Israel has ordered six schools in East Jerusalem to close this week, throwing the educational future of 800 children of Palestinian refugees into turmoil.
In a visit to one of the schools — all run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA — Associated Press reporters witnessed Israeli police throw tear gas into the schoolyard as a group of boys played outside.
Children sprinted away from the gas, coughing, drooling and covering their eyes. Some stripped off their clothes while others donned disposable masks.
Israeli police said the incursion into the Shuafat refugee camp came in response to stone-throwing but denied directly targeting the school. Teachers and administrators said the firing of tear gas onto schools grounds is uncommon, but Israeli operations into the camp regularly interfere with learning.
Teacher Duaa Zourba ran to check on her students.
“As teachers in Shuafat, our first job has always been to ensure the protection and the safety of our kids,” she said. “Whenever there’s a raid, we close windows. We close doors so that they don’t smell very heavy tear gas.”
“The goal,” she said, “is for the kids to always think of this school as a safe place, to remember that there’s a place for them.”
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