17 sept 2017
Israeli demolition of a European-financed school in the occupied West Bank has forced Palestinian children to instead attend classes in a tent.
Palestinian activists restored some good cheer to primary school students in Jub al-Thib as they set about rebuilding their school, over the night of September 9-10, using concrete blocks.
On August 22, Israeli authorities had demolished the only school in this West Bank village, located east of Bethlehem, a day before the start of the new school year.
The Israeli occupation has banned practically all construction by Palestinians in Area C, where Jub al-Thib is located, denying them permits to do so and prohibiting the use of concrete. It destroyed the school building on the grounds of being constructed without a permit. Area C is completely controlled by Israel, as set out in the Oslo Accords signed in 1993.
The demolition left some of the 64 students in grades one through four in tears. The children had previously attended classes in warehouses and had been looking forward to a new school building. The residents of Jub al-Thib worked for months to build the since-destroyed school, the first to be erected in their village.
The European Union provided financial support for the project, and construction proceeded under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority’s ministry of education and higher education.
55 schools threatened with demolition
In an August 23 statement, the Norwegian Refugee Council said: “Right now, some 55 schools in the West Bank are threatened with demolition and ‘stop-work’ orders by Israeli authorities.” Shadi Othman, EU spokesperson in Palestine, said that 20 of the schools are EU-funded, and four, including Jub al-Thib, have been destroyed.
“The EU has taken a firm decision to provide financial support for development projects in these areas and provide all possible humanitarian services, despite the demolition threat,” Othman told Al-Monitor. “Our decision to work in Area C and implement 20 million euros worth of projects falls within the EU’s priorities. The EU will intervene immediately to find alternatives for demolished schools until new school buildings are reconstructed.”
Israel’s prohibition on construction, threats of demolition and stop-work orders all stand to negatively affect Palestinian students’ ability to obtain an education.
Lack of resources
Given the lack of resources available, West Bank municipal councils, anti-settlement committees and other local organisations and prominent figures in Area C work in cooperation with foreign donors in efforts to counter such actions and find alternatives and solutions.
In the case of Jub al-Thib, for instance, to get around the prohibition on concrete, residents had seized on teaching students in warehouses before the proper school building, which had a steel frame, could be erected. After Israel demolished the school, tents were erected on the site so students could continue to attend classes.
In the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, in East Jerusalem, 170 students are studying in a school that was built out of tires and mud in 2009 after Israel banned construction with cement. They were inspired by such buildings in poor and marginalized areas elsewhere in the world, such as in parts of Colombia.
“This, however, did not stop Israel’s multiple demolition threats,” said Uday Abu Khamis, community spokesperson for the Bedouin in East Jerusalem. “Before building this school, the village had no school. The nearest one was 15 kilometres (9 miles) away. Given the poor means of transportation, it was difficult for students to commute and get to their classes, especially girls. The school, cobbled together from mud and used tires, gives our children the opportunity of having an education up to the ninth grade.”
Tents are the sole alternative
According to Sadek Khodor, spokesman for the PA Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the ban and demolition threats force the ministry to operate within the margins allowed and to expend energy finding quick alternatives to much-needed schools in cooperation with parents and the local communities threatened with demolition orders. He told Al-Monitor that the structures the communities do manage to construct are called “schools of defiance.”
Khodor added: “The government does not apply to these schools the same standards that apply to other schools. We give priority to filling all their needs irrespective of the cost. Sometimes we even assign one teacher [when there are only] two or three students, as is the case in the Arab Kaabneh Bedouin elementary school in Jericho.” The government hopes that by showing flexibility, it will encourage other communities to open educational facilities regardless of the number of students and type of facility.
Stressing the importance of finding alternatives for demolished schools, Khodor emphasized that his ministry is determined to prevent demolition orders from cutting short the educational process. He explained that when a school receives a demolition notice or a construction moratorium, legal follow-up is provided through a ministerial defence committee and contacts with international bodies to pressure Israel into withdrawing the order. Typically, the courts might postpone a demolition order, but not cancel it.
