[E-rundbrief] Info 268 - Mauer isoliert Schulen in Ost-Jerusalem.

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief - Info 268 - Sari Nusseibeh (East Jerusalem, Israel/ 
Palestine): The "Security" Wall bars education in Jerusalem. Urgent Appeal 
for the unlimited movement for teachers and students of arab schools 
between the Palestine territories - and other arab villages -  and East 
Jerusalem. The Apartheid-Wall interrupts education for Arab students.

Bad Ischl, 26.8.2005

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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                                              URGENT APPEAL
                                (by Sari Nusseibeh, East Jerusalem)

      THE  "SECURITY" WALL  BARS EDUCATION IN JERUSALEM

As Arab schools in East Jerusalem prepare to start the new academic
year in early September, nearly seven hundred teachers employed by
those schools will be unable to reach their classrooms. With the
"security" wall around Jerusalem now reaching its completion, cutting
off East Jerusalem from its natural Arab surroundings, and entry
restrictions becoming more stringent, teachers who neither have Israeli
IDs or special permits will no longer be able to reach their places of
work. Many pupils living in those areas will also be prevented from
being able to reach their schools.

Privately-run Arab schools in East Jerusalem provide an indispensable
venue for the education of Arab pupils, as Israel's
government-supported school system in this area hardly covers 20% of
education needs. If teachers are not allowed to reach the classrooms,
more than eighteen thousand school-aged children will be unable to
continue their education in some fifty schools in the area. The social
and political implications of such an eventuality speak for themselves.


The Israeli Government has thus far processed and approved the
applications of about a hundred teachers, mostly through a
"selective" procedure discriminating between some schools and
others. This discriminatory policy flies in the face of academic and
religious freedom. All schools applying for permits for their teachers
should be provided with those permits, without prejudicing real
"security" considerations possibly affecting a specific individual.

The present crisis facing education in East Jerusalem is a test for
what "the Wall" is about.  In opposing the boycott to Israeli
academic institutions our principle was that educational institutions
should be allowed to flourish and discrimination to learning on
political grounds be opposed. Today all those who uphold these
principles have the opportunity for positive action. Your support is
urgently needed to ensure that this Wall will not cause an education
system to collapse. Address your appeal to Israel's Prime Minister
and Israel's Minister of Interior to ensure free access to East
Jerusalem's schools.

LET  THE WALL  NOT  STAND I N  THE  FACE  OF  A  CHILD'S  EDUCATION.

Jerusalem/25th August 2005

Take a stand. Send your appeal to:

Prime Minister's Office
www.pmo.gov.il
Ministry of Interior Office
sar at moin.gov.il

E-mail erhalten von: "IPCRI News & Views" <gershonbaskin at gmail.com>


Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
     Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
     Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
     Wolfgangerstr. 26, A-4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
     fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
     Impressum in: http://www.begegnungszentrum.at
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