Israeli forces disband Palestinian event honouring 'notable teacher'

Israeli police stopped a group of Palestinian teachers from holding a commemoration event for a notable teacher who had passed away in occupied East Jerusalem.

A Palestinian teachers committee had planned a commemoration for Husni al-Ashhab, one of the founders of a number of East Jerusalem schools on the 20th anniversary for his death before Israeli security forces banned the event from taking place.

Occupying Israeli police cordoned off the area where the event was planned to be held and forced invitees to leave it, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency WAFA.

51 years of illegal occupation

Israel has occupied the West Bank illegally since 1967, committing various crimes against Palestinian civilians.

More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in constructions considered illegal under international law.

Along with stealing land, occupying Israeli forces and settlers routinely torment Palestinians in various ways.

Earlier this month, the UN published a report saying that Israeli occupation keeps Palestinian Territories in a state of perpetual poverty.

"Over the years, Israel established a complex matrix of controls over the Palestinian economy featuring a permit system, roadblocks, earth mounds, trenches, road checkpoints, road gates and the Separation Barrier," the report said.

"[The Occupied Palestinian Territories] has the highest unemployment rate in the world, and women and youth are disproportionately impacted by the joblessness crisis. Construction of illegal Israeli settlements and annexation of Palestinian land accelerated. Gaza continues to slide on a path of de-development as a grave humanitarian crisis deepens."

Agencies contributed to this report.

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