All out on Saturday 9th May in Manchester, St Peter’s Square, 12 PM!
For the past month, Israel has denied Palestinian children in Masafer Yatta, in the occupied West Bank, one of the most fundamental rights: the right to education.
Israeli settlers set up an illegal blockade — a barbed wire fence cutting through the road to school. When children attempted to reach their classrooms they were met with tear gas and stun grenades. Children as young as five were attacked for daring to learn.
Yet, Palestinian children continue to resist. They gathered at the fence, chanting “open the road,” confronting armed settlers and soldiers. In defiance, they established the Umm Al Khair Freedom School beside the barrier — turning a site of oppression into one of resistance.
Israel has failed, and will continue to fail. For buildings can be reduced to rubble, but the will to learn cannot be destroyed. From children in Gaza walking across devastation to reach tent classrooms, to those in the West Bank standing before barbed wire demanding access to their schools — the determination of Palestinian youth remains unbreakable.
Across Gaza, 97% of schools have been bombed. In the West Bank, education is under attack with Israel shutting down 10 UNRWA schools, denying over 4,000 children access to education. In Jerusalem, 6 schools have been forcibly closed.
Meanwhile, in Britain, despite the attacks on Palestinian education, British universities continue to co-sign Israeli atrocities, be it through censorship of activism or shameless profiteering. One example is the University of Manchester and its partnership with Tel Aviv University, which is built on stolen Palestinian land and is a centre of development for Israeli military tactics deployed against Palestinians.
We must channel the defiance of Palestinians and rise against the complicity of British universities. We must demand that all ties to Israel be severed once and for all.
Join us at St Peter’s Square on Saturday 9th May at 12 PM!
