The Palestinian Center for Prisoners Advocacy condemns the decision by the Israeli forces to prevent 65 Palestinian detainees who are high school students, known as “Tawjihi” students, from taking their exams.
This decision is a blatant violation of the right to education guaranteed by international charters and conventions. It forms part of the policy of collective punishment and systematic retaliation against Palestinian detainees.
Israel is not only depriving detainees of their freedom; it is also targeting their educational and academic future in an attempt to break their will and deny them one of their most basic human rights. This is a clear violation of international rules that guarantee the right to education for all people without discrimination.
Preventing detainees from sitting for their high school exams reflects the ongoing use of education as a tool of punishment. It exposes the fascist mentality of Israel, which pursues Palestinians even inside their prison cells and deprives them of any opportunity for growth, development, or building their future.
This policy comes within a broader context of retaliatory measures targeting prisoners, including deprivation of family visits, starvation, isolation, physical and psychological assaults, and medical neglect. These practices are gradually turning Israeli prisons into environments hostile to life and threatening to the prisoners’ future, health, and dignity.
Depriving detainees of education is inseparable from the extremist policies pursued by the occupation government, which strip them of their basic rights and turn prisons into tools of repression and abuse instead of adhering to recognized legal and humanitarian standards.
The Palestinian Center for Prisoners Advocacy calls on international institutions concerned with education and human rights, foremost among them UNESCO, the Human Rights Council, and the United Nations, to intervene urgently to stop these violations and pressure Israel to respect detainees’ right to education and enable them to continue their academic path.
Targeting education inside detention centers is a direct attack on the Palestinian person and their future. Preventing high school students from sitting for their exams constitutes a moral and legal crime that requires international condemnation and accountability.
Palestinian Center for Prisoners Advocacy
Saturday, June 21, 2026
