Gaza schools add ‘peace building’ to lessons for thousands of children

“Here, it is safe. No drones or bombs. The best thing is sitting at a desk and seeing the teacher and the board, and holding a pencil again,” said Raseel al‑Shaer, 12, about classes at an Academy of Hope site in Gaza. The network, started by Dr. David Hasan, a Palestinian American neurosurgeon, now serves some 9,000 pupils in grades one through nine across five campuses in southern Gaza; students cycle through three‑hour shifts and receive hot meals and medical and psychological care.

The schools teach a modified version of the Palestinian Authority curriculum that omits passages demonizing Jews or glorifying violence and adds weekly lessons on peace building — tolerance, respect for differences, the golden rule and conflict resolution. Before‑and‑after excerpts in the curriculum show, for example, a math problem about “martyrs” replaced with one about attendance at a West Bank soccer match and a reading praising a militant swapped for a piece about a pioneering educator.

Dr.

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