Jerusalem Governorate: Proposed Israeli Educational Complex in Kafr Aqab Targets UNRWA’s Role

 الأراضي المقدسة الخضراء / GHLands

The Jerusalem Governorate has warned against a plan being advanced by the Israeli municipality to establish what it describes as a new "educational complex" in the Kafr Aqab neighborhood, north of occupied Jerusalem, on land that has for decades hosted the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Vocational Training Centre.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Governorate said the project represents a new step in a broader Israeli policy aimed at undermining UNRWA's presence and operations in occupied Jerusalem. It argued that while the initiative is being presented as a service and education project, it carries deeper political and colonial objectives.

According to the Governorate, Plan No. 1421205 covers an area of 82 dunums and is being promoted as a solution to the shortage of classrooms and educational facilities in Kafr Aqab. However, it noted that the practical outcome of the plan would be the removal of UNRWA’s Vocational Training Centre and the termination of its activities at the site.

The statement stressed that the danger of the proposal lies not only in its planning dimension but also in the fact that it directly targets an existing United Nations institution that provides essential educational and vocational services to Palestinian refugees. The Governorate said the educational justification serves as a cover for measures that would effectively weaken UNRWA's presence and replace its institutions with bodies operating under Israeli authority.

The Governorate further argued that past experiences demonstrate a pattern in which Israeli authorities have used the basic needs of Palestinians, particularly education, as a justification for controlling Palestinian land and property. It noted that several projects promoted as solutions to educational challenges in occupied Jerusalem were later used to justify demolitions, evictions, or land seizures, while the projects themselves remained delayed or unimplemented for years.

As examples, the statement cited an educational complex project in Jabal al-Mukabber that was approved in 2017 but saw no substantial progress until eight years later, with much of the project still unfinished. It also referred to the case of the Salhiya family in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, who were forcibly evicted from their home and commercial nursery in 2022 on the grounds that educational facilities would be built on the site, despite construction not having begun to date. A similar situation, according to the Governorate, exists in the town of Anata, where plans for a school designated for Palestinian students were approved years ago, yet no building permits have been issued and no construction has commenced.

The Governorate concluded by stating that Israeli authorities, which it holds responsible for the chronic education crisis in Palestinian neighborhoods due to decades of discrimination and neglect, are now attempting to use that same crisis to justify land confiscation, property seizures, and the weakening of institutions that provide vital services to Palestinians, rather than addressing the root causes of the educational shortage.