Jerusalem students and Waqf officials waiting outside Bab al-Asbat of Al-Aqsa Mosque awaiting Israeli police permission to let them reach their schools inside the holy compound. (WAFA photo)

JERUSALEM, August 24, 2017 (WAFA) – Israeli police Thursday prevented Palestinian children from reaching their schools inside Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City because they were carrying Palestinian textbooks with them, according to officials at the Islamic Waqf (Endowment) department, which is in charge of the schools in the mosque.

Administrations of four schools located inside the compound distributed the school books on students outside Bab al-Asbat gate that leads to Al-Aqsa after Israeli police stationed at the gate refused to allow officials to bring the books into the schools.

Police even detained a school official and impounded his car because he was carrying the textbooks  in his car.

As a result of the Israeli action, the students refused to enter the compound without their textbooks and held a sit-in at the yard outside Bab al-Asbat.

Najeh Bkeirat, head of education at the Waqf, was also detained for calling on the students to continue in their sit-in until they are allowed to enter to their schools with their textbooks.

Palestinian schools in occupied East Jerusalem have been teaching the Palestinian curriculum for decades in spite of continuous Israeli efforts to fight that.

Recently, Israel has punished schools that use Palestinian textbooks by not providing them with any financial aid while rewarding those that teach the Israeli issued textbooks that distort Palestinian history, heritage and culture with hefty financial support.

Palestinian students and their families have strongly opposed Israeli interference in East Jerusalem schools and teaching and vowed to resist this by all means.

M.K.