6 dec 2018
Palestinian minister of education Sabri Sidem said Wednesday that the Gaza Strip needs another 123 schools.
This came during his meeting with minister of public works and housing Mufid Hasayna to discuss arrangements for the construction of three schools in Gaza with funding from Oman.
Sidem affirmed his ministry’s keenness on building and renovating schools in Gaza in order to provide a safe and healthy educational environment for the Palestinian students.
This came during his meeting with minister of public works and housing Mufid Hasayna to discuss arrangements for the construction of three schools in Gaza with funding from Oman.
Sidem affirmed his ministry’s keenness on building and renovating schools in Gaza in order to provide a safe and healthy educational environment for the Palestinian students.
dec 5 2018
the soldiers as they ambushed them. ISMers were only meters away and security camera footage confirms that the boys were merely standing in the driveway at the time. Two of the boys were aged 11 and one 10.
One can only imagine the terror young boys experience when suddenly kidnapped by soldiers of the occupying army!
The Israeli Zionist forces are renowned for their cruelty even to minors: imprisoning children as young as 10 through their military courts and prisons system in which there are no rights for Palestinians. The youngest ever Palestinian child prisoner was released just days ago after a three-year prison sentence from 12 to 15 years of age.
The inhumanity of Israel is fully understood by Palestinians growing up under occupation. Collective punishment and psychological cruelty through torture and macabre tactics such as withholding bodies of Palestinians who have been killed or died during imprisonment are universally understood by Palestinians and well documented by international as well as local observers/researchers. …and there is no justice system to protect Palestinians.
Imagine what goes through the mind of a 10-year-old child suddenly grabbed by an armed solder from an occupying army and dragged from his neighbourhood! Fortunately, the boys were released after being detained for more than an hour inside the checkpoint.
Today also (December 5), 3 boys were abducted aged 14, 13 and 11. The boys attend two of the local schools and were kidnapped from the street around 300 metres from Qeitun checkpoint. They were standing in the street talking about 3 metres from an ISM activist when they were ambushed by Israeli Border Police.
The two younger boys were released later today, but the 14-year-old was taken away. According to the headmaster of the Hebron School, Khalil Abu Sunaineh, the older boy could face up to 6 months imprisonment. The military court does not need to give evidence to support any accusation on the grounds that it is “classified information”. There is a 98% conviction rate.
The headmaster showed us pictures on the wall of the school hallway, over 70 pictures taken over the last two years show child arrests, tear gas, concussion grenades both inside the school and on the street outside. They are the tip of the iceberg. He has been at the school for 14 years!
the soldiers as they ambushed them. ISMers were only meters away and security camera footage confirms that the boys were merely standing in the driveway at the time. Two of the boys were aged 11 and one 10.
One can only imagine the terror young boys experience when suddenly kidnapped by soldiers of the occupying army!
The Israeli Zionist forces are renowned for their cruelty even to minors: imprisoning children as young as 10 through their military courts and prisons system in which there are no rights for Palestinians. The youngest ever Palestinian child prisoner was released just days ago after a three-year prison sentence from 12 to 15 years of age.
The inhumanity of Israel is fully understood by Palestinians growing up under occupation. Collective punishment and psychological cruelty through torture and macabre tactics such as withholding bodies of Palestinians who have been killed or died during imprisonment are universally understood by Palestinians and well documented by international as well as local observers/researchers. …and there is no justice system to protect Palestinians.
Imagine what goes through the mind of a 10-year-old child suddenly grabbed by an armed solder from an occupying army and dragged from his neighbourhood! Fortunately, the boys were released after being detained for more than an hour inside the checkpoint.
Today also (December 5), 3 boys were abducted aged 14, 13 and 11. The boys attend two of the local schools and were kidnapped from the street around 300 metres from Qeitun checkpoint. They were standing in the street talking about 3 metres from an ISM activist when they were ambushed by Israeli Border Police.
The two younger boys were released later today, but the 14-year-old was taken away. According to the headmaster of the Hebron School, Khalil Abu Sunaineh, the older boy could face up to 6 months imprisonment. The military court does not need to give evidence to support any accusation on the grounds that it is “classified information”. There is a 98% conviction rate.
The headmaster showed us pictures on the wall of the school hallway, over 70 pictures taken over the last two years show child arrests, tear gas, concussion grenades both inside the school and on the street outside. They are the tip of the iceberg. He has been at the school for 14 years!
A gallery of soldier invasions of the school, abductions, concussion grenades and tear gas in the school and on the street outside.
