Palestinian activists and some parents in East Jerusalem are angry once again, this time because the students of the Al-Ofek school in the Beit Hanina neighborhood were videoed dancing to the Israeli song "Tefila", which translates from Hebrew into “Prayer”.
A video of the schoolgirls' performance in a schoolyard was leaked to social networks and drew stormy reactions. Palestinian activists egged on parents in East Jerusalem to criticize the school's management, protesting that a song in the Hebrew language was playing in the background of the performance presented by the girls.
Arab girls preforming to a Israeli (beautiful) song in east Jerusalem the eternal capital of Israel.
— Five Lucky Fingers (@5luckyfingers) May 30, 2023
When one of the father's complained the principal told him to cover his ears or to take his daughter to a different school. https://t.co/PWua9QvC6g
According to one of the fathers, when he complained to the school staff about playing an Israeli song within the educational institution, they answered: "If you don't like it, cover your ears or take your daughter out of school." It should be noted that East Jerusalem is part of the Jerusalem municipality and therefore receives various funds for civil purposes like education.
Ziad Shamala, chairman of the parents' council in East Jerusalem said, "I informed the principal that we are not opposed to the study of the Hebrew language in our schools like other foreign languages, but we are opposed to the use of the Hebrew language in dance performances as it happened." Palestinian political activist, Rasem Abidat, condemned the musical performance, calling it a "normalization activity with Israel." According to him, the event came as part of Israel's attempts to "steal" the awareness of male and female students and as part of an effort to control the education system. Both Hebrew and Arabic are the national languages in Israel, with English as the third most popular language spoken in the Jewish State. Publicly funded schools do not discriminate and the curriculum is similar across all schools, but tailored to the local population such as the inclusion of Quran classes in Muslim-dominated areas.
Awesome presentation today from the East Jerusalem Lab on educational experiences in schools in EJ. pic.twitter.com/lYN403WlYr
— Peter T. Coleman (@PeterTColeman1) May 23, 2023
Rasem's statement was ignorant of the fact that East Jerusalem is under Israel's sovereignty and has been since 1967. Israel is a country in which both Hebrew and Arabic have official status; no normalization process is required to understand the importance of teaching the Hebrew language in Arabic-speaking schools and vice-versa. English is also a mandatory course throughout the Israeli educational system and is required for all students wishing to graduate with a matriculation degree.
The new storm surrounding Israeli education in East Jerusalem comes a few days after the riot that took place at the "Rosary" Christian school for girls in East Jerusalem when the Israeli flag was raised during the graduation party performance of the female students. Parents interrupted the play and demanded that the school principal resign from her position. She tried to explain that the waving of the Israeli flag came as part of a show that aims to illustrate conflicts between countries that are in conflict with other countries, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but her efforts were of no use and she was finally forced to apologize "profoundly" to the parents.
"Outrage and anger" among the parents of the students of the Rosary Sisters School in Jerusalem, after the Israeli flag was raised during the graduation ceremony of its students, and the school was forced to stop the show. As you can see, it's a Christian school but most of the… https://t.co/0i2kkcHUOE
— Imshin (@imshin) May 25, 2023
The rise of anti-Israel sentiment in East Jerusalem areas is an alarming development due to the increase in social media engagement on the issue. Activists, most of whom live outside Israel in Europe the United States, and Canada have launched campaigns targeting Arab residents of Israel, specifically those in Jerusalem in an effort to increase Palestinian nationalism within the borders of Israel. Until recently, many in the Arab community identified as Arab-Israeli, however in recent years, there is an increase of Israelis identifying as Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship.
