Classes suspended at East J'lem school to protest police inaction over raid by seven armed men

A boys school in the East Jerusalem village of Kfar Akab suspended classes yesterday to protest police officers' alleged failure to intervene when seven armed men stormed the school, assaulted the principal and locked 400 students in the building, according to parents of students at the school.

The parents said police never responded to a call about Tuesday's raid, which they said was led by the angry father of one of the students, who allegedly blamed the principal for his son's having been injured on school premises.

The parents said the men were armed with guns and knives, but left the scene after other parents arrived at the school and defused the situation.

Police said a school janitor separated the principal from the suspect and that the suspect fled the scene. They said the incident reflected a personal dispute between the principal and the alleged ringleader, saying his brothers were dismissed from their jobs by the principal's wife, who is the principal of another school.

Police said the armed men had not been attempting to take over the school.

They also said the emergency call was made to the police district in the West Bank, though the area falls under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem police, who were subsequently alerted.

Although Kfar Akab is within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, the West Bank separation fence makes it difficult to access from most of the city.

Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Joseph Alalu (Meretz) said this was not the first time Israeli police have failed to enter the village when it was required, adding that it was time to consider making the Palestinians responsible for security there.

Some 50,000 residents of Jerusalem live outside the security fence, according to Ir Amim, an organization that aims to advance what it calls a more equitable Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem municipality said the incident was a police matter.

"This is an unusual and highly serious incident," the municipality said in a statement. "The municipality's education administration has ordered the principal to transfer handling of the matter immediately to the police."