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Jerusalem Day 2012
On Jerusalem Day people talk about Jerusalem in Jerusalem.
They all say they will never give up Jerusalem.

The East Jerusalem school system has suffered from severe neglect for many years. Any solution, therefore, will require a deep overhaul and a comprehensive long-term plan to overcome the ongoing failure of the authorities. Although there has been some progress recently, change has come decades too late and, for the moment, is moving too slowly. This paper represents an annual update on the status of various aspects of the education system. Ir Amim and ACRI continue to monitor, document and act for the full realization of the basic constitutional right of the tens of thousands of children of East Jerusalem for adequate education.

This paper outlines the war of attrition Dr. Irving Moskowitz, patron of the East Jerusalem settlers, is conducting against the Hamdallah family of Ras al-Amud. The Hamdallah household lies adjacent to the settler compound in Ras al-Amud containing its wanton expansion. Accordingly, the settlers and their supporters spare no expense, utilizing the Israeli judicial system in their crusade to evacuate the Hamdallah family out of their home of decades.

Despite the fact that Israeli Education Law requires the State to provide education services to all residents of Israel, there continues to be a severe shortage of more than 1,000 classrooms in East Jerusalem. This shortage, as well as the sub-standard conditions of existing classrooms, has led more than 40,000 pupils to turn to private schools, while approximately 5,300 children do not attend school at all. Despite the promises of Israeli authorities to the High Court of Justice in 2007 to build 645 classrooms by 2011, not much has changed since then.

This document provides a snapshot of one of the major threats to a negotiated resolution in Jerusalem: the accelerated process of Israeli settlement in Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem (as of August 2009).