Curriculum Development Under Military Occupation: Palestinian Environmental Health Education in the Second Intifada

Abstract

War-like conditions arise when war machinery is used to suppress a population, and is distinct from when two states are at war (see Halileh and Giacaman, 2002). Under these conditions, in development theory, the "relief-development" continuum calls for short-term interventions until "post-conflict". Not usually considered a short-term intervention, education is often left out, except for peace education. But what about long-term development, and what about curriculum other than peace education? This paper is about balancing a long term curriculum initiative with emergency initiatives, such as documenting injuries and deaths, and surveying mental health effects. The case study is a Palestinian environmental health education initiative, surrounded by the realities of Israeli military occupation: travel restrictions, military checkpoints, curfews, closures, demolitions, arrests, shootings and bombings. Participant observation and retrospective analysis document a period ranging from January 2000 to January 2005, and concludes that education is far more than the much-promoted conflict mediation—it is an important part of coping under war-like conditions.