Palestinians protest Israeli closure of West Bank school near Nablus

Palestinian education officials and school students attempted to resist the closure decision, but were confronted by the IDF, who threw tear gas bombs at them.

By REUTERS
A Palestinian man argues with an Israeli soldier during clashes over an Israeli order to shut down a Palestinian school near Nablus in West Bank October 15, 2018. (photo credit: MOHAMAD TOROKMAN/REUTERS)
A Palestinian man argues with an Israeli soldier during clashes over an Israeli order to shut down a Palestinian school near Nablus in West Bank October 15, 2018.
(photo credit: MOHAMAD TOROKMAN/REUTERS)
Israeli forces shut down a school in the West Bank on Monday, accusing students of throwing stones from inside the school.
The IDF did not immediately comment on the decision to close the school in the West Bank village of al-Lubban al-Sharqiya, which keeps hundreds of students away from their classes.
Palestinian education officials and school students attempted to resist the closure decision, but were confronted by the IDF, who threw tear gas bombs at them.
School student Mousa Rami said the closure decision is “unfair” as his school was simply for education “not for war or torture.”
The eighth grader said a meeting will take place with the local council in hopes to reopen the school.
Students have repeatedly complained of the IDF raiding their school, located near a highway between the West Bank cities of Nablus and Ramallah that is used by Israeli settlers and soldiers to move to nearby West Bank settlements.
Palestinian Education Minister, Sabri Saidam, who was among those who protested the Israeli decision, said the decision was “catastrophic.”
“Stopping education in Palestine can be catastrophic by all means. We reject these military measures,” he said.
The school was built in 1946, with nearly 560 currently enrolled students. It faced similar closure decisions in the past, most recently in 2008, when it only lasted for one day.