Second police attack on Ras al-Amoud primary school in a week
October 13, 2012

Israeli police and undercover officers attacked a group of school children in Silwan on Tuesday, 9 October. Officers entered the grounds of Ras al-Amoud primary school and hit, swore at and attempted to arrest a number of students, said Issam al-Abbasi, secretary of the Silwan Parents' Committee. The attack is the second on the school in the past week: the week before, an undercover unit harassed students just outside school grounds. Last year students were attacked by Israeli officers firing tear gas at them while they walked to school. Another time the school was raided and one student arrested; a teacher was also arrested when he attempted to intervene and held in Maskubiye Prison for the rest of the day. The Parents Committee has appealed to the Jerusalem Municipality and the Ministry of Education to keep police and armed forces away from the school, but the problems persist, with undercover officers in particular, continuing to visit the school of 2,000 students, from 7 to 15 years old.

Al-Abbas said that a letter will be sent to the chief of police and the mayor of Jerusalem calling for an immediate ban to be placed on police visiting schools. Al-Abbas stated that a strike may be called if their demands are not taken seriously: "Israel is terrorizing our children in school to keep them from their education - this is a political act."

Image: Israeli police outside a school in Al-Tur (archive)