Syria Today | American school shut down after US raid

American school shut down after US raid

The Damascus Community School (DCS), also known as the American School, was shut down on November 3 by the Syrian government following a US helicopter raid into Syrian territory in which at least seven people died. The American language and cultural centres in Damascus were also shut down.

Syrian authorities said on October 27, one day after the US military raid, that the DCS would be closed on November 6. However, they moved to close the school three days earlier, with parents receiving phone calls from DCS staff in the morning of November 3 asking them to collect their children.

“What hurt me most was that school closed unexpectedly in the middle of class,” a 12-year-old South African student said. “I had no chance to say bye to most people. I felt my connection to my friends was severed.”

On the same day as the school was closed, expatriate teachers and management staff were told by Syrian authorities they had 48 hours to leave the country. Most left on November 6 by bus to Amman, Jordan. All of the teachers’ assistants and the administrative staff were local Syrian employees.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mu’allem told the Qatari-based al-Sharq newspaper the school would only reopen if relations with the US government improved. “To reopen the American School and the American Cultural Centre in Damascus, that depends on the new administration’s behaviour,” he said. “If they decide to deal with Syria in a different way from the previous administration, then it would be possible.”

Diplomats, international NGO staff and members of the business community whose children attend the school have lobbied the government to reopen the facility under a different name, or establish another school.

“The fact that it was called the American school does not reflect the student body, which was only 22 percent American, even taking dual nationals into account,” a senior diplomat said. “Now families are faced with difficult decisions regarding relocation.”

Some families have left Syria, returning to their home countries or relocating to Lebanon or Jordan. The Shell energy company has set up what it calls a “learning hub” to provide study groups and a social centre for younger students.

The US has not formally commented on the military raid from Iraq into Syria on October 26, but unnamed US officials claim the raid targeted a top al-Qaeda operative.