Although not ideal, the classroom work-arounds so far developed are better than having no schools at all. For the students and their families, the schools are one more means to fight Israeli attempts to force them off of their land.
by Aziz Nofal, Al Monitor/Days of Palestine
Palestinian activists restored some good cheer to primary school students in Jub al-Thib as they set about rebuilding their school, over the night of September 9-10, using concrete blocks.
On August 22, Israeli authorities had demolished the only school in this West Bank village, located east of Bethlehem, a day before the start of the new school year.
The Israeli occupation has banned practically all construction by Palestinians in Area C, where Jub al-Thib is located, denying them permits to do so and prohibiting the use of concrete. It destroyed the school building on the grounds of being constructed without a permit. Area C is completely controlled by Israel, as set out in the Oslo Accords signed in 1993.
The demolition left some of the 64 students in grades one through four in tears. The children had previously attended classes in warehouses and had been looking forward to a new school building. The residents of Jub al-Thib worked for months to build the since-destroyed school, the first to be erected in their village.
The European Union provided financial support for the project, and construction proceeded under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority’s ministry of education and higher education.
55 schools threatened with demolition
In an August 23 statement, the Norwegian Refugee Council said: “Right now, some 55 schools in the West Bank are threatened with demolition and ‘stop-work’ orders by Israeli authorities.” Shadi Othman, EU spokesperson in Palestine, said that 20 of the schools are EU-funded, and four, including Jub al-Thib, have been destroyed.
“The EU has taken a firm decision to provide financial support for development projects in these areas and provide all possible humanitarian services, despite the demolition threat,” Othman told Al-Monitor. “Our decision to work in Area C and implement 20 million euros worth of projects falls within the EU’s priorities. The EU will intervene immediately to find alternatives for demolished schools until new school buildings are reconstructed.”
Israel’s prohibition on construction, threats of demolition and stop-work orders all stand to negatively affect Palestinian students’ ability to obtain an education.
Lack of resources
Given the lack of resources available, West Bank municipal councils, anti-settlement committees and other local organisations and prominent figures in Area C work in cooperation with foreign donors in efforts to counter such actions and find alternatives and solutions.
In the case of Jub al-Thib, for instance, to get around the prohibition on concrete, residents had seized on teaching students in warehouses before the proper school building, which had a steel frame, could be erected. After Israel demolished the school, tents were erected on the site so students could continue to attend classes.
In the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, in East Jerusalem, 170 students are studying in a school that was built out of tires and mud in 2009 after Israel banned construction with cement. They were inspired by such buildings in poor and marginalized areas elsewhere in the world, such as in parts of Colombia.
“This, however, did not stop Israel’s multiple demolition threats,” said Uday Abu Khamis, community spokesperson for the Bedouin in East Jerusalem. “Before building this school, the village had no school. The nearest one was 15 kilometres (9 miles) away. Given the poor means of transportation, it was difficult for students to commute and get to their classes, especially girls. The school, cobbled together from mud and used tires, gives our children the opportunity of having an education up to the ninth grade.”
Tents are the sole alternative
According to Sadek Khodor, spokesman for the PA Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the ban and demolition threats force the ministry to operate within the margins allowed and to expend energy finding quick alternatives to much-needed schools in cooperation with parents and the local communities threatened with demolition orders. He told Al-Monitor that the structures the communities do manage to construct are called “schools of defiance.”
Khodor added: “The government does not apply to these schools the same standards that apply to other schools. We give priority to filling all their needs irrespective of the cost. Sometimes we even assign one teacher [when there are only] two or three students, as is the case in the Arab Kaabneh Bedouin elementary school in Jericho.” The government hopes that by showing flexibility, it will encourage other communities to open educational facilities regardless of the number of students and type of facility.
Stressing the importance of finding alternatives for demolished schools, Khodor emphasized that his ministry is determined to prevent demolition orders from cutting short the educational process. He explained that when a school receives a demolition notice or a construction moratorium, legal follow-up is provided through a ministerial defence committee and contacts with international bodies to pressure Israel into withdrawing the order. Typically, the courts might postpone a demolition order, but not cancel it.
