RAMALLAH, September 8, 2024 (WAFA) – Several Palestinian associations and institutions issued a position statement calling on the international community to save Palestinian schools from the occupation’s education genocide, as part of the International Academic Campaign against Israeli occupation and apartheid.
On the occasion of the International Day for the Protection of Education from Attack, which is observed on 9 September each year, the signatories to the position statement called upon the international community and the Member States of the United Nations to take immediate action to protect Palestinian education from Israeli military attacks, which are carried out deliberately and in a planned manner in the context of the genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.
The signatories affirmed the need to save the Palestinian schools from Israeli aggression.
The position statement called for an immediate ceasefire and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, including the reconstruction of the Strip’s educational infrastructure, calling to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against education and children, as well as the demolition and incursions into schools.
The signatories also stressed the need for immediate action to protect schools, as safe havens for students and teachers, underscoring the need to keep education at the top of the global agenda.
They emphasized the need to allocate urgent and immediate UN assistance programs to continue the educational process, to fund programs to compensate for the education lost, to ensure a rapid medical response to permanent injuries suffered by children, especially the provision of artificial limbs, the distribution of polio vaccines in safe conditions and the opening of border crossings for the treatment of Gaza children in hospitals abroad.
The position statement also stressed the urgent need for all UN General Assembly member states to sign the “Safe Schools Declaration”, which calls for implementing guidelines to protect schools and universities from military use.
The signatories further expressed regret at the continued use of double standards in situations of armed conflict.
According to the United Nations, 80% of Gaza’s schools have been destroyed or damaged, preventing some 620,000 students from completing their education and 39,000 Gaza students from taking the high school exams, due to the genocidal war waged on the Strip, and the destruction of the education sector.
At least 10 thousand students have been killed in Israel’s ongoing aggression on Gaza, and 13,444 others have been wounded.
Additionally, 397 teachers have been killed in the Gaza Strip, representing approximately 1.8% of the total number of teachers in the area.
Additionally, 117 university professors and 760 university students have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank. Around 450 high school students were also killed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. About 197 university students and eight higher education workers from the West Bank have been detained by the occupation.
At least 288 schools were turned into shelters for the displaced in Gaza, including 155 schools run by UNRWA.
Moreover, 90% of schools in the Gaza Strip, including 712 public, private, or agency schools, have been either completely or partially destroyed.
The interim report issued in March 2024 by the World Bank, UNRWA, and the European Union estimated the cost of damages to the education sector at $341 million.
