Israel Begins Witch Hunt against Palestinian Educators, Pupils who Honoured Land Day
Israel launched a witch hunt against Palestinian educators and pupils who commemorated Land Day by participating in the community’s declared strike. Education Ministry supervisors visited Palestinian schools on Land Day and schools were ordered to send lists of teachers absent that day.
On 30 March 2011, the 35th commemoration of Palestinian Land Day, the Israeli Ministry of Education launched a campaign of intimidation against Palestinian schools and educators in northern Israel. Dr. Orna Simchon, director of the Education Ministry’s northern district, sent a letter to Palestinian schools in the region on Land Day, demanding to know whether classes were held that day and if not, why. They were also asked to immediately report the attendance records for the day, including lists of teachers who had and had not come to school. Land Day commemorates the 1976 Palestinian strikes and demonstrations, against Israeli land confiscation policy, during which six Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed, hundreds arrested and hundreds injured.
This year as in previous years, a general strike took place on Land Day in Palestinian towns and villages in Israel. This strike included the education system and was fully supported by the High Arab Monitoring Committee- National Committee’s local council heads, together with most student- parent committees and councils, elected in Palestinian schools.
This is but the most recent attempt by Israel to prevent Palestinian citizens from celebrating and commemorating their history. On 22 March, the Israeli Knesset approved the controversial “Nakba Law”, which mandates fines for state funded bodies that commemorate the Nakba, the 1948 Palestinian catastrophe of death, displacement and dispossession. The Palestinian public in Israel has stated it will continue to commemorate its national days and history, despite this legal threat.
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