Palestinians start school amid security concerns

GAZA－A new school year kicked off in Palestinian schools across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on Monday amid political and security challenges.

Earlier this month, Israel launched a three-day preemptive military campaign against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, killing at least 49 people, including 17 children, according to figures released by the Hamas-run health ministry.

For Jihad Abdul Nabi, a student from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, his first day at school was filled with sadness as his classmate Nazmi Abu Karsh would never come to school again. Abu Karsh and four other children from the Nejem family were killed during an Israeli strike when they were visiting their grandfather's grave at the al-Falouja cemetery in Jabalia refugee camp.

"I have never imagined that I would not meet Nazmi on the first day of our new year. I was shocked when I heard that my best friend in class died … I did not accept the news, but later I realized that Nazmi was gone and he would never come back," said 15-year-old Nabi in a breaking voice, as he looked at Nazmi's picture surrounded with a wreath of roses on his desk.

"In the coastal enclave, the only thing that we need is security. This will allow us to live in peace," he said, urging the international community to pressure Israel to stop its wars against the Palestinians.

The Hamas-run education ministry said the first week of school will start with some programs for psychological support for the students.

For students who lost their friends in the latest military conflict, clowns were employed in psychological and recreational activities in some government schools during the first days of school.

Nine out of 10 children in Gaza have been subjected to suffering from some form of conflict-related trauma, according to a report issued by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor last year.

"Unfortunately, a high rate of Gazan students live under insecurity conditions, mainly as the conflicts between Israel and armed Palestinian factions have not finished yet," said Dirdah al-Shaer, a Gaza-based psychologist. He said children, but mostly students, are the most affected by the consequences of the Israeli wars that have disrupted their normal lives.

During a new school opening ceremony in Ramallah on Monday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye told reporters that his government called the new school year the "Year of Sovereignty of Education in Jerusalem". "Even if the occupation managed to seize our land, it cannot confiscate our minds. We are building on the land, in minds, institutions and people, for the sake of a free, full and independent Palestine," he said.

Xinhua