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Hamas-linked schools operate in Jerusalem with Israeli approval, says report

“A holocaust on anyone who thinks that it’s possible to live in coexistence with the [Israeli] occupation,” said the Al-Eman Schools secretary of the board.

By World Israel News Staff 

Al-Eman Schools, operating in eastern Jerusalem, are approved by Israel’s Education Ministry and Justice Ministry although run by “elements linked to Hamas” as well as “supported and existing through cooperation with organizations and NGOs in Turkey that identify with Hamas, act against the existence of the State of Israel and spread inflammatory incitement against it,” reports Yedioth Ahronoth.

On its website, Al-Eman Schools are described as having been “established in 1984, in response to an urgent need in the Palestinian society for schools providing high-quality education.”

The website says that the “schools have approximately 2,000 students and achieved 100% rate of success in science and arts [disciplines] for both boys and girls and for many years.”

Yedioth Ahronoth reports that there are four schools for boys and girls: two high schools, two elementary schools, and a kindergarten.

Sheikh Jamil Hammami, listed on the website as Secretary to the Board of the school network, is also the head of the Supreme Islamic Authority in Jerusalem and has long been associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and considered by many as one of the founders of the Hamas branch in Jerusalem, says the Israeli newspaper.

He has tried to cover up his connection to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas in order to avoid arrest, says Yedioth Ahronoth.

“The schools seek to educate a distinct Muslim generation who realizes the characteristics of sound citizenship, manifests the Islamic creed in conduct, according to well-established educational and teaching Islamic rules and foundations whose sources are the Quran and the Prophet Mohammad Traditions,” says Al-Eman.

Hammami is documented, says Yedioth Ahronoth, saying in a 2016 speech: “A holocaust on anyone who thinks that it’s possible to live in coexistence with the [Israeli] occupation.”

Chairman of the Board Abdul-Azim Salhab, according to the Israeli newspaper report, is head of the Waqf Islamic Council and was detained by Israel for what was seen as his instigation of a crisis in the Temple Mount area earlier this year.

Yedioth Ahronoth says that it was unable to obtain a comment from the Education Ministry.