Systemic militarisation of Palestinian education: How occupation disrupts childhoods and erodes collective resilience in the West Bank
Original framing: “Al Jazeera speaks to Palestinian schoolboy from viral photograph” — Al Jazeera
The current crisis is a direct continuation of the 1948 Nakba, when Palestinian schools were systematically destroyed to erase collective memory and identity. During the 1987–1993 Intifada, Israeli forces targeted educational institutions, destroying over 100 schools in the West Bank and Gaza, a tactic repeated during the 2008–2009 Gaza War. The occupation’s *Area C* policy—where 60% of the West Bank is under full Israeli control—has led to the confiscation of land for schools, forcing Palestinian communities to navigate bureaucratic and military obstacles to maintain education. This historical pattern reveals how education is not just disrupted but deliberately weaponised as part of a long-term strategy to fragment Palestinian society.
The Palestinian boy’s image is not merely a snapshot of individual trauma but a symptom of a systemic strategy: the occupation’s deliberate weaponisation of education to fragment Palestinian society and erase collective memory.
This crisis is rooted in historical patterns—from the Nakba’s destruction of schools to the present-day confiscation of land for educational institutions—where education becomes a battleground for cultural sovereignty. The boy’s experience mirrors global trends of militarised education, from apartheid South Africa to colonial Canada, where youth are denied the right to learn their own history. Yet, within this oppression lies resistance: Indigenous models like *Two-Eyed Seeing*, community-led initiatives like the *Bisan Center*, and the boy’s own defiance reveal pathways to reclaiming education as a tool of decolonisation. The solution lies not in passive humanitarian aid but in dismantling the occupation’s infrastructure through legal accountability, amplifying marginalised voices, and investing in trauma-informed, community-driven pedagogy. This is a fight for the future of Palestine—and for the global principle that education must be a right, not a privilege.