30 August 2002

In the name of Allah the most Gracious the most Merciful

 A new school year

A new battle in challenging aggression

“Read and thy Lord is the Most Bounteous; who taught by the pen; taught man that which he knew not”

Our Mujahid Palestinian people:

Our stationed people on the land of Jihad and resistance:

To you who have shown to the whole world the model of steadfastness, heroism, determination, spirit of challenge and sacrifice. To you who have sacrificed blood and soul in a rare phenomenon … a new school year is in the offing and our enemy is still occupying our cities, villages and refugee camps, besieging our people, confiscating our lands, infringing on our simplest rights and seeking to defeat and break our spirit of challenge and determination.

The school year starts and we declare with it the start of the battle for education to foil the enemy’s intentional policy of spreading ignorance in lines of our people, which he failed to impose during decades of occupation. With the advent of the new year we assert a new challenge to continue along the road of education as part of our people’s program of steadfastness and resistance, which our people adopted in face of occupation. We challenge the siege and announce that we are a people wishing to live a free and dignified life and that education is a basic weapon in fighting the enemy.

We in the Islamic Resistance Movement affirm to our people especially the teaching staff and our sons the students the importance of starting the new scholastic year with absolute seriousness. We ask them to persist along the road of education despite difficulties and obstacles. We are convinced that the Zionist aggression on our people targets all sectors of the Palestinian society, which put us in an all-out confrontation with the enemy. Persistence of education is one of the elements of our steadfastness that will be followed with victory Insha’allah.

We would like to record our praise over efforts of the teachers and workers in the educational field for ensuring success of the educational process. We appreciate their sacrifice and patience in performing their message, which exceeds teaching various subjects to serving as a model for steadfastness and sacrifice in face of the difficult living conditions our people are experiencing. Let their basic role be building the Mujahid educated person who has faith and who works for his cause until regaining full national rights.

Our people:

Let us all consider that ensuring success of the new school year as a new challenge against occupation to be added as a fresh bright page to our records of pride and honor. Let the whole world view our determination and insistence on education and persistence of Jihad and resistance until liberation of all our lands and holy shrines despite difficulties.

And it is a Jihad until either victory or martyrdom

The Islamic Resistance Movement
Hamas – Palestine
Friday 22^nd Jumada Thani 1423
30^th August 2002AD