(August 30, 2023 / JNS) Terrorists affiliated with the Palestinian Authority opened fire at a new Arab school in the Kafr Aqab neighborhood of northeastern Jerusalem on Wednesday because it will be teaching the curriculum of Israeli Arab schools.

In a letter that was reportedly left at the site, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed “militia” of P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction, claimed responsibility for the shooting. 

“We will cripple with an iron first anyone who helps establish the school,” wrote the U.S.-designated terrorist group, claiming that the Israeli curriculum “falsifies and targets the ancient and contemporary history of Palestine.”

Moreover, the attackers left graffiti reading, “The school year cannot be opened,” Kan News said. The Israel Police is investigating the attack in cooperation with the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the report noted.

The targeted school is one of four new educational institutions in Kafr Aqab, funded by the Jerusalem Municipality, that will prepare students for an Israeli bargut (high school matriculation) diploma. The school was supposed to open later this week.

Of roughly 110,000 Arab students in eastern Jerusalem, 85% follow the Palestinian Authority curriculum, Lach Yerushalayim, an NGO that focuses on Jerusalem-related issues, told JNS earlier this year.

“The Palestinian Authority, which is frankly the enemy of Israel, pushes the Palestinian narrative. Israel tries to fight this through a type of censorship, but it’s not succeeding within the schools,” Lach Yerushalayim Chairman Maor Tzemach said at the time.

Kafr Aqab is within the Israel capital’s municipal boundaries. However, security forces rarely enter the neighborhood since it is situated on the far side of the security barrier. Most of Kafr Aqab’s residents have Israeli residency status, allowing free movement within the country.