Al-Jazeera School Besieged Despite Judicial Rulings

In his statements to Ikhwanweb, Talaat Fahmi (chairman of Alexandria- based Al-Jazeera School) said that security forces still besiege the school despite the decision passed by the administrative judiciary court cancelling the governor’s closure decision.

Talaat said the court’s decision mirrors fact since this ruling confirmed past ones of cancelling the governor’s decision and forcing the relating authority to engage with the school and remove all impediments hindering the school’s mission.

He said he couldn’t expect the decision consequences since it’s passed in Egypt; “the country in which the regime respects no rulings, realities, or logic.”

He refuted the Muslim Brotherhood’s ownership of schools but stressed the fact of Brotherhood- run schools spreading allover the country.

It is worth mentioning that security forces clashed with the students’ families when they went to the besieged school.

Anti-riot police escorted by earthmovers, a state security officer, and head of Al-Ameryah district General Mohamed Al-Maneesi went and devastated Al-Jazeera School building that expanded over 6000 meters at the 26.5 kilometer of Alexandria- Matrouh road before 2005 school year.

State security forces escorted by mass numbers of the anti-riot police forces have forcefully closed the Islamic school of Al-Jazeera the day before yesterday evening without reasons and denied the access of 1000 students to the school yesterday morning. The forces threatened of using tears gas and detention if the students or their families tried to access the school.

State security officer advised the student’s parents to move them to any other private school in Alexandria, but they refused and said they would sue them to reopen the school.

Deputy Minister of Education of Alex informed the school’s chairman that the closure decision was passed upon security decision by Cairo’s state security apparatus and, therefore, he couldn’t cancel it.

Meanwhile, security authorities said that the school was built basically without issuing the necessary authorizations. However, owner of the school submitted all necessary approvals and the governor’s authorization to the administrative judiciary.

Further, state security issued the devastation decision no. 389 of 2004 postponed till August 15, 2006 depending on the instructions given by the U.S. embassy.

Head of Al-Ameryah district General Mohamed Al-Maneesi moved himself away from executing the decision and asserted that such a decision was mainly orchestrated by the US embassy and that the governor himself couldn’t cancel the US- tailored decision.

Sources said that a national society involved with caring the disabled at Burg Al-Arab has informed its intimate U.S. embassy that a religious school same like those of Pakistan was established and stop education during prayer time. Therefore, the US embassy dealt with the information as highly security ones.

Immediately after this information, Cairo US embassy- based FBI office asked the state security apparatus to destroy the school and prevent any of that Islamic nature in the future.

There have been many judicial decisions cancelling such a passive orientation ended by January 6^th 2007 in case no. 23449 of 61^st judiciary year stressing the importance of reoperation of the school. But state security apparatus denied the access of the students to the school.

It is worth mentioning that Alexandria’s governor has approved the establishment of scores of the American school as well as other private ones without being removed or even harassed.