Although not ideal, the classroom work-arounds so far developed are better than having no schools at all. For the students and their families, the schools are one more means to fight Israeli attempts to force them off of their land.
by Aziz Nofal, Al Monitor/Days of Palestine
12 sept 2017
Jerusalem's Directorate of Education on Tuesday held the Israeli authorities responsible for depriving 4,000 Palestinian students of education due to the closure of Dar al-Marefa schools in the city.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Directorate said that it is working, in cooperation with the relevant authorities, to send the students to other schools in the area, stressing that the Israeli decision providing for the closure of the schools is based on flimsy arguments.
The Directorate affirmed that it is doing its best to re-open Dar al-Marefa schools though the buildings' owners have received threats not to violate the Israeli authorities' decision.
It was greed with a number of schools to host the students of Dar al-Marefa temporarily, the Directorate added, assuring the students that they will be compensated for the days they have missed at school.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Directorate said that it is working, in cooperation with the relevant authorities, to send the students to other schools in the area, stressing that the Israeli decision providing for the closure of the schools is based on flimsy arguments.
The Directorate affirmed that it is doing its best to re-open Dar al-Marefa schools though the buildings' owners have received threats not to violate the Israeli authorities' decision.
It was greed with a number of schools to host the students of Dar al-Marefa temporarily, the Directorate added, assuring the students that they will be compensated for the days they have missed at school.
11 sept 2017
Israeli settlers attacked, on Monday, the newly rebuilt Jeb al-Theeb elementary school, near Bethlehem in the West Bank, but were stopped by local Palestinians, according to Hassan Breijiyeh, from the Committee Against Settlements in Bethlehem.
He said Palestinians confronted more than 30 Israeli settlers who came to the school with an intention to harm the students and pushed them back.
The school, which serves 64 students from nearby Palestinian communities in grades one to four, was rebuilt on Friday after it was demolished by the Israeli army in late August under the pretext it was built without a permit.
According to WAFA, the Palestinians were able to obtain a court order preventing the army from demolishing the new school, at least temporarily.
The Israeli demolition of the school has prompted strong international condemnation.
He said Palestinians confronted more than 30 Israeli settlers who came to the school with an intention to harm the students and pushed them back.
The school, which serves 64 students from nearby Palestinian communities in grades one to four, was rebuilt on Friday after it was demolished by the Israeli army in late August under the pretext it was built without a permit.
According to WAFA, the Palestinians were able to obtain a court order preventing the army from demolishing the new school, at least temporarily.
The Israeli demolition of the school has prompted strong international condemnation.
Several Palestinian students choked on teargas on Monday morning during clashes with the Israeli occupation forces near al-Quds University, in Jerusalem’s eastern town of Abu Dis.
According to eyewitnesses, clashes burst out outside al-Quds University before they stretched out to the campus.
The assault led to an abrupt suspension of the classes. Dozens of students have maintained vigil at the campus in anticipation of a projected escalation by the IOF.
A number of students and protesters received field treatment for injuries sustained in the attack.
According to eyewitnesses, clashes burst out outside al-Quds University before they stretched out to the campus.
The assault led to an abrupt suspension of the classes. Dozens of students have maintained vigil at the campus in anticipation of a projected escalation by the IOF.
A number of students and protesters received field treatment for injuries sustained in the attack.
Israeli forces stormed the town of Abu Dis, in the occupied West Bank district of Jerusalem, on Sunday morning, and fired tear gas at university students and young schoolchildren at al-Quds University.
Hani Halabiya, a spokesman of the Popular Resistance Committees in the town, told Ma’an News Agency that several university students, as well as schoolchildren that were also at the campus, suffered from tear gas inhalation as soldiers “haphazardly” showered the area with tear gas.
An Israeli army spokesperson said that they were “looking into reports” of the raid.
Al-Quds University, along with other Palestinian universities, has been subjected to numerous Israeli military raids in the past. Six al-Quds University students were shot and injured with rubber-coated steel bullets during clashes there, in April.
