The Umariya Elementary School is a prestigious madrassa in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. It is located at the start of the Via Dolorosa

Via Dolorosa

The Via Dolorosa is a street, in two parts, within the Old City of Jerusalem, held to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions...

, and is adjacent to the Convent of the Sisters of Zion

Convent of the Sisters of Zion

The Convent of the Sisters of Zion is a convent of the Congregation of Notre-Dame de Sion, located near to the eastern end of the Via Dolorosa, in Jerusalem. The convent was built in 1857, by Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne, but the site also contains ancient archaeological remains of significant value.-...

. Underneath the buildings of the school are remains of the Antonia Fortress

Antonia Fortress

The Antonia Fortress was a military barracks built by Herod the Great in Jerusalem on the site of earlier Ptolemaic and Hasmonean strongholds, named after Herod's patron Mark Antony...

.

In 1996, under the orders of the then prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...

, an exit from the Western Wall Tunnel

Western Wall Tunnel

The Western Wall Tunnel is an underground tunnel exposing the full length of the Western Wall. The tunnel is adjacent to the Western Wall and is located under buildings of the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel. While the open-air portion of the Western Wall is approximately long, the majority of its...

 was opened into the Via Dolorosa underneath the school (specifically, under the school's entrance stairs). This was interpreted by the Arabic populace as a land-grab, and over the subsequent week, 80 people were killed as a result of riots against the creation of the exit.

Former students at the school include Abu Nidal

Abu Nidal

Abu Nidal , born Sabri Khalil al-Banna , was the founder of Fatah–The Revolutionary Council , a militant Palestinian group more commonly known as the Abu Nidal Organization...

, the founder of a militant Fatah

Fatah

Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...

breakaway organization.