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Gaza Schools Begin Teaching Hebrew

Mohammed Suliman looks at the reasons behind and the reactions to Hamas' decision to include Hebrew classes in the 2013 school curriculum.
A Palestinian student writes during a Hebrew language class in a Gaza school in Gaza City January 28, 2013. REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot (GAZA - Tags: EDUCATION) - RTR3D31Q

In April 2012, the Hamas government’s Education Ministry in the Gaza Strip announced that it would begin offering Hebrew classes to high school students in 2013. The plan has since been implemented, and ninth-grade students in 14 schools in Gaza now have access to Hebrew-language classes as an elective.

Hebrew is not an entirely foreign language to Palestinians in Gaza since hundreds of thousands of them at some point worked in Israel before Hamas seized control of the coastal territory. According to Reuters, some 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza “retain a grasp” of Hebrew. The decision to teach Hebrew has, unsurprisingly, generated a variety of reactions.

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