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PA Ministry of Education Spokesman supports Palestinian students participating in “popular activities” against US Jerusalem recognition, calls to include PA curriculum in Jerusalem schools

Official PA TV program Palestine This Morning, on demonstrations at PA schools in protest of US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and transfer the US embassy to Jerusalem, interview with PA Ministry of Education Spokesman Sadeq Al-Khadour

PA Ministry of Education Spokesman Sadeq Al-Khadour: “Let me say through [official] PA TV: Regarding the issue of regular attendance at school, the public activities complement [school activity] and do not contradict [it]. The support for Jerusalem is likely to be through confrontations at the checkpoints and the areas of friction, and it is also likely to be through activities of expression by the students through drawings, writing, poems, and active participation. We again say the [PA] Ministry of Education will also support the popular activities, without harming the regular [school] activity, particularly when most of the activities are done after 12:00 p.m.” […]
Official PA TV host: “We must mention the attack that is being waged against the curricula of the schools in Jerusalem, and the occupation’s attempt to divert the truth [and] distort the curricula. [How are you] dealing with these difficulties and transferring these efforts to Jerusalem?”
Sadeq Al-Khadour: “Jerusalem has a special status. At the end of last year [2016], we organized the Freedom Carnival with the participation of 30,000 students in Jerusalem, and thousands were at the Al-Aqsa Mosque plazas, wrote inscriptions, and waved flags… We have announced steps to support the religious ruling of his honor [PA] Mufti [Muhammad Hussein] regarding the Palestinian curriculum in Jerusalem (i.e., ruling that called to reject the Israeli curriculum.) The timing of [US President Donald Trump’s] announcement [recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital] also matches our preparations to declare that Jerusalem is included in the Palestinian curriculum. T he Palestinian curriculum is not just a book, but a basic part of the framework of our existence, and therefore we at the Ministry of Education are continuing efforts to transfer the books [to Jerusalem] in order to teach the curriculum [and] deal with the steps of the [Jerusalem] Municipality through the [PA] Ministry [of Education’s] Jerusalem Department, which is investing special efforts in the matter in cooperation with the parent committees in Jerusalem.”

US recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel - On Dec. 6, 2017, US President Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and instructed the State Department to begin preparations to transfer the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump added that the final borders of Jerusalem will be determined during negotiations.

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