KUWAIT CITY, Saturday, November 03, 2018 (WAFA) – After a delay in getting Gaza teachers contracted by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Education out of the besieged coastal enclave for work in Kuwait, 70 Palestinian teachers, the second batch of Palestinian teachers to travel to that Gulf country, arrived there on Friday.

Palestine’s ambassador to Kuwait, Rami Tahboub, welcomed on Saturday the Gaza teachers who arrived in Kuwait and wished them success in their new environment.

The first batch included 37 teachers from the West Bank and had arrived in Kuwait last week.

This is the second year in a row in which Kuwait has recruited Palestinian teachers to work there following deterioration in Palestinian-Kuwaiti relations in the aftermath of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Kuwait had accused the Palestinians of siding with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in the invasion, a charge the Palestinians have vehemently denied.

However, ties between Kuwait and the Palestinians remained cut until after President Mahmoud Abbas assumed office in 2005. However, the ban on hiring teachers remained in place and was not lifted until 2016 when the Kuwaiti Ministry of Education resumed hiring Palestinian teachers, mainly in the math and science streams.

A Kuwaiti delegation, which travelled to the occupied territories, recruited over 100 teachers in 2017 and a similar number this year.

Palestinian teachers have contributed a great deal toward the Kuwait’s development during its early years and were important instruments in building its education system.

M.K.