Amman, September 8 (Petra) – Secretary-General of the Amman-based
Royal Commission for Jerusalem Affairs (RCJA), Abdullah Tawfiq
Kanaan, stated September 9th marks the International Day to Protect
Education from Attack, established by a 2020 UN General Assembly
resolution.

In a statement to “Petra”, he said the ongoing Israeli aggression
against Gaza and all Palestine proves the Israeli occupation’s crime
against humanity and education.

He added that this policy is part of its brutal Zionist attempts and
plans to wipe out the Palestinian people and erase their identity,
culture, and presence on their historic land of Palestine, with
Jerusalem as its capital.

Based on statistics issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of
Statistics, he said Israel completely destroyed 179 government
schools and approximately 105 UNRWA schools during its aggression
against Gaza.

Furthermore, he noted that all educational institutions schools,
universities, and cultural centers were rendered inoperable after
being subjected to deliberate bombing and sabotage.

He added that tens of thousands of students and teachers were killed,
alongside thousands others who were wounded, imprisoned, and missing.

In the West Bank, he noted that Israel’s policy of arresting students
and teachers in schools and universities is evident, as these
institutions suffer daily raids, closures, and sometimes demolition.

He added that the process to Judaize education, distort Palestinian
curriculum, and attempts to impose the Israeli textbooks pose an
“existential” threat to the identity of education in Palestine,
affecting more than 850,000 students in the West Bank, including
120,000 students in Jerusalem.

The committee, he said, believes Israel’s ongoing apartheid policies
against education in occupied Palestine pose a threat to the
legitimacy of international organizations, such as UNRWA, UNESCO, and
other organizations concerned with protecting education and culture,
whose centers in Gaza and Jerusalem have been evacuated and destroyed
by Israel.

Israel’s distribution today of approximately 14 demolition notices
for schools in Hebron, its denial of permits for private schools in
Jerusalem and its daily practices of restricting education shows
severity and magnitude of Israeli practices against education in
Palestine, he pointed out.

He added this situation also reflects absence of international
legitimacy and its humanitarian duty towards the future of hundreds
of thousands of children and youth.

As for its role, Kanaan said Jordan will remain the historical
custodian of the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and a
steadfast supporter of people in Palestine and Jerusalem.

He stated this effort aims to safeguard these people’s right to
education through the Jordanian Waqf schools in Jerusalem, citing
Jordan’s tireless efforts in UNESCO, UNRWA, and other international
organizations in this context.

//Petra// AG