Child prisoner Ahmed Manasara is finally released

Dear friends,

As Israel’s genocidal aggression against Gaza continues to escalate, as well as its crimes against Palestinians all across Palestine, the state has ratcheted up the pressure on Palestinian schools and students.

Yesterday, Israeli occupation authorities issued orders to force the closure of six UNRWA schools across occupied Jerusalem, targeting the communities of Sur Baher, Wadi al-Joz, Silwan, and the Shu’afat refugee camp. The orders gave the institutions 30 days to carry out the closure, leaving some 800 students without a place to receive an education. Many have expressed their condemnation of this decision, arguing that it is only the latest in a series of Israeli attacks on UNRWA as an institution that provides essential services to some of the most vulnerable Palestinian communities. Without these schools, students may be forced to study under a curriculum prepared by the Israeli municipality, which erases both their identity and history in favor of a zionist narrative.

On Tuesday, occupation forces invaded Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, east of occupied Jerusalem, firing stun grenades and tear gas at students ahead of a planned march in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The forces chased and terrorized students before the march could even take place, trapping a group of students inside the university’s Faculty of Medicine and surrounding them. This is a serious escalation in service of intimidating Palestinian students and their communities out of expressing any solidarity with the people of Gaza; Al-Quds University and others have long been hubs of student organizing and protest against the crimes of zionist colonialism. At least 23 students were injured during the attack.

Also on Tuesday, Palestinian students at Hebrew University, occupied Jerusalem led a protest against Israel’s genocide in Gaza despite the university’s attempted repression. Though the university withdrew its permission for the protest to take place on campus, the courageous students forged ahead in spite of the potential for personal consequences. This act of solidarity, read alongside the attack on students at Al-Quds on the same day, reminds us that zionist attempts to fragment Palestinians have not been and will not be successful.

It’s impossible to end this newsletter without sharing some very happy news: Ahmed Manasra has finally been released from occupation prisons after nine and a half years of imprisonment, neglect, and torture. Manasra was first abducted at the age of thirteen. Though he was finally released today, his captors denied his family the joy of this moment by failing to release him where they were told to await his arrival: Nafha Prison. Instead, Manasra was released near Bir al-Saba’, at a remote location. The family was made aware of his release after receiving a call from a Bedouin Palestinian resident, who found him and reached out to his loved ones.

Though his family has been forbidden from publicly expressing their joy at his release by Israeli authorities — for whom cruelty is always the point — we can certainly express our profound happiness in solidarity with them. May we soon celebrate the same for all Palestinian prisoners.

Until liberation and return,

Lara