The university was raided several times last year, when Israeli forces destroyed school’s property, injured scores of students during clashes, confiscated the school’s equipment and documents, and even staged a raid during a book fair for students in need, proceeding to destroy and confiscate all of the contents of the fair meant for struggling, low-income students.
Hani Halabiya, a spokesman of the Popular Resistance Committees in the town, told Ma’an News Agency that several university students, as well as schoolchildren that were also at the campus, suffered from tear gas inhalation as soldiers “haphazardly” showered the area with tear gas.
An Israeli army spokesperson said that they were “looking into reports” of the raid.
Al-Quds University, along with other Palestinian universities, has been subjected to numerous Israeli military raids in the past. Six al-Quds University students were shot and injured with rubber-coated steel bullets during clashes there, in April.
The university was raided several times last year, when Israeli forces destroyed school’s property, injured scores of students during clashes, confiscated the school’s equipment and documents, and even staged a raid during a book fair for students in need, proceeding to destroy and confiscate all of the contents of the fair meant for struggling, low-income students.
9 sept 2017
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) besieged on Saturday Jubbet ad-Dib school, which is located to the east of Bethlehem city and was reconstructed earlier on Saturday, days after it was demolished by the IOF.
Representative of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee, Hasan Breijia, told Quds Press that the activists managed to rebuild five classrooms using bricks in defiance of the Israeli unjust measures targeting Palestinian schools and kindergartens.
Breijia said that IOF soldiers broke into the area and fired flares, tear gas canisters and rubber bullets at the activists in an attempt to force them to leave.
He added that several hours later the soldiers withdrew since the Palestinian activists refused to leave the place and persisted in rebuilding the school.
In August and few days ahead of the first day of school, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) seized caravans used as classrooms at Jubbet ad-Dib school on the grounds that they had been built without permission.
Representative of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee, Hasan Breijia, told Quds Press that the activists managed to rebuild five classrooms using bricks in defiance of the Israeli unjust measures targeting Palestinian schools and kindergartens.
Breijia said that IOF soldiers broke into the area and fired flares, tear gas canisters and rubber bullets at the activists in an attempt to force them to leave.
He added that several hours later the soldiers withdrew since the Palestinian activists refused to leave the place and persisted in rebuilding the school.
In August and few days ahead of the first day of school, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) seized caravans used as classrooms at Jubbet ad-Dib school on the grounds that they had been built without permission.
6 sept 2017
The parental committee of schoolchildren on Tuesday suspended work in three schools in Occupied Jerusalem in protest at the Israeli municipality’s attempts to impose its curriculums and its refusal to improve the school administrations and infrastructure.
Three schools were closed yesterday in the areas of Silwan, Issawiya and Shuafat, east Jerusalem.
An official from the parental committee in Shuafat said that the strike was staged to protest a series of arbitrary measures pursued every year by the Israeli municipality against the Palestinian educational sector.
He added that Israel’s attempt to impose changes in textbooks on Palestinian schools in Jerusalem as well as its refusal to improve their administrations and infrastructure were among the reasons that prompted the committee to stage the strike.
Three schools were closed yesterday in the areas of Silwan, Issawiya and Shuafat, east Jerusalem.
An official from the parental committee in Shuafat said that the strike was staged to protest a series of arbitrary measures pursued every year by the Israeli municipality against the Palestinian educational sector.
He added that Israel’s attempt to impose changes in textbooks on Palestinian schools in Jerusalem as well as its refusal to improve their administrations and infrastructure were among the reasons that prompted the committee to stage the strike.
31 aug 2017
Photo: Palestinian students detained at staircase leading to Shuhada Street, when leaving Qurtuba school, on Monday.
Israeli forces in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) are severely restricting, for the second day in a row, the freedom of movement for Palestinian students and teachers at Qurtuba school.
Whereas, on Monday, students and teachers were detained by Israeli forces for almost half an hour before being allowed to continue on their way home after the school day, the following day Israeli forces prevented the students from bringing essential school materials and denying them, again, to pass the checkpoint.
