Reem Alshareef
Posted on | November 5, 2008 | No Comments
Principal of Cordoba School in Hebron
I adore Hebron, my city, my people, my children, and the school. I refuse to leave. Whatever the circumstances, I insist on staying. My roots are here even though we are now under Israeli control.
The settlers have come since the Oslo Accords?
Yes, the Palestinian leaders did not recognize very well that they signed papers that divided Hebron in half. Now, the settlers want to get rid of us. They make our life miserable, not only with the checkpoint. The past three months, we worked hard to rehabilitate the school. A week later, the settlers came. They watch everything and when the guard was not here, they destroyed our garden. See those big rocks on the walk? That was our stone wall.
Tell us about the difficulties the children face in going to school.
The Cordoba School is located at the very center of Hebron, in the H2 area under Israeli control. The Oslo Agreement divided Hebron into two parts, H1 under Palestinian Authority control and H2 under Israeli control. To get to the school, you have to go through the checkpoint, as you mentioned. You must be searched every morning, show your ID and pass metal detectors. The only other way is to go through the cemetery, coming from the south. We are not allowed to use the street.
Can children be taught to be strong?
Children watch, and if they find the leader is strong, capable, and good in English, they follow her example. I want my students to be able to speak English and Hebrew so they can speak to the settlers and protect their school, themselves, and their town.
If a child has a psychological problem, and many have, I send him to the social worker. If he has been beaten by the settlers or army, it is different from being beaten by his family. In each situation, I act with my brain and heart together.
Children beaten by settlers?
The settlers and Palestinians live a few meters apart. When I was first here a year ago, I got one case each morning where when the children come to school, settlers, even women, attack the children with sticks, stones, or with their hands. I send them to the hospital but first I calm him down, tell him this is our city, our destiny. By staying here, we win. If we leave, we lose. This is their destiny, and they have to cope.
It doesn’t happen too often recently. I call the Israeli police. Sometimes we tell the media.
Does any situation justify violence?
We have to do peaceful resistance. Violence brings misery. The children know that if they are attacked, they should not hit back. In the past when they tried to protect themselves, they were taken to prison. So, if somebody tries to attack you or your home, bring in neighbors or the Israeli police. Try to get the attack on tape or video camera and show it to the world.
There is no equality. Look at the protection the settlers have and contrast that with what the Arabs have. A camera in the hand of an Arab has to equal a gun.
Despite the setbacks, you have achieved some important successes.
When I first came here, I felt very sad. The school was run-down. Most of the students did not want to stay because of the difficult location. I worked hard to renovate the school, hire more teachers and raise the standards of education. When I came here there were only 87 students. Now there are 119, an increase of more than 30%. Inshallah, we are going to succeed in getting another building and adding more classrooms to our school. My students are like sons and daughters. I’m proud of them.
Israelis say that Palestinian textbooks train students to fight Israelis. What do you say to that?
Everything in our students’ hands is approved by the Israeli government. Before books are distributed to our students, they go to the Israeli government offices. Every detail of each book is reviewed by the Israeli government to check for historical mistakes. Actually, they don’t care about mistakes, as long as the book doesn’t touch on the Israeli government and the current political situation.
What is courage?
Sometimes the environment brings out courage in people. I felt that in this situation I had to be full of courage in order to protect the school, the children, and myself. If you show courage, the people here, the settlers and others, will respect you and talk to you like a human being. If they feel you are weak, they won’t respect you. Nobody respects the weak, anywhere.
What keeps me going is to keep the school is open for the students. I want to make sure that we have a school for the children of people living here. Having a school will mean that people will stay. We are trying to keep what we have in our hands and not to lose it. If everyone sticks to his house or his city, we won’t lose more.
If peace talks start again, do you have any faith in the politicians?
No. After every peace talk, if they come to a conclusion, it is against Palestinians. We lose more land or more rights. After these talks, maybe they will consider the Wall as the border and forget about the green line. And we lose more land.
Alshareef became principal of Cordoba School in 2006 and revitalized the school that, since the 1997 Hebron Protocol divided the city, has been inside an Israeli-administered zone. Alshareef built a coalition that includes aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross and international monitors from the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program who walk the children to and from school through the Israel settlement of Tel Rumeida.