He also told us that the soldiers and border police sneak around in the middle of the night mapping the neighbourhood and planning their ambushes.
We’d witnessed this ourselves during the day. It was creepy enough in the daytime seeing soldiers just walk around in people’s gardens, exploring every alleyway, entering apartment buildings at will and ascending to the rooftops. It must feel violating to live under these circumstances.
Israeli forces justify their actions because some Palestinian children throw stones at them. To the uninformed this may seem a valid argument on the surface.
However, it’s important to remember that the Israelis are the occupiers and have absolutely no rights under international law to defend themselves from the people they occupy. They are the aggressors. They are not civil enforcement officers of the Palestinian community.
This argument also holds no water because usually in any specific situation the Israeli forces are the aggressors who initiate conflict.
Even if we accepted this erroneous argument, the children who were detained on these two days were not throwing stones. To detain, or arrest and imprison them, for what someone else has done at any time at all is unjust and a form of collective punishment.
What justification can there possibly be for concussion grenades, toxic tear gas (228 tear gas rounds were fired in the Salaymeh / Qeitun neighbourhoods in 15 school days between November 4 and November 27, 2018 (including 34 in one day!) along with 51 concussion grenades), intimidation, abduction and invasion of streets and schools by armed soldiers in residential neighbourhoods?
These are children! Such actions are totally unacceptable on minors.
Do such actions promote peace? Do they not actually sustain and deepen the inhumane occupation of the Palestinian people?
Do they not also inspire rejection of the immoral occupation, and provoke further resistance against such oppression?
Fortunately, Palestinians usually choose non-violent resistance rather than violence, leaving Israelis with the moral predicament of enforcing the immoral and illegal occupation and the international community with the shame of their inaction.
Visit the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
He also told us that the soldiers and border police sneak around in the middle of the night mapping the neighbourhood and planning their ambushes.
We’d witnessed this ourselves during the day. It was creepy enough in the daytime seeing soldiers just walk around in people’s gardens, exploring every alleyway, entering apartment buildings at will and ascending to the rooftops. It must feel violating to live under these circumstances.
Israeli forces justify their actions because some Palestinian children throw stones at them. To the uninformed this may seem a valid argument on the surface.
However, it’s important to remember that the Israelis are the occupiers and have absolutely no rights under international law to defend themselves from the people they occupy. They are the aggressors. They are not civil enforcement officers of the Palestinian community.
This argument also holds no water because usually in any specific situation the Israeli forces are the aggressors who initiate conflict.
Even if we accepted this erroneous argument, the children who were detained on these two days were not throwing stones. To detain, or arrest and imprison them, for what someone else has done at any time at all is unjust and a form of collective punishment.
What justification can there possibly be for concussion grenades, toxic tear gas (228 tear gas rounds were fired in the Salaymeh / Qeitun neighbourhoods in 15 school days between November 4 and November 27, 2018 (including 34 in one day!) along with 51 concussion grenades), intimidation, abduction and invasion of streets and schools by armed soldiers in residential neighbourhoods?
These are children! Such actions are totally unacceptable on minors.
Do such actions promote peace? Do they not actually sustain and deepen the inhumane occupation of the Palestinian people?
Do they not also inspire rejection of the immoral occupation, and provoke further resistance against such oppression?
Fortunately, Palestinians usually choose non-violent resistance rather than violence, leaving Israelis with the moral predicament of enforcing the immoral and illegal occupation and the international community with the shame of their inaction.
Visit the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
5 dec 2018
Israeli soldiers invaded, Wednesday, the Sammoa’ town, south of Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank, and demolished a Palestinian school.
Media sources in Hebron said the soldiers surrounded Seemia area, north of the Sammoa’ town, and declared it a closed military zone, preventing the Palestinians from entering it.
They added that the soldiers then used their armored bulldozers to demolish the Tahadi 13 small school of several classrooms and their facilities.
The school was sponsored by the Palestinian Ministry of Education through European funding, with a total cost of 40.000 Euros, and was supposed to open in two days.
The Ministry of Education denounced the ongoing Israeli violations, targeting educational facilities and students, and added that the school is located in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli military and administrative control.
The school was built to make it easier for students in that area to reach it, especially due to Israeli military roadblocks and restrictions imposed by the military in various areas of Hebron.
It is worth mentioning that the soldiers have demolished many Tahadi schools in that same area, and other parts of the West Bank, as part of Israel’s illegal attempts to confiscate the lands to use them for military purposes and colonialist activities.
Media sources in Hebron said the soldiers surrounded Seemia area, north of the Sammoa’ town, and declared it a closed military zone, preventing the Palestinians from entering it.