Qurtuba school is located in the H2-area of occupied al-Khalil, under full Israeli military control. In order to reach Qurtuba school, all students and teachers are forced to pass at least one, sometimes two, or even three Israeli military checkpoints within Palestinian neighborhoods.
The majority of the students and teachers accesses the school through a set of stairs at Daboya checkpoint. This checkpoint marks for Palestinians the spot where Shuhada Street has been ethnically cleansed of Palestinians, an undergoing policy which continuously forbids them from this point further down the road – the part of Shuhada Street where the illegal Israeli settlements in the heart of the city are located.
At Daboya checkpoint, thus, the only possible direction for Palestinians is to go up the stairs, which lead to Qurtuba school.
Israeli forces in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) are severely restricting, for the second day in a row, the freedom of movement for Palestinian students and teachers at Qurtuba school.
Whereas, on Monday, students and teachers were detained by Israeli forces for almost half an hour before being allowed to continue on their way home after the school day, the following day Israeli forces prevented the students from bringing essential school materials and denying them, again, to pass the checkpoint.
Qurtuba school is located in the H2-area of occupied al-Khalil, under full Israeli military control. In order to reach Qurtuba school, all students and teachers are forced to pass at least one, sometimes two, or even three Israeli military checkpoints within Palestinian neighborhoods.
The majority of the students and teachers accesses the school through a set of stairs at Daboya checkpoint. This checkpoint marks for Palestinians the spot where Shuhada Street has been ethnically cleansed of Palestinians, an undergoing policy which continuously forbids them from this point further down the road – the part of Shuhada Street where the illegal Israeli settlements in the heart of the city are located.
At Daboya checkpoint, thus, the only possible direction for Palestinians is to go up the stairs, which lead to Qurtuba school.
Palestinian students detained and eventually denied to bring school materials by Israeliforces on Tuesday
At the end of 2015, though, right after the whole area of Tel Rumeida, including Shuhada Street, was declared a ‘closed military zone’ by the Israelis, limiting the access to registered (that is, numbered Palestinians), the access to the staircase has been closed for use by Palestinians, whereas settlers are free to use the stairs as they please.
The only exception to this closure is Qurtuba school’s students and teachers twice a day: in the morning, at the start of the school day, and in the afternoon once school finishes – at least, in theory. Several times students and teachers have been denied passage or detained for hours, at this spot.
This setting alone creates an atmosphere not especially conducive to learning, with the constant uncertainty of what will happen: whether you will be checked, searched, detained or arrested at a checkpoint on the way to school or home, whether your teachers will get to school or settlers might attack you on the way or inside the school, in what becomes a vital part of the (psychological) occupation of the Palestinian civilians living in this area.
On Monday, 28th August, the students were detained with their teachers after the end of the school day, waiting at the top of the staircase for the soldiers to finally decide to allow them to reach their homes. On Tuesday, when students wanted to bring school books, they were again detained by the soldiers at the top of the stairs, while down on Shuhada Street, infamous and aggressive settlers Anat Cohen and Ofer Yohana gathered to watch the show of power by the Israeli forces.
Eventually, the soldiers denied children the possibility of carrying their school materials altogether, and the children went back to their classes without books.
These actions constitute severe infringements on the Palestinian students basic human right to education, and are deliberate attempts at the quiet transfer of the Palestinian community from the whole area.
Israeli forces are creating a coercive environment in order to leave no other option for Palestinians to leave the area and, thus, create an already connected area of illegal settlements – free of any Palestinian presence.
At the end of 2015, though, right after the whole area of Tel Rumeida, including Shuhada Street, was declared a ‘closed military zone’ by the Israelis, limiting the access to registered (that is, numbered Palestinians), the access to the staircase has been closed for use by Palestinians, whereas settlers are free to use the stairs as they please.
The only exception to this closure is Qurtuba school’s students and teachers twice a day: in the morning, at the start of the school day, and in the afternoon once school finishes – at least, in theory. Several times students and teachers have been denied passage or detained for hours, at this spot.
