot receive medical attention. They are the same people who have lost their homes and family members and the same people who are under the rubble. One atrocity does not cancel out another in Gaza and that is what makes this genocide so unimaginable.
We have reached a point where it is unnecessary to describe the horrors of life in Gaza because frankly, in the past four months, everyone has seen them. It is not a matter of the world not knowing. This may have been the case in other genocides and atrocities, but not this one. It really boils down to two things: The dehumanization of the Palestinians and Israel’s impunity for its crimes, the latter being a direct result of the former.
Shame on the world for accepting Israel’s vile propaganda, hook, line and sinker. Shame on the “western world” in particular, who we will never forgive. Shame on them all for aiding and abetting the slaughter of our people, their displacement, starvation and annihilation. This will not go unnoticed in the annals of history, which will paint each and every accomplice in the criminal light it deserves.
But these despicable powers do not know the lion-hearts of the Palestinians and their fierce loyalty to Palestine. They will never be able to kill us all and my hope is that this thought haunts them day and night.
A sign held up in one of the many protests around the world reads: “Killing the flowers will not delay spring”. Our Spring is coming, without a doubt.
