UNESCO.356 State suppression of these kinds of artistic or cultural displays are so rampant that some have been forced to go ‘underground’ with Palestinians staging plays, music performances, or poetry readings in private homes or bakeries in order to avoid police intervention.357 Concomitant with the suppression of Palestinian cultural and national activity is a constant promotion of Israeli nationalism and the Jewish heritage of the city, often in ways that are antagonistic towards its Palestinian residents. Celebration of Israel’s Independence Day and Jerusalem Day (commemorating the ‘liberation’ of Jerusalem by Israel in 1967) is actively encouraged throughout the city, despite the fact that they represent painful events for Palestinians.358 The March of the Flags that annually accompanies Jerusalem Day is particularly difficult to endure, as it involves a march by Zionist religious nationalists through the Muslim Quarter who regularly shout slogans such as ‘Death to Arabs’359 and physically attack the Palestinians that they come across.360 It is not the marchers but the Palestinians that live and work in that area that pay the price for this behavior – instead of halting or redirecting the march the Israeli police request that Palestinians close their shops and remain at home that day to “reduce potential tension.” 361 Israeli Control over East Jerusalem Curriculum: Another major battleground in the ‘war on Palestinian culture’ is the curriculum of Palestinian schools in East Jerusalem. The 1993 Oslo Accords, which gave the PA partial control over the oPt, were also meant to give the PA control over Palestinian education system and curriculum.362 The PA accordingly prepared its own textbooks, which were introduced in 2000. However, Israel has censored the content of those books used in East Jerusalem’s municipal public schools by excising any 356 Rory McCarthy, Armed Israeli police close theatre on first night of Palestinian festival, 24 May 2009. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/24/israeli-police-close-palestiniantheatre 357 Omar H. Rahman, Art and Culture goes Underground in East Jerusalem, +972 Magazine, 24 October 2011. Available at: http://972mag.com/art-and-culture-goes-underground-in-east-jerusalem/26284/; BBC News, Jerusalem artists go underground, 3 November 2009. Available at: http://news.bbc. co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8338316.stm 358 Aziz Abu Sarah, Palestinians asked to close their shops for Jerusalem Day, +972 Magazine, 20 May 2012. Available at: http://972mag.com/palestinians-asked-to-close-their-shops-for-jerusalemday/46355/ 359 Dan Cohen and David Sheen, ‘Conquerors of Jerusalem’: March celebrates Israeli occupation with messianic fervor, Mondoweiss, 17 June 2016. Available at: http://mondoweiss.net/2016/06/ jerusalem-celebrates-occupation/, Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, WATCH: Racism-filled march curbs Palestinian movement in Jerusalem, 12 May 2015. Available at: http://972mag.com/watch-racismfilled-march-curbs-palestinian-movement-in-jerusalem/106667/ 360 Aziz Abu Sarah, Palestinians asked to close their shops for Jerusalem Day, op.cit., 20 May 2012 361 Ibid. 362 Fouad Moughrabi, The Politics of Palestinian Textbooks, downloaded in June 2016, page 6. Available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9F3w57hgHoxNXZmQXEyNUlHTFE/view 97