They added that the soldiers then used their armored bulldozers to demolish the Tahadi 13 small school of several classrooms and their facilities.
The school was sponsored by the Palestinian Ministry of Education through European funding, with a total cost of 40.000 Euros, and was supposed to open in two days.
The Ministry of Education denounced the ongoing Israeli violations, targeting educational facilities and students, and added that the school is located in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli military and administrative control.
The school was built to make it easier for students in that area to reach it, especially due to Israeli military roadblocks and restrictions imposed by the military in various areas of Hebron.
It is worth mentioning that the soldiers have demolished many Tahadi schools in that same area, and other parts of the West Bank, as part of Israel’s illegal attempts to confiscate the lands to use them for military purposes and colonialist activities.
4 dec 2018
Israel’s Minister of Labor and Welfare Services, Haim Katz (Likud), has rescinded recognition of social work degrees from a Palestinian university located in occupied Jerusalem.
According to a report Tuesday by Israel Hayom, officials at the Israeli Labor and Welfare Services Ministry had pushed for recognition of degrees in social work given by al-Quds University, a college based in the town of Abu Dis, east of occupied Jerusalem, with additional campuses in al-Bireh, near Ramallah, and in eastern Jerusalem.
Katz halted the recognition, however, over the college’s history of anti-Israel incitement and regular anti-occupation activities held on campus.
“I will not grant recognition to an institution that supports terrorism,” claimed Katz.
“We will deal with the lack of social workers without going to institutions that undermine the legitimacy of Israel.”
The al-Quds University was established in 1984. Over 13,000 students have been enrolled at the institution. It is the only academic premise in the world that is surrounded by a separation wall.
According to a report Tuesday by Israel Hayom, officials at the Israeli Labor and Welfare Services Ministry had pushed for recognition of degrees in social work given by al-Quds University, a college based in the town of Abu Dis, east of occupied Jerusalem, with additional campuses in al-Bireh, near Ramallah, and in eastern Jerusalem.
Katz halted the recognition, however, over the college’s history of anti-Israel incitement and regular anti-occupation activities held on campus.
“I will not grant recognition to an institution that supports terrorism,” claimed Katz.
“We will deal with the lack of social workers without going to institutions that undermine the legitimacy of Israel.”
The al-Quds University was established in 1984. Over 13,000 students have been enrolled at the institution. It is the only academic premise in the world that is surrounded by a separation wall.
29 nov 2018
Clashes burst out on Thursday morning near Jerusalem’s Abu Dis University after the Israeli occupation forces violently attacked students and civilians.
Eye-witnesses said Israeli border police patrols and full-armed soldiers have come down heavily on Palestinian students on their way to the Abu Dis campus, resulting in confrontations.
Several students and civilians sustained breathing disorders as the occupation forces showered the area with heavy spates of teargas canisters. No reasons were identified for the arbitrary assault.
Eye-witnesses said Israeli border police patrols and full-armed soldiers have come down heavily on Palestinian students on their way to the Abu Dis campus, resulting in confrontations.
Several students and civilians sustained breathing disorders as the occupation forces showered the area with heavy spates of teargas canisters. No reasons were identified for the arbitrary assault.
25 nov 2018
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has confirmed, that since the beginning of 2018, there has been a significant increase in incidents involving the entry of Israeli forces and settlers into Palestinian schools.
In OCHA’s biweekly Protection of Civilians Report, covering the period from 6th to 19th of November, it said that in the West Bank, 63 Palestinian children and nine adults were injured by Israeli forces during four separate raids into schools, one of which also involved Israeli settlers.
Two of the affected schools are located in the H2 area of Hebron city, which is under full Israeli army and settler control, in Tuqu village of the Bethlehem district, in the south of the West Bank, and Urif village, in the north of the West Bank, near Nablus.
OCHA said, in its report, that the raid into the Urif school involved some 50 Israeli settlers, reportedly from Yitzhar settlement, who stormed the school accompanied by Israeli forces. Two of the injuries were by live ammunition, nine by rubber-coated metal bullets, and the rest were treated for tear gas inhalation.
Settler attacks were not confined to the schools, Ma’an further reports. OCHA documented at least 11 Israeli settler attacks that resulted in Palestinian injuries and/or damage to Palestinian property.
In one incident in the old city of Hebron, settlers blocked and stoned a Palestinian ambulance while it was on its way to evacuate a patient, following coordination with the Israeli authorities; the third such incident in the past three months.
