Beit Sahour, occupied West Bank — At 7:30am last Saturday, students said goodbye to their parents and greeted their friends in the school yard. The sky over the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour, east of Bethlehem, was eerily clear.
They talked about their upcoming exams, the latest gossip, and made plans to hang out after school. Each grade formed a neat line facing the school’s entrance where the principal made morning announcements over a microphone. Before running for the first period, students and teachers placed their hands over their hearts for the school anthem that crackled through the speaker.
