Impact of Occupation on Palestinian Children

Lesson Plan By: Mai Abdul Rahman, 4/14/06

Grades: 5-9th grade

Time: 45-60 minutes

Background:

In the past Palestinians were considered by UNESCO as the most educated population in the Middle East. Their literacy rate was among the highest in the world. But since the Israeli occupation, Palestinians have suffered severe closures, crippling curfews, military invasions, home demolitions, property and olive tree destruction (more than one million trees have been destroyed), arrests, and daily humiliations. The continued occupation has had an overwhelming effect on Palestinian society but most profoundly the impact of the occupation on Palestinian children and youth has been devastating.

Since September 2000, More than 1, 000 schools have been closed, occupied, destroyed or damaged by the Israeli military. More than 226,000 children find going to school impossible. School enrollment rates are now down by 1.5% for the second year in a row, meaning that some15,000 fewer children enter into the school system each year.

More than 2 million people in the Occupied Palestinian Territories survive on less than $1.00 per day, while it about .50 cents per day in Gaza. Almost 1/2 of Palestinians (1.7m people) live under the poverty line.

Objective: Examine impact of the occupation on the Palestinian children.

• Identify three factors that impact the education of Palestinian children (factors that impact Palestinian children are found in background info provided above)
• Identify opportunities available to students to help Palestinian school children (such as the WIAMEP school collection drive, or writing a letter to Kids Post editor).

Purpose: Understand the political and social consequence of the occupation on Palestinian children.

• Explore ways that children in this country can help Palestinian school children.
• Provide students an opportunity to assist Palestinian children by collecting school supplies and contributing to Palestinians in a meaningful manner.

Materials:

• The Nation issue of September 1, 2003: “Occupied Voices” by Wendy Pearlman. Excerpts of the book may be downloaded from the internet at http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030901/Pearlman.
• Pencil
• Paper
• WIAMEP School Supply Drive announcement (copies are available at http://www.wiamep.org/events/schoolsupplies.htm).
• Internet access (if available)

Procedure:

• Ask students what they know of current conflicts in Palestine.
• Discuss recent news events, such as Hamas’ recent win, Israeli settlements.
• Divide students into small groups to read and discuss accounts by children from Pearlman’s “Occupied Voices: Stories of Everyday Life from the Second Intifada“. Make sure to point that Wendy Pearlman is a Jewish writer; use words to describe her such as courageous, and brave.
• As a class, have students discuss the book.
• Have students discuss Pearlman’s courage. Remind them that she is a 26-year-young Jewish writer willing to write about the effects of the Israeli occupation on Palestinian children.

Guided practice:

Once again divide the class into small groups. Each group will research and prepare a multimedia presentation on the following topics:

• Describe the condition of Palestinian children in a refugee camp
• Describe the obstacles that Palestinian children face going to school.
• Write a letter to the editor of Kid’s Post urging them to cover conditions in Palestine and Palestinian school children.
• Portray the historical, cultural, and religious significance of Jerusalem. Include pictures and descriptions of key sites important to Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Where possible, identify sites by their Jewish, Arabic, and Christian names.

Closure:

Have students identify and share with the group two new and interesting facts they learned about Palestinians.

Independent Practice:

• Provide students copies of the WIAMEP School Supply drive.
• Review the purpose of the drive with students.
• Ask students if they wish to participate and help with the collection of school supplies to Palestinian children. ***Make sure to ask students to discuss this initiative with their parents and secure parental permission for their participation and collection of school supplies to Palestinian children.

Additional internet sites:

• http://www.dci-pal.org/english/home.cfm
• http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/
• http://www.wiamep.org/
• Google: Images, Palestinian children

Additional Sources:

• Unicef 2005 Report on the OPT
• Palestine Monitor
• Christian Aid 2004
• Unicef 2004 Report
• UN- OCHA Press Release 2004
• DCI-Palestine
• Palestine Monitor
• Unicef 2004 report on OPT
• Christian Aid Report January 2003