East Jerusalem private schools on strike after teaching permits not renewed

Strike begins as new school year opens

The academic year in East Jerusalem opened on Tuesday with an open-ended strike by teachers at private and Christian schools, following Israel's reported failure to renew entry permits for more than 70 teaching staff. The General Secretariat for Christian Educational Institutions of Jerusalem announced the decision in a statement issued Monday evening, saying the move came without prior warning and made the opening of the school year impossible.

The striking schools serve some 15,000 students, according to data from the East Jerusalem organization Ir Amim. The General Secretariat warned that the absence of staff would hamper educational, administrative and health-related operations, as well as cleaning services and safety procedures, depriving students of a "safe and stable" learning environment.

In its statement, the secretariat said: "We pray and hope that this crisis will be resolved as quickly as possible, that such measures will cease and not recur in the future, thereby preserving the stability of our educational institutions and guaranteeing students' right to orderly and safe education."

Sylvia Amer, deputy director at College des Freres Jerusalem, said the abrupt reversal of permits forced the suspension of classes. Mike Bassam Farraj, general director of Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Schools, described the permit denials and legislative hurdles as "systematic pressure" and detailed what he called financial temptations to adopt the Israeli Bagrut curriculum in exchange for budgets.

Curriculum changes and broader context

The strike comes amid concerns over plans to introduce the Israeli curriculum in East Jerusalem schools. According to a report by the Palestinian Authority-run news agency WAFA, all new first- and seventh-grade classes at East Jerusalem's Palestinian-majority municipal schools have been told to exclusively use the Israeli curriculum this year. More than 45,000 Palestinian students in East Jerusalem will be enrolled in the Israeli educational programme, a nearly fourfold increase over six years ago.

Jerusalem Governorate spokesman Marouf al-Rifai described the forced integration as a "cultural and educational crime." In a statement on Facebook, he said: "The adherence of Jerusalem's people, teachers, and students to the Palestinian curriculum is not merely an adherence to a textbook, but rather a defense of memory, identity, history, and the right to determine the national narrative."

Separately, Israeli forces recently seized educational compounds formerly operated by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the Shu'fat refugee camp and Kafr Aqab, to be replaced with Israeli-administered facilities.

The strike also highlights a broader staffing crisis in East Jerusalem schools. According to Haaretz, approximately 60 percent of the 6,700 Arab educators in the city hold degrees from Palestinian Authority institutions. A Knesset law prohibits employment of teachers with such degrees, and in January 2026, legislation further restricted graduates of Palestinian universities from teaching in Israeli and East Jerusalem schools without Israeli accreditation. In 2018, Israel's Labor and Welfare Ministry revoked recognition of social-work degrees from Palestinian institutions including Al-Quds University.

Palestinian Authority-run schools have also been forced to reduce classes to only three days a week over funding issues, and Israel has shut down UNRWA operations in East Jerusalem.