This setting alone creates an atmosphere not especially conducive to learning, with the constant uncertainty of what will happen: whether you will be checked, searched, detained or arrested at a checkpoint on the way to school or home, whether your teachers will get to school or settlers might attack you on the way or inside the school, in what becomes a vital part of the (psychological) occupation of the Palestinian civilians living in this area.
On Monday, 28th August, the students were detained with their teachers after the end of the school day, waiting at the top of the staircase for the soldiers to finally decide to allow them to reach their homes. On Tuesday, when students wanted to bring school books, they were again detained by the soldiers at the top of the stairs, while down on Shuhada Street, infamous and aggressive settlers Anat Cohen and Ofer Yohana gathered to watch the show of power by the Israeli forces.
Eventually, the soldiers denied children the possibility of carrying their school materials altogether, and the children went back to their classes without books.
These actions constitute severe infringements on the Palestinian students basic human right to education, and are deliberate attempts at the quiet transfer of the Palestinian community from the whole area.
Israeli forces are creating a coercive environment in order to leave no other option for Palestinians to leave the area and, thus, create an already connected area of illegal settlements – free of any Palestinian presence.
25 aug 2017
Israeli forces destroyed three Palestinian schools for children in the occupied West Bank, just days before start of school year, Relief Web said on Wednesday.
The facilities demolished include the only kindergarten for the Jabal Al Baba Bedouin community, which was destroyed in the early hours of 21 August, and a primary school in Jubbet Al Dhib that was demolished on the night of 22 August, according to Days of Palestine.
In a statement, the Relief Web said that Israeli authorities also dismantled and confiscated solar panels—the only source of power—at primary school in Abu Nuwar. The school was also attacked twice last year when parts of it were demolished and equipment confiscated.
Third grade students, there, now take their classes in the local barbershop, as the community has been prevented from building basic education facilities.
NRC Policy Manager Itay Epshtain, who visited Jubbet Al Dhib this morning, said: “It was heart breaking to see children and their teachers turning up for their first day of school under the blazing sun, with no classrooms or anywhere to seek shelter in, while in the immediate vicinity the work to expand illegal settlements goes on uninterrupted.”
The latest spate of school demolitions and confiscations, in the West Bank, forms part of a wider attack on education in Palestine.
Right now, some 55 schools in the West Bank are threatened with demolition and “stop-work” orders by Israeli authorities.
Many of these schools are donor-funded, including by EU member states. Israel denies the majority of Palestinian planning permit requests in Area C, thereby leaving Palestinians with no option but to reconstruct and develop without permits, while Israeli settlements -established in violation of international law – continue to expand.
Demolished schools
In the first three months of this year, there were 24 cases of direct attacks against schools, including incidents where tear gas canisters and sound bombs were fired at students on their way to or from school.
Last year, four communities’ educational facilities were demolished or confiscated and 256 education-related violations were documented in the West Bank, affecting over 29,000 students.
“Just when they were due to return to the classroom, Palestinian children are discovering that their schools are being destroyed,” said the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Country Director for Palestine, Hanibal Abiy Worku.
“What threat do these schools pose to the Israeli authorities? What are they planning to achieve by denying thousands of children their fundamental right to education?”
Threats Palestinian children face on a daily basis include violence and harassment from settlers and Israeli soldiers, military activity inside or next to schools, delays crossing checkpoints, and the abduction of children from their classrooms.
Israeli obstacles
Since 2011, the Israeli government has also threatened to withhold permits and funding to schools that are not implementing Israeli curriculum in which references to Palestinian identity and culture, the occupation, Israeli settlements and other aspects of Palestinian history were removed.
“We call on the governments and donors funding Palestinian children’s education to exercise all of their influence to prevent this violation in all its forms,” Abiy Worku said.
“The destruction of educational structures funded by European money is not just a violation of international law. It is also a slap in the face to the international community providing aid to the occupied Palestinian population in a bid to ensure safe places of learning for children.”
