Israeli educational politicization policy on Arab primary schools in the Eastern part of the city of Islamicjerusalem (2000 to 2016): its impact and response

Since the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, Israeli occupation has pursued a policy aimed at controlling and changing the educational system as it has sought to amend the Israeli narrative on Palestinian land. This study aimed to identify the impact of the Israeli politicization policy on Arab primary schools in the Eastern part of the city of lslamicjerusalem. To do so, this research reviewed references about Israeli government policies on the primary education system in the Eastern part of the city of Islamicjerusalem, obtained statistics that document Israeli occupation attacks on the educational system in the West Bank and in the Eastern part of the city of Islamicjerusalem in particular. The above subject was approached through three main aspects: first, the types of politicization policies that Israeli occupation practised on Arab schools, students and teachers in the Eastern part of the city of lslamicjerusalem; second, the impact of these policies on the educational system; and, third, how to confront these policies which work to politicize education. A qualitative approach was taken by interviewing school principals and teachers to obtain the correct information about the different kind of policies that the schools face. Teachers responded to the interview questions in accordance with what was found to be documented about statistics of attacks on schools, teachers and the educational system in the Eastern part of the city of Islamicjerusalern. The findings suggest that Israeli occupation practices-specifically politicized policies-target the Palestinian school curriculum, Arab schools, students and teachers by creating barrier preventing them in many cases from accessing the schools. The study also found that these policies affect the Arab community in the Eastern part of the city of Islamicjerusalern in addition to the Palestinian identity. The results show that school departments and the Palestinian Ministry of Education are working to maintain these procedures within the means available to them.