Palestinians in the Jabal al-Mokabber area, in occupied East Jerusalem, launched a strike in all schools, protesting Israel’s arrest of parents of students, of members of the Parents Committee, in local schools in the town. Two Palestinians kidnapped.The Parents Committee decided to go on strike, after soldiers and police kidnapped two committee members, and after the police forced a school headmistress into the school, in an attempt to break the strike.
Engineer Abdul-Karim Lafy, of the Parents Committee, said the soldiers kidnapped committee members, Omar and Mahmoud ‘Oweisat, and took them to an interrogation facility, the Maan News Agency has reported.
The Israeli attacks took place after the families decided to go on strike on all schools, but the Israeli police decided to use force in order to break the strike.
Committee member Hasan Abdo denounced the arrests, and told Maan that the parents and committee members are just acting in the best interest of the students, adding that another committee member was forced under house arrest.
Abdo said the school headmistress, of the local elementary school for girls, should not have approached the school, and should have just respected the strike, adding that over the past two years, the families have been demanding her removal, due to what he described as “personal financial corruption file.’ Maan said.
He added that investigation committee even filed a report to the State Comptroller.
The City Council and the Comptroller assured the families the headmistress will be removed from her post before the beginning of the new school year, but nothing was done on the ground, and the City Council ignored the families’ demands.
The families filed several appeals to the Jerusalem City Council, demanding a number of basic rights, a resolution to the case of the headmistress, and are planning a protest in front of the Jerusalem City Council.
They said the strike would likely be expanded to include all Arab school in occupied Jerusalem, should the City Council and the Ministry of Education continue to deny their demands.
