Towards Saving What Remains for Us in Jerusalem!!!

To begin with, let’s agree on the sound opinion that says: The future of Jerusalem specifically, and the nation and humanity generally, will not be built on fragmentation, sectarianism, and hatred resulting from ignorance, forgetting that the desired freedom begins when ignorance ends.

All heavenly religions and thought foundations converge on the fact that ethics are the fundamental trait of a human being. "I was sent to complete the noble morals," and hence, whoever has good morals has good religion. The first pillar of ethics is the ability to restrain anger and the capacity to forgive when possible, thus ensuring a certain kind of living in understanding and safety.

Sadly, today we see that formal education has neglected the above when starting to raise and educate the child.

We have previously addressed in past articles the declining situation towards the abyss of the education and upbringing we desire in Jerusalem, emphasizing that we must not allow the loss of the battle of education, culture, and upbringing, even if we have temporarily and somewhat lost the political battle. This is reflected in the disintegration of the educational system through material temptations and selling illusions to students and their parents, not to mention igniting internal conflicts, resulting in the erosion of the roles of historical educational strongholds in Jerusalem; some are besieged to reduce their role first, and then aborting them later so they do not achieve the desired role, sadly with the participation of Arab Palestinian hands. All this is due to the absence of a clear educational vision that defines the roles of the components of society as a whole, and this statement may apply to other sectors (economic, social, environmental, etc.).

Nevertheless, hope remains, that the land which has nurtured educational figures and strongholds in Jerusalem throughout historical periods, which may have been darker than we are today, is still capable of redirecting the compass to achieve this desired hope, through a strong will and educational strategy, allowing us to restore the golden age of education in Jerusalem and the rest of the nation’s provinces through:

* Activating the role of the family and building cooperative relationships between it and the school, as the intertwined relational correlation cannot be separated. The first pillar in this regard is to ensure a balanced family stability, not only on a material level but also psychologically and socially through distributing roles and tasks, thereby enhancing the value of responsible partnership in action, not just in words. This can be achieved by building friendly relationships, first within the family, based on tolerance, which is a way of life that would achieve a sense of inner peace for family members, thus removing feelings of anger and hatred and promoting values of diversity and acceptance of other views, through enhancing active listening skills to understand the other, speaking frankly and calmly, practicing the art of apology, and learning from mistakes.
Also, it is crucial to welcome them back with warmth and a modest smile while avoiding punishment and replacing it with encouragement for everything positive, not limiting this to school grades (helping a peer, participating in community volunteer work such as olive picking, helping the elderly/young).

* The role of the school as a source of enlightenment and preparation for the future:
For the school to start fulfilling its role positively, it must ensure that students do not go to school in a state of anger, hatred, and tension, to train them on the skill and importance of creating smiles in every situation while focusing and paying attention without excessive agitation. This would be done through explanation and clarification, showing the anticipated reasons and results, enhancing positive attitudes, avoiding shouting and insults, and steering clear of using negative expressions that could create a negative thinking pattern in the student, or resorting to deprivation as a punishment for unacceptable behavior, and applying skills and principles of behavioral modification, all aiming at making the school a warm incubator for developing positive feelings towards oneself and others. Thus, they gain more values, skills, and knowledge as mentioned before, this is the school in Jerusalem that we want which relies on interactive learning and teaching methods based on motivation and participation, and to be a model for the beloved nation’s schools.

It is of utmost importance that the school staff realize, as they perform their educational mission, that these students are a trust placed in their hands, thus, they must work with determination and willingness, without neglect, to plant values, ethics, and love in their hearts, and develop skills to ensure knowledge acquisition and its practical application as much as possible.

Returning to what is happening these days in some schools in Our Holy City,

According to what has recently circulated on social media and some media outlets, there have been shameful incidents in some private schools in Jerusalem, as if Jerusalem needs more woes and disappointments at the educational level that may reflect on social peace in Jerusalem, and subsequently the social and economic status.

In short, violence – aggression (in all its forms) according to the author’s vision is an act – behavior, stemming from failure to deal with others.

I do not want to repeat what I had previously published under the title "The Honey Trap" in March 2025. And what followed from responses and dialogues. Here, I will focus on a vile state prevailing in the Palestinian Jerusalem community in general, and some schools specifically, namely incidents of violence (in all its forms) and bullying behavior among young students and adolescents - both boys and girls - some of which sadly involve all parties of the educational triangle – students, administration, and some staff members, and sometimes involves parents. While we pride ourselves on the role of the majority of Jerusalem schools, we are addressing what has happened in two private schools, one of which is historically proven to be a stronghold of Jerusalem education, and the other is classified as a school for the affluent. The third incident relates to what happened recently among students where resorting to sharp tools was involved, resulting in the intervention of official forces from outside the school (what occurred in one of the schools in Beit Hanina, which is run by the power of de facto control).

Before diving into the causes and proposing mechanisms to get out of this miserable and recurring reality, I find it necessary to go back to 1995, where we held an educational conference at the Center for Studies and Educational Applications (CARE) culminating a series of workshops we held in all southern and northern provinces under the sponsorship of the late Minister of Education at the time, Yasser Amro - Abu Thayer, with the participation of a group of educational experts, in the hall of the Al-Bireh Municipality. Likewise, the recent educational conference (mid-August 2025) titled "What Education and Teaching Do We Want for Jerusalem, In Jerusalem, and About Jerusalem" with the participation of a group of educators and parents (the vast majority of whom are Palestinians from Jerusalem), was inaugurated by the honorable Sheikh Dr. Ikrimah Sabri, and the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque and head of the Islamic Supreme Authority, followed by the honorable brother Dr. Amjad Barham, Minister of Higher Education and Education.

