The future of Christian education in Jerusalem may be under threat, after the Israeli government moved to ban Palestinian teachers.
School principals have been told they can only employ those with Israeli-issued qualifications who live in the city, with work permits no longer being given to teachers who earned their degrees in the West Bank.
Nearly 230 Christian teachers at 15 schools will be affected.
A representative of the General Secretariat of Christian Schools (GSCS) has told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that “Christian schools will find themselves in a very difficult position, which will jeopardise their sustainability and cause them to lose their Christian mission.”
“There are not enough Christian teachers in Jerusalem to take over. In the long term, these restrictions risk permanently affecting the Christian character of our institutions and weakening the Christian faith and presence in the city,” the representative added.
There are concerns that it will disrupt children’s education and lead to severe financial hardship for the teachers, who could move and further deplete the Christian population in the Holy Land.
Nathalie Raffray from ACN told Premier Christian News that faith schools have “played an essential role at national and interreligious level”.
The possible emigration of Christian teachers from areas like Bethlehem could be “tragic”, she said, with the proportion of believers in the area dropping from 85% in 1947 to fewer than 10% today.
There has been a long history of Christian schools in Jerusalem, the first being opened by the Franciscans in 1520. The restoration of the Latin Patriarchate in the 1840s led to more being established, including the first school for girls.
Thousands of children, both Christian and Muslim, have been taught in the schools.
The GSCS representative reiterated to ACN that the teachers will not be abandoned. The Secretariat is in contact with the Holy See and legal partners to help urge the Israeli government to reverse its decision.
It comes after 171 teachers did not receive the necessary authorisation to work in September, a situation only resolved after a week-long strike by the GSCS.