Jerusalem (UNA/WAFA) – The Jerusalem Governorate warned against the plan being pushed by the Israeli occupation municipality to establish what it calls a new “educational complex” in the Kafr Aqab neighborhood, north of occupied Jerusalem, on land that has for decades housed the vocational training college of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
The governorate confirmed in a statement issued today, Thursday, that the project constitutes a new link in the chain of Israeli policies aimed at undermining the work of the UN agency in occupied Jerusalem, under the guise of service and educational projects that outwardly bear developmental goals, while in essence they entail dangerous political and colonial dimensions..
She explained that plan No. (1421205), which extends over an area of 82 dunams, is presented under the title of addressing the shortage of classrooms and educational facilities in Kafr Aqab, while its actual results are the removal of the UNRWA Vocational Training College and the termination of its work on the site.
The governorate warned that the danger of the plan lies not only in its planning nature, but also in the fact that it targets an existing UN agency that plays a vital educational and vocational role for Palestinian refugees. This makes the educational pretext a cover for a measure that practically leads to undermining UNRWA's presence and replacing its institutions with others subject to the occupying authorities..
She emphasized that practical experience over the past years proves that the occupation has consistently used the basic needs of Palestinian citizens, especially education, as a tool to justify its control over Palestinian lands and properties. Several projects promoted as solutions to educational crises in occupied Jerusalem were used as a pretext for demolition, eviction, or confiscation, while the implementation of these projects remained stalled or postponed for many years..
In this context, the governorate pointed out that the educational complex project in Jabal al-Mukabber, approved in 2017, saw no real progress until eight years after its approval, and the majority of it remains unbuilt to this day. It also cited the case of the Salehieh family in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, who were forcibly evicted from their home and commercial nursery in 2022 under the pretext of establishing educational institutions, while construction has yet to begin. The same applies to the town of Anata, where a school project for Palestinian students was approved years ago, but no building permit has been issued and no construction work has commenced on the ground..
The governorate affirmed that the occupation, which bears direct responsibility for the chronic education crisis in Palestinian neighborhoods as a result of decades of discrimination and deliberate neglect, is now attempting to exploit this very crisis to justify land confiscation, property seizure, and the undermining of institutions that provide vital services to Palestinians, instead of addressing the real causes of the existing deficit..
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