Attacks also included the physical assault of three farmers who were working in their lands in Susiya village, near Hebron; the vandalizing of 21 vehicles in the Salfit area, Burin, Zatara and Huwwara, in the Nablus district, and the stoning of a number of Palestinian homes in Urif.
OCHA also confirmed that 20 Palestinian-owned structures were demolished or seized in East Jerusalem and Area C, which make up more than 60% of the area of the West Bank, on the grounds of a lack of Israeli-issued building permits, displacing 20 individuals.
Four of the targeted structures, located in three Area C communities, had been provided as humanitarian assistance in response to previous demolitions.
In OCHA’s biweekly Protection of Civilians Report, covering the period from 6th to 19th of November, it said that in the West Bank, 63 Palestinian children and nine adults were injured by Israeli forces during four separate raids into schools, one of which also involved Israeli settlers.
Two of the affected schools are located in the H2 area of Hebron city, which is under full Israeli army and settler control, in Tuqu village of the Bethlehem district, in the south of the West Bank, and Urif village, in the north of the West Bank, near Nablus.
OCHA said, in its report, that the raid into the Urif school involved some 50 Israeli settlers, reportedly from Yitzhar settlement, who stormed the school accompanied by Israeli forces. Two of the injuries were by live ammunition, nine by rubber-coated metal bullets, and the rest were treated for tear gas inhalation.
Settler attacks were not confined to the schools, Ma’an further reports. OCHA documented at least 11 Israeli settler attacks that resulted in Palestinian injuries and/or damage to Palestinian property.
In one incident in the old city of Hebron, settlers blocked and stoned a Palestinian ambulance while it was on its way to evacuate a patient, following coordination with the Israeli authorities; the third such incident in the past three months.
Attacks also included the physical assault of three farmers who were working in their lands in Susiya village, near Hebron; the vandalizing of 21 vehicles in the Salfit area, Burin, Zatara and Huwwara, in the Nablus district, and the stoning of a number of Palestinian homes in Urif.
OCHA also confirmed that 20 Palestinian-owned structures were demolished or seized in East Jerusalem and Area C, which make up more than 60% of the area of the West Bank, on the grounds of a lack of Israeli-issued building permits, displacing 20 individuals.
Four of the targeted structures, located in three Area C communities, had been provided as humanitarian assistance in response to previous demolitions.
24 nov 2018
Israeli soldiers invaded, Saturday, the al-Isawiya village, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, and broke into a local school, leading to protests, before wounding many Palestinians with rubber-coated steel bullets, gas bombs and concussion grenades.
Media sources in al-‘Isawiya said dozens of soldiers invaded the village through its eastern entrance, before attacking and storming a local school in ‘Obeid neighborhood.
They added that many students hurled stones and empty bottles at the soldiers and tried to barricade themselves with desks and chairs.
The soldiers fired dozens of rubber-coated steel bullets, gas bombs and concussion grenades.
Medical sources said several Palestinians were injured by rubber-coated steel bullets, and fragments of concussion grenades, while many others suffered the effects of teargas inhalation.
Israeli forces surround, attack high school in East Jerusalem
Israeli forces attempted to raid a high school, on Saturday afternoon, in the Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya in occupied East Jerusalem.
Muhammad Abu al-Hummus, member of a local follow-up committee, said that Israeli forces stormed the Issawiya neighborhood and surrounded a local all boys high school, in attempt to raid it.
Abu al-Hummus pointed out that Israeli forces fired sound bombs towards the high school, which led to several injuries among the students and teachers.
Abu al-Hummus added that clashes broke out among Palestinian youths and Israeli forces, in order to prevent the raid into the high school.
The Palestinian Ministry of Education released its annual report for 2017 documenting the Israeli government's violations against Palestinian education, saying that 80,279 Palestinian children and 4,929 teachers and staff were "attacked" by Israeli settlers or soldiers.
According to the report, nine students were killed, while 603 students and 55 teachers and school employees sustained live or rubber bullets wounds during Israeli raids into schools or by being run over by Israeli military jeeps, while dozens of students suffered from suffocation due to inhaling tear-gas fired by Israeli forces against them.
Additionally, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory released its biweekly Protection of Civilians Report and said that since the beginning of 2018 there has been a significant increase in incidents involving the entry of Israeli forces and settlers into Palestinian schools.
OCHA’s report covered the period from 6th to 19th of November, and confirmed that in the occupied West Bank, 63 Palestinian children and nine adults were injured by Israeli forces during four separate raids into schools, one of which also involved Israeli settlers.
Media sources in al-‘Isawiya said dozens of soldiers invaded the village through its eastern entrance, before attacking and storming a local school in ‘Obeid neighborhood.
