Apartheid wall cuts down East al-Quds technical school staff - imposes special difficulties

Source: AFP, 11-1-2007
JERUSALEM (AL-QUDS): A Palestinian technical school on a hill in occupied East Jerusalem (al-Quds) has been repeatedly hit by conflict in the past four decades, but the rise of "Israel`s" separation barrier has stifled attendance like never before. The erection of the wall has blocked many pupils and teachers at the Industrial Secondary School from reaching their classrooms, slashing attendance by nearly two-thirds and causing severe teacher shortages.
The pupils - boys aged 16 to 18 - who turned up for a new school year in September found the teachers, all from the occupied West Bank, missing.
"We said to the students: `We hope to open tomorrow`, and the next day we said it again," said deputy headmaster Hussein Nasser, whose school opened in 1965.
As "Israel`s" barrier has risen across the West Bank, so have the restrictions on Palestinians seeking to cross it.
As the school lies on the other side of the wall, in East Jerusalem (al-Quds), many of the pupils and teachers from the Palestinian Territories now need permits to get there. But the precious pieces of blue paper permitting the holder to cross into the Holy City can take weeks to obtain, if at all.
It took until November for the school to start classes, after the bare minimum of 10 out of the 65 teachers had obtained the three-month permits.
Once it did open, the pupil numbers had shrunk by nearly two-thirds - 105 students, compared with more than 300 in years past. There were only 27 pupils from the West Bank, compared with 260 several years ago.
To make up for the teacher shortfall, the administration hired 22 new teachers from East Jerusalem (al-Quds), but had to pay them higher salaries than their West Bank colleagues due to a higher cost of living, leading to disputes.
"Teachers are asking: `How can they pay new staff more than us? Some of us have been here for 15 or 20 years,`" Nasser said, adding that one new maintenance worker earns more than the headmaster.
The vast building - a network of large, white corridors leading to classrooms, a laundry room, prayer room, and a large dining hall - is attended by youths who study a range of skills from welding to hotel management.
Upstairs, after an exam, a handful of students gathered in a dormitory that today is largely empty - only 17 pupils sleep there, compared with 120 in the past.
"My parents didn`t want me to come here at first," said Abdullah, a skinny 16-year-old from a village near Nablus in the north of the West Bank. "They were worried because at the start of the year I had to go through three checkpoints to get here and then back again, and it could take two-and-a-half hours to get to school."
Now Abdullah has a temporary permit and boards at the school to avoid spending more time getting through checkpoints than in class.
"In the beginning I was lonely," he said, admitting that he cried and wet his bed when he first started boarding.
Muatassem, 17, from Hebron (al-Khalil), has slicked-back hair and a leather jacket.
"Before the wall was completed, I came everyday from Hebron, leaving at 5:00 am and arriving at 8:00 am," said the upholstery student. "I managed to jump over the wall because it was lower when they were still building it and sometimes I used a fake Jerusalem (al-Quds) residency permit to get through."
Even with temporary permits to enter East Jerusalem, most West Bank Palestinians are not permitted to stay overnight. Under an agreement with local "Israeli" officials, students who board at the school can stay but are not allowed outside after 7:00 pm. With no access to local social services, if a student falls sick in the evening, a teacher has to take him back illegally to the West Bank.
"When we get to the checkpoint, I tell them to get out of the car and walk across, even if they can hardly walk, so I don`t get into trouble. Then I meet them on the other side," Nasser said.
The school risks big fines or even closure if it disobeys "Israeli" permit rules and has been raided several times by "Israeli" border police, he added.
Much of the barrier spreads east of the Green Line that marks "Israel`s" borders before the 1967 war. With access to families, work, school or social services blocked to many, Palestinians see the electric fencing, barbed wire and concrete as an attempt to grab their land and undermine the viability of their promised state.
"I don`t believe it`s for security," said Youssef Krunz, 48, a teacher who has been at the school for 26 years. "There was no discussion, it just happened."
"It is always very difficult for us," he added, "and the worst has been the past year because of the wall."