RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Supreme Court in Ramallah on Thursday delayed its verdict on teachers who say they were fired for their political affiliations.

Ghandi al-Rabai, a lawyer for the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, said the court delayed the verdict because several judges were absent.

PICR says around 500 teachers were fired by the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority over their political affiliation.

The delay in issuing a verdict provoked protests from the teachers, their lawyers and several legal rights groups, who said the judges' absence was an attempt to avoid compensating teachers for their dismissal and lost earnings.

"These are teachers who have been victims of a clear injustice for four years" al-Rabai told Ma'an. "They were illegally fired from their jobs."

Al-Rabai said the Education Minister had ceded her legal power to hire teachers in a submission to the security apparatus.

The lawyer also said the Palestinian justice system needed specialized courts for urgent cases. "Why don’t we have such courts in our system?" he asked.

PLC member Ibrahim Abu Salem accused the court of bias. "The court's decision (to delay the verdict) is politically motivated and it is unfair."

The dismissed teachers held a sit-in protest in front of the court.