Jerusalem School…pedagogy of the oppressor

I expected, as usual, some rage from the article about the systematic brainwashing that seems to be taking place in the Jerusalem school in East Jerusalem, and somehow, the page from the history book that is used to teach our children, was a bold truth.

Sometimes such articles are received with mockery and cynicism. I think having a visual proof was enough to make people at least not say it was a lie. At the same time, I was worried that people might only concentrate on the page of the book. I was also concerned that people would only argue about what was there in that page.

In many ways, this is what happened. And I guess it is normal, after all, naming terrorism by Palestinians is an issue, inside a nation that builds its resilience on resistance even that’s of death.

Of course, some would enter with me into the argument of do you encourage such things…?

I have to say, everything about what took place after the article, took me by surprise. Most of it was shockingly disappointing, especially from the parents. I could imagine and understand their frustration; I still blame them for being passive which makes them as guilty as the school administration.

We also have an important factor here, which is the ministry of education. This was the biggest joke, saying that, the MoE in Palestine does not accredit the school and that they have no power in Jerusalem. The usual cliché of blaming occupation (from the MoE side) …

It was not hard to prove the embarrassing situation the director of education in Jerusalem had put herself in when we checked the website of the school, which says clearly that it is accredited by the Palestinian ministry of education.

This could have put the school in the worse situation to be lying all along to families. But this was also not hard to prove, we were able to bring in certificates for students who graduated, and the ministry of education in the PA accredited their certificates. So the department was lying.

Here, I found myself in a situation squeezed like a dry lemon with a hard hammer on my head: there is a school that is unresponsive, except by sending (assumingly) a comment to the article that seemed (through its anti-Palestinian distinct tone) to be written by the Israeli spokesperson on FB (Avi Der’i), or \and to what I learnt from one of the school girls who spoke well about me in class when the teacher was using my bad English as a way to talk poorly about me, which cost the girl a detention. Yesterday the school also decided to celebrate heritage day, and one would see olives all over FB to prove the Palestinian identity of the school.

The different social media settings that belong to the school people are still raging with anger on me. I was pushing too hard. Reflected the harsh and ugly reality that each is hiding behind.

But then there is the executive level. A ministry of education that is denying having anything to do with the school …

Seriously….

Good news is … The issue became a public opinion … The bad news is …those parents who are clueless about the dangers this imply on their children are still insisting on fighting on behalf of the school instead of putting hands in creating a better educational environment for their children.

I will always acknowledge any side that tries to help build better future for our children … but this does not mean that we follow like slaves. They come to invest for their benefit, not ours. They should know as much as we should insist on, that the service they give is not for free, and it is services that suit us that need to be given to our children. We cannot live imperialism and colonialism in the same instant.

Hopefully, the case is already on the agenda of the highest level in the government .. many people who find this as threatening as I did, are mobilizing to get answers from both the school and the government …