The Comment Factory

Damage sustained at the AISG after an attack

Once again, Israel’s military force proved to be as radical as the groups it claims her war in Gaza is against. On the eighth day of Israel’s blind attacks on Gaza, two F-16 bombs marked the end of the American International School in Gaza. This institution symbolized a unique eight year history of education in Palestine. The school’s mission statement read:

“The American International School in Gaza (AISG) was established with the guiding principles of academic excellence and outstanding behaviour for national and international students. This will be delivered by caring and highly qualified personnel, utilizing the best educational practices in English and Arabic, which will enable graduates to become productive and responsible participants of society as the leaders of tomorrow. The purpose of the American International School is to provide a progressive education which uses the American curriculum for an international, multicultural student body. Also the American International School in Gaza strives to promote an understanding and appreciation of the world’s diverse cultures.”

During these eight years of providing education to Palestinian students in Gaza, AISG has witnessed numerous attacks on Gaza and on the school itself.

Students from other schools in Gaza used to think that AISG’s students were blessed with an American campus that provided a safe haven from the brutal life under occupation. Yes, the school was described as an oasis, but “an oasis of learning”, not “an oasis of safety.”

During the early years of the Intifada, we used to take weeks and weeks off school, not because of heavy snow or national celebrations, but because we would hear on the news that the school had been attacked by the Israeli forces, or that Beit Lahiya (the area where the school is located) was under attack.

I remember going back to school after weeks of the bombing and seeing the holes in the science lab and in the double-glassed windows. A few days later, after thinking that things were back to normal, two Israeli tanks from a nearby settlement parked at the school’s front gate. They weren’t there to spread love and peace around the “American” school, but to spread fear and threats. I can recall some of the countless times when our sports day, which we had been so anxiously waiting and preparing for, was cancelled, or lunch break was spent in classrooms, because it was too dangerous to step outside during Israeli operations.

Likewise, the school was repeatedly attacked by radicals in Gaza. There was a failed attempt to kill the principal in 2005. In 2006, the principal and the deputy principal were kidnapped by a radical group in Gaza that demanded the release of a militant in Britain in exchange for releasing the principal and his vice. In 2007, militants attacked the schools and burned parts of it, for no apparent reasons.

In the eyes of Gaza’s radicals and Israel’s army, the school was not supposed to be there in the first place. While for the radicals the name “American” was enough to declare the school an enemy zone, the Israelis saw in the school a potential for creating educated Palestinians who would be able to take the lead in the future. For the Israelis, educated Palestinians who are able to defend themselves and their country with their knowledge and their education are certainly far more dangerous than any “peace enemies” whom it claims are Israel’s number one enemy.