On the occasion of #WorldTeachersDay, celebrated on October 5, the Democracy and Workers’ Rights would like to highlight some facts and figures provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Education that show the devastating impact of one year of war on #Gaza waged with total and flagrant disregard of the most fundamental norms of international humanitarian law.
We denounce #Israel‘s systematic destruction of the Palestinian education system in Gaza in blatant violation of the Geneva conventions. Over 530 educational staff & 11,109 students at Palestinian schools & universities in #Gaza have been killed since October 2023, and over 3675 staff and 17639 students injured.
We also denounce constant attacks against educational facilities in the West Bank, especially against schools that serve Bedouin & herding communities against whom the Israeli occupying power, in collusion with and/or through protecting the actions of armed Israeli settlers, is implementing a plan of accelerated ethnic cleansing.
In addition to the numerous rules that prohibit the targeting of civilians, civilian objects and facilities, the 4th Geneva Convention also stipulates that “The Occupying Power shall, with the co-operation of the national and local authorities, facilitate the proper working of all institutions devoted to the care and education of children”. (art. 50). Yet in Gaza, educational facilities and school have been subject to massive destruction and damage through Israeli bombing and shelling, including while providing shelter to displaced persons. For the second year on a row, teachers and students were unable to return to their classrooms. In the West Bank, schools and universities have also been subjected to attacks and vandalism. There is no safe work environment for Palestinian teachers, not in the Gaza Strip and not in the West Bank. Yet, they all persevere in their noble educational mission. In Gaza, teaching takes place online and in educational points set up for this purpose until formal education can be resumed. In the West Bank, where governmental teachers have not been paid their full wages for months, teachers and administrators do their best under extremely difficult circumstances to ensure that schools, training centers and higher education institutions continue to educate Palestine’s children and youth, and provide vocational training and continuous education opportunities to adults.
We salute all the courageous teachers, who brave the dangers of arrest, injury and death, to show up every day in their classrooms and hold class in the worst of conditions, and all the other dedicated staff of educational institutions. We call for continued solidarity and action from the international labor movement and global unions to protect Palestinian teachers and other educational institutions staff, uphold international law and bring perpetrators of violations to justice.
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