The facilities demolished include the only kindergarten for the Jabal Al Baba Bedouin community, which was destroyed in the early hours of 21 August, and a primary school in Jubbet Al Dhib that was demolished on the night of 22 August, according to Days of Palestine.
In a statement, the Relief Web said that Israeli authorities also dismantled and confiscated solar panels—the only source of power—at primary school in Abu Nuwar. The school was also attacked twice last year when parts of it were demolished and equipment confiscated.
Third grade students, there, now take their classes in the local barbershop, as the community has been prevented from building basic education facilities.
NRC Policy Manager Itay Epshtain, who visited Jubbet Al Dhib this morning, said: “It was heart breaking to see children and their teachers turning up for their first day of school under the blazing sun, with no classrooms or anywhere to seek shelter in, while in the immediate vicinity the work to expand illegal settlements goes on uninterrupted.”
The latest spate of school demolitions and confiscations, in the West Bank, forms part of a wider attack on education in Palestine.
Right now, some 55 schools in the West Bank are threatened with demolition and “stop-work” orders by Israeli authorities.
Many of these schools are donor-funded, including by EU member states. Israel denies the majority of Palestinian planning permit requests in Area C, thereby leaving Palestinians with no option but to reconstruct and develop without permits, while Israeli settlements -established in violation of international law – continue to expand.
Demolished schools
In the first three months of this year, there were 24 cases of direct attacks against schools, including incidents where tear gas canisters and sound bombs were fired at students on their way to or from school.
Last year, four communities’ educational facilities were demolished or confiscated and 256 education-related violations were documented in the West Bank, affecting over 29,000 students.
“Just when they were due to return to the classroom, Palestinian children are discovering that their schools are being destroyed,” said the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Country Director for Palestine, Hanibal Abiy Worku.
“What threat do these schools pose to the Israeli authorities? What are they planning to achieve by denying thousands of children their fundamental right to education?”
Threats Palestinian children face on a daily basis include violence and harassment from settlers and Israeli soldiers, military activity inside or next to schools, delays crossing checkpoints, and the abduction of children from their classrooms.
Israeli obstacles
Since 2011, the Israeli government has also threatened to withhold permits and funding to schools that are not implementing Israeli curriculum in which references to Palestinian identity and culture, the occupation, Israeli settlements and other aspects of Palestinian history were removed.
“We call on the governments and donors funding Palestinian children’s education to exercise all of their influence to prevent this violation in all its forms,” Abiy Worku said.
“The destruction of educational structures funded by European money is not just a violation of international law. It is also a slap in the face to the international community providing aid to the occupied Palestinian population in a bid to ensure safe places of learning for children.”
Dozens of teachers and principals at Arab schools in 1948 Occupied Palestine (Israel) have been accused of inciting against the Israelis, in and out of class, Hebrew-speaking Israel Hayom daily reported Friday.
According to the Israeli newspaper, punitive measures have been taken by the Israeli Ministry of Education against 12 Palestinian instructors on charges of incitement against Israel and its army.
The war against Palestinian instructors during class is part of the war over the authentic narratives in Palestinian schoolbooks which are being used in some schools in eastern Jerusalem.
Israel’s Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Habayit Hayehudi) claimed that he would use an iron fist against Palestinian incitement.
In recent years, the Israeli Education Ministry has been trying to combat alleged incitement against the Israeli occupation by Palestinian teachers. In some cases, investigations have been launched by the Israeli forces and authorities against teachers who carried their message not only to their students but also on social media networks.
According to the Israeli newspaper, punitive measures have been taken by the Israeli Ministry of Education against 12 Palestinian instructors on charges of incitement against Israel and its army.
The war against Palestinian instructors during class is part of the war over the authentic narratives in Palestinian schoolbooks which are being used in some schools in eastern Jerusalem.
Israel’s Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Habayit Hayehudi) claimed that he would use an iron fist against Palestinian incitement.
In recent years, the Israeli Education Ministry has been trying to combat alleged incitement against the Israeli occupation by Palestinian teachers. In some cases, investigations have been launched by the Israeli forces and authorities against teachers who carried their message not only to their students but also on social media networks.
