Palestinian school children have been banned from schools since February 5 due to a teachers’ strike. The conflict has become a symbol of the deep crisis in Palestine.

The teachers’ strike is the longest in recent history, and the strike is only getting bigger. Today, approximately one million children are uneducated.

The teachers’ demand for a pay rise has turned into a protest movement against the increasingly authoritarian Palestinian Authority. Palestinian society is going through a deep crisis, not only economically, but also due to political mismanagement and a lack of democracy.

The strike is therefore not only a question of money. As the second largest group of state employees in the West Bank, teachers are also calling for a democratically elected union. A demand that the authorities will not meet – probably for fear that the main political rival, the Islamist militant group Hamas, could use a union in the struggle for political power against the Fatah party.

The Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas accuses striking teachers of holding an estimated one million school children hostage to their demands for better salaries. But teachers who have felt undervalued for decades say they have no choice but to strike.

– I think the strike is terrible for the children, says Professor Mohammed Brijeah, who has worked at the school for 23 years.

– But the way the authorities treat us is just an insult. I want to live with a touch of dignity, he stresses.

For years, teachers across the West Bank have struggled to get by on salaries of around $830 a month – significantly less than other professions that require a similar education.

A year and a half ago, the Palestinian Authority cut the income of public employees by 20% – as part of a measure to tackle the budget deficit. In January, teachers therefore expected a 15 per cent pay rise as well as back pay on the basis of an agreement that ended a shorter strike in May last year. (HAVE)