How Israel is 'turning Palestinians into Zionists'

Israel is forcing Palestinian schools in occupied East Jerusalem to switch over to an Israeli-controlled curriculum.

by frank

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Jerusalem - Israel is to put financial pressure on Palestinian schools in occupied East Jerusalem in an effort to make them switch over to an Israeli-controlled curriculum, according to local activists and officials.

Almost all of East Jerusalem's schools currently use a syllabus developed by the Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian government-in-waiting created in the mid-1990s by the Oslo accords. Before that, they relied on the Jordanian curriculum.
Palestinian officials have slammed the move, warning that it is part of intensified efforts by Israel to disconnect East Jerusalem from the neighbouring West Bank and entrench its control over the 300,000 Palestinians in the city.
       Peace efforts have long been premised on Israel ending its occupation of East Jerusalem and recognising the city as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
"This attack on our curriculum is part of Israel's war on Palestinian identity," Sabri Saidam, the Palestinian education minister, told Al Jazeera. "Israel is working to consolidate its illegal occupation."
Israel tried to impose the Israeli curriculum when it first occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, but was forced to relent after parents and pupils staged months of strikes and protests.