The atmosphere is always tense in occupied East Jerusalem’s neglected Shuafat refugee camp.
Here, children play on roads ridden with trash and sewage, while young teenage boys are forced into dropping out of school to work in garages or restaurants, in order to help make ends meet at home.
At least 24,000 people – the majority of them refugees whose families were displaced in 1948 – live in this patch of lawlessness, caged in between two checkpoints and an 8 metre-high concrete wall that encircles the camp.
News of Israel’s plans to shut down the two United Nations refugee schools here has only added fuel to the fire.
The schools, though lacking in organisation and capacity to serve, are free of cost and offer a small yet meaningful glimmer of hope in a difficult setting.
“All my friends are at my school. I love my teachers. We spend more time at school than at home,” said Zuhoor al-Tawil, a 14-year-old student at Shuafat Girls’ School, operated by the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
“Why don’t they wait until we graduate and then close it?” she asked Middle East Eye.
In the latest blow to Palestinian refugees and the education system in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli media reported last week that Israel will shut down UN schools serving Palestinian refugee camps across the city.
According to Israeli media, Israel’s National Security Council will revoke the permits of schools operated by UNRWA from the beginning of the next school year.
Schools run by the UN agency will reportedly be replaced by schools the Jerusalem municipality operates, using the curriculum of Israel’s education ministry.
Operating since 1949, UNRWA runs six schools across Jerusalem, serving close to 3,000 students. The agency also runs health centres, and women and youth associations, as well as providing relief and protection services.
In response to the reports, UNRWA released a statement saying it was not informed of any decision to close down the schools.
“At no point since 1967 have the Israeli authorities challenged the basis on which the agency maintains and operates premises in East Jerusalem,” the statement said.