They added that many students hurled stones and empty bottles at the soldiers and tried to barricade themselves with desks and chairs.
The soldiers fired dozens of rubber-coated steel bullets, gas bombs and concussion grenades.
Medical sources said several Palestinians were injured by rubber-coated steel bullets, and fragments of concussion grenades, while many others suffered the effects of teargas inhalation.
Israeli forces surround, attack high school in East Jerusalem
Israeli forces attempted to raid a high school, on Saturday afternoon, in the Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya in occupied East Jerusalem.
Muhammad Abu al-Hummus, member of a local follow-up committee, said that Israeli forces stormed the Issawiya neighborhood and surrounded a local all boys high school, in attempt to raid it.
Abu al-Hummus pointed out that Israeli forces fired sound bombs towards the high school, which led to several injuries among the students and teachers.
Abu al-Hummus added that clashes broke out among Palestinian youths and Israeli forces, in order to prevent the raid into the high school.
The Palestinian Ministry of Education released its annual report for 2017 documenting the Israeli government's violations against Palestinian education, saying that 80,279 Palestinian children and 4,929 teachers and staff were "attacked" by Israeli settlers or soldiers.
According to the report, nine students were killed, while 603 students and 55 teachers and school employees sustained live or rubber bullets wounds during Israeli raids into schools or by being run over by Israeli military jeeps, while dozens of students suffered from suffocation due to inhaling tear-gas fired by Israeli forces against them.
Additionally, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory released its biweekly Protection of Civilians Report and said that since the beginning of 2018 there has been a significant increase in incidents involving the entry of Israeli forces and settlers into Palestinian schools.
OCHA’s report covered the period from 6th to 19th of November, and confirmed that in the occupied West Bank, 63 Palestinian children and nine adults were injured by Israeli forces during four separate raids into schools, one of which also involved Israeli settlers.
22 nov 2018
Dozens of soldiers, undercover forces, and personnel of the City Council, in occupied Jerusalem, invaded Shu’fat refugee camp, Thursday, and surrounded many areas, before storming and searching several buildings, and occupied their rooftops.
Media sources said the soldiers were also accompanied by bulldozers, and invaded many areas, especially the main road near the military roadblock at the entrance of the refugee camp, in addition to Ras Khamis and Shehada areas.
The soldiers also stopped and searched dozens of schoolchildren, in addition to several buses, and interrogated many Palestinians while inspecting their ID cards.
The invasion was carried out one day after the army demolished nineteen stores and shops, an issue which raised fears among the Palestinians of further destruction of property in the refugee camp. video
The soldiers used bulldozers to remove the rubble of the demolished stores, after completely surrounding and isolating the refugee camp.
On Wednesday at night, the soldiers invaded many areas in the refugee camp, and fired live rounds, gas bombs and concussion grenades at local youngsters, who protested the invasion and hurled stones at the army vehicles.
Senior social and political leaders in occupied Jerusalem have warned that the escalating Israeli violations against Shu’fat refugee camp, are part of a wider policy arming at ending the work of the UNRWA there.
Media sources said the soldiers were also accompanied by bulldozers, and invaded many areas, especially the main road near the military roadblock at the entrance of the refugee camp, in addition to Ras Khamis and Shehada areas.
The soldiers also stopped and searched dozens of schoolchildren, in addition to several buses, and interrogated many Palestinians while inspecting their ID cards.
The invasion was carried out one day after the army demolished nineteen stores and shops, an issue which raised fears among the Palestinians of further destruction of property in the refugee camp. video
The soldiers used bulldozers to remove the rubble of the demolished stores, after completely surrounding and isolating the refugee camp.
On Wednesday at night, the soldiers invaded many areas in the refugee camp, and fired live rounds, gas bombs and concussion grenades at local youngsters, who protested the invasion and hurled stones at the army vehicles.
Senior social and political leaders in occupied Jerusalem have warned that the escalating Israeli violations against Shu’fat refugee camp, are part of a wider policy arming at ending the work of the UNRWA there.
21 nov 2018
A number of Palestinian students were injured on Wednesday after Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) heavily fired tear gas bombs and stun grenades at their school south of Nbalus.
Local sources told WAFA news agency that the soldiers attacked the students as they were leaving their school.
A number of students were also detained during the assault for being allegedly involved in stone-throwing attacks.
Local sources told WAFA news agency that the soldiers attacked the students as they were leaving their school.
A number of students were also detained during the assault for being allegedly involved in stone-throwing attacks.