It was reported on Aug. 30 that five Israeli-administered Palestinian schools operating in east Jerusalem have added the Israeli curriculum to their programs, causing a political firestorm. Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the move, noting that it is part of a campaign dating back to 1967 to rewrite Palestinian history and undermine Palestinians' identity. He also asserted that the imposition of the curriculum was a violation of international law and indicated that Israel had no intention of ending its occupation.

Within weeks of the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, Israel extended its law and administration to east Jerusalem. Law and Ordinance Order no. 11, passed by the Knesset on June 27, 1967, declared the Palestinians of Jerusalem permanent residents, giving them and their institutions the same legal status as that of Israeli institutions in Tel Aviv. The Palestinians, however, were not granted automatic citizenship, but were eligible to apply for passports.

Imposing Israeli law and administration on east Jerusalem Palestinians caused consternation in the education sector, with early attempts by Israel to instate its curriculum backfiring badly. When schools opened in fall 1967, all government-run schools adopting the Israeli curriculum found themselves without students, because the childrens' parents had decided to send them to schools outside Jerusalem, where the Jordanian curriculum continued to be used. After the Oslo Accords of 1993, these schools adopted a Palestinian curriculum. In all cases, 12th-grade students sat for the tawijhi secondary exam, which was authorized by Jordan and therefore recognized in all Arab and other countries in the region.

East Jerusalemites have a variety of schooling options for their children. There are Israeli government–operated schools that teach the Israeli curriculum, municipality-run schools that teach the Palestinian curriculum and a host of private schools of varying standards that basically use the Palestinian curriculum but also adhere to American or British curricula and exams. A number of schools in the Jerusalem area are operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Four UNRWA-run schools operate in the Shufat refugee camp in east Jerusalem.