The Palestinian Authority and members of the Israeli Arab population slammed the Education Ministry for its “Israelizing” policies in education in the eastern part of Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Ministry of Education criticised the Jerusalem policies in a statement published on July 30. The statement was signed by Palestinian Education Minister Sabi Saydem, by several Israeli Arab public figures, and by Israeli-Arab MKs Ahmed Tibi and Jamal Zahalka.

The statement rejected the actions of the city of Jerusalem “against” the Palestinian curriculum in “occupied Jerusalem,” as an attempt at the “Israelization” of the Palestinian education.

The statement refers to the education efforts as “distorted” attempts to block the Palestinian curriculum, which praises terrorists and treats Israel as a temporarily occupied area.

The signers emphasized the Arab nature of the holy city with its Muslim and Christian sites, and called on all legal institutions to protect “Palestinian national identity, conserve the Palestinian education in its homeland and abroad, and to defend education as a basic right of man, as per international law.”