Ramallah: Schools in occupied East Jerusalem were closed on Tuesday to protest against the Israeli decision to force Palestinian schools to go on a weeklong holiday in April to mark the Jewish Passover feast.

The strike was organised by the Union of Parents in East Jerusalem schools, which warned that long-term protest measures would be implemented if Israel did not back down. The union was told by the Israeli that the closure could be considered a spring vacation.

The Passover will be observed from the sunset of Monday, April 10, to the nightfall of Tuesday, April 18. The Jews celebrate Passover to commemorate their nation’s liberation from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of Moses.

“The occupation of minds is no different from the occupation of land, and in our case, it is even more dangerous,” said Zeyad Al Shamali, the head of the union, adding that the Israeli spared no time or effort to achieve total Judaisation of Palestinian schools and curricula in occupied East Jerusalem.

He said the strike covered all schools in the holy city, including those under the umbrella of Israeli authorities. “Israel’s proposed vacation would harm the students of the general secondary certificate stage, who have their own schedule for the final exams,” he told Gulf News.

The union submitted an official protest letter to the Israeli Ministry of Education to suspend the vacation decision, but the ministry rejected the demand, “so we have no choice but to conduct protests to force the occupation to back down and rescind the decision,” said Al Shamali.

““This is an uncompromising issue. We call on all international legal and human rights organisations to show their support to our cause.”

Since Israel captured the eastern part of Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, the occupation authorities have been trying to make Palestinian schools adopt the Israeli curriculum. In exchange, Israel promised to renovate existing facilities and furnish other facilities for schools in occupied East Jerusalem. Israel also promised easier acceptance to Israeli colleges and universities for Palestinian students. Most recently, the occupation’s Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs allocated a special budget of more than $5 million for schools which adopt the Israeli curriculum.

Under heavy Israeli pressure, a total of 23 schools in occupied East Jerusalem recently shifted partially or totally to the Israeli curriculum, the union warned in a statement.

Palestinian schools in the holy city suffer a shortage of 2,200 classrooms, according to Jamal Zahalkah, a Palestinian member of the Knesset (the parliament of Israel). The Israeli High Court of Justice ordered the occupation authorities in Jerusalem in 2011 to build new classrooms to meet this serious shortage, but Zahalkah says the occupation authorities allocated only 400 new classrooms, of which 150 were leased.

“The shortage in the number of classrooms is growing at an alarming pace. It forces parents to enrol their children in private schools,” he told Gulf News. “The conditions of education in occupied East Jerusalem are far worse than those of the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.”

Zahalkah, who is a key supporter of the union, accuses Israel of destroying the educational process in the holy city: “Israel does not lack the resources, but intentionally ignores East Jerusalem schools and takes advantage of the financial conditions of those schools to implement its plans there.”

He said Israel was escalating its attempts to extend its control over occupied East Jerusalem and erase all Palestinian and Muslim identity from the holy city.

The Israeli regime intends to make occupied Jerusalem its unified capital — a move that US President Donald Trump gave credence to when he promised to shift the American embassy from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem.