Gaza Schools Race to Reopen, 'Two Years Missed' After What, Exactly?
Al Jazeera’s 'Race to reopen Gaza schools' highlights the pressing need to educate 600,000 children who have 'missed two years of school.' One might wonder why children in Gaza specifically 'missed' these years. Perhaps the 392 schools and universities damaged or destroyed by Israeli forces during the ongoing assault, as documented by Human Rights Watch and the UN, had something to do with it. The
inconvenient truth missed by this framing is that 'reopening' implies repairing what was intentionally broken, not just a casual hiatus. While the focus is on the admirable efforts to rebuild, the critical context of who did the destroying is conspicuously absent. This carefully constructed narrative allows for the emotional impact of children's suffering without implicating the culprits. It's a
classic case of presenting the consequence—missed schooling—without mentioning the cause: persistent bombardment and siege, funded in part by bipartisan consensus in Washington. How many schools can one 'miss' before it becomes clear they were bombed?