Amman, July 15 (Petra) – The Senate’s Palestine Committee condemned
the raid by extremist Israeli Knesset member Zvi Sukkot on the
Islamic Orphanage Secondary School in the Old City of occupied
Jerusalem.

The committee, chaired by Senator Mazen Darwazeh, denounced what it
described as a barbaric attack on the school’s facilities, including
the destruction of a banner displaying a map of historical Palestine
alongside the Palestinian flag, and the throwing of an Islamic
education textbook onto the ground.

It said the racist and provocative act reflects the extremist
mentality governing the Israeli occupation.

The committee said that the attack was not directed at a single
school, but part of a systematic policy pursued by what it described
as the most extremist and racist Israeli government in the country’s
history.

It said the policy aims to erase Palestinian national identity,
obliterate historical memory and target educational, religious and
cultural institutions in occupied Jerusalem, in flagrant violation of
international law, the Geneva Conventions and relevant United Nations
resolutions.

The committee stated that the actions of the chair of the Knesset
Education Committee including destroying symbols of Palestinian
identity, vandalising an Islamic education textbook and threatening
to close the school demonstrate the extent of the hatred and
extremism that now govern the institutions of the occupation.

It said the actions confirm that racism is no longer merely an
individual practice, but has become an official policy adopted by the
Israeli occupation government, in blatant defiance of the
international community and with unprecedented disregard for
international law and universal human values.

The committee said the Israeli practices are part of an ongoing
series of violations targeting occupied Jerusalem, its Islamic and
Christian holy sites and its educational and national institutions,
in what it described as a continued attempt to impose the reality of
occupation by force, Judaise the city and alter its Arab Palestinian
identity.

It called on the international community, the UN Security Council,
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) and all relevant international organisations to break their
silence and take decisive, deterrent measures to halt attacks by the
occupation authorities and extremist settlers.

It called for holding Israeli officials and settlers responsible for
the violations and provide protection for Palestinian educational
institutions that it said are being systematically targeted in
violation of international law and conventions.

The committee reiterated its full support for the steadfastness of
the Palestinian people in Jerusalem and their continued defence of
their land, identity and holy sites.

It affirmed that all attempts by the occupation to erase Palestinian
identity, falsify history or intimidate educational institutions will
fail to break the resolve of the people of Jerusalem or deprive them
of what it described as their legitimate right to their land and
homeland.

The committee reaffirmed that the historic Hashemite Custodianship of
the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, entrusted to His
Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, remains a safeguard for the
city’s identity and holy sites.

It added that Jordan’s continued efforts, under His Majesty’s
leadership, will remain a bulwark against what it described as
escalating Israeli policies of Judaisation and aggression.

//Petra// AK