Today, the writer may differ with the Palestinian educator the late Khalil Sakakini, when he asked: Where are you going, my son? The student: To school. What are you learning there? The student: Reading, writing, arithmetic, and other lessons. It might be that Sakakini in his time entrusted the task of proper education and nurturing to the family, and this indeed was the practice. If Sakakini lived with us today and saw the diminishing role of the family in upbringing and nourishment, due to several reasons that we will briefly mention and not as a justification:

* The shift from an extended family pattern to a nuclear family, where in the former, everyone contributed to reinforcing values of compassion and solidarity, whereas today, unfortunately, we see cases of disintegration and limited social interaction between families, whether among relatives or even neighbors.

* Social, economic, and psychological pressures that leave many impacts on individuals in society.

* The diversity and multiplicity of identities and educational systems in force, especially in Jerusalem.

* The multitude of forms and styles of cultural invasion that the Palestinian community is experiencing, like other human societies, through media (all forms, visual, audio, or written, official and private, plus the growing influence of social media under various names.

* The use of drugs by adults which reflect on the youth, resulting in the emergence of a new pattern of these drugs we call digital drugs in behavioral psychology and the ensuing attempts at violence, addiction, or depression due to the tendency to imitate what they see or hear.

Additionally, there are other factors that are not feasible to mention here due to technical reasons or due to the existing oppressive political situation.

In light of this miserable situation, it is necessary to seek practical, applicable, and evaluable steps. You can find them detailed in my book regarding the proceedings of the two aforementioned conferences, noting that both are distributed free of charge to schools, institutions, and interested individuals.

We all realize the reality of the concept of "the eye sees while the hand is short" due to the repressive policy imposed by the powers of de facto control, but despite the entrenchment of some decision-makers behind this understanding and covering behind it, we hope that through what has been presented above and the following practical suggestions, to open not just windows but also doors for practicing education and teaching towards liberation and achieving sustainable development instead of continuing to become accustomed to accepting that understanding which perpetuates exploitation, subjugation, and annexation.

Briefly, we address the necessity of:

- Focusing on the ideological religious foundations in teaching, by intensifying and increasing religious education classes as mandatory education at all levels from kindergarten until graduation from school and joining university education. It is also necessary to intensify the revival of religious occasions in schools with responsible participation from students and their families, as the Jerusalem student does not need to increase the (tips) by 5 marks on the Tawjihi score as much as they need to provide everything possible to hone their character and reinforce the values of plurality, difference, giving, and tolerance through focusing on a dialogue-based approach as a way of life.
- The family plays an important role by being a model in applying what is mentioned in the Book of God and the Prophet’s Sunnah, so that the student is equipped with practical skills enabling him to embody the social solidarity and mutual support instead of bullying and using violence and aggressive methods as we unfortunately witness.
- Given the existing political situation that limits and hinders the Palestinian National Authority from assuming its role in Jerusalem (despite attempts), it is necessary to think about building a Higher Council for Education, Culture, and Sciences in Jerusalem to work collectively and unitively, comprising official entities (Ministry of Awqaf and Sacred Places, the Supreme Fatwa Council, Awqaf Directorate, Education Directorate, Guidance and Counseling Directorate, or unofficial entities: the Islamic Supreme Authority, the Federation of Palestinian Teachers, the Federation of Palestinian Writers, the Federation of Charitable Societies, the Family Organization and Protection Association, the Red Crescent Society, the al-Maqasid Charity Society, Caritas, the Middle East Council of Churches - Jerusalem Office, the General Union of Palestinian Workers, the General Union of Palestinian Women, General Union of Palestinian Students, Al-Quds University, Al-Luqlaq Tower Association, Al-Nazek Foundation, Elia for Youth Media, Arab Studies Association, Yabus for Culture, Jerusalem Heritage Committee, the Islamic-Christian Brotherhood Center, the Faisal Husseini Foundation, the Supreme Tourism Council, the Palestinian Institution for Vocational Training, and Professional Syndicate Joint Bodies), the Parents Councils Union, for them to form regional popular councils to protect education not just in Jerusalem, the jewel of the crown, but also in all provinces of the homeland, for the sake of protecting the educational process from any tampering attempts by those deviating from the correct moral path; it is unreasonable to continue believing that what is happening is merely an oversight or coincidence. On the contrary, there are individuals working with all their power and abilities to destroy the educational institution in Jerusalem and elsewhere, and there is much evidence that has been addressed in previously published articles.
Also, it would be their responsibility to build and develop educational development plans that respond to the needs of Jerusalem and other provinces, the most important of which is vocational and technical education plans and programs.

We hope that we take the first step towards saving education and starting to liberate from the fangs of dependency and annexation through brainwashing aimed at obliterating national identity; let us work collectively and unitively to strengthen belonging and national identity through the most effective channel, which is the educational institution.

In conclusion, we hope that this suggestion undergoes constructive dialogue cases for its development and the start of its implementation, so that future generations do not echo "the sword's tip precedes the balance."