Education under Occupation
EAPPI is working with UNICEF to produce a report on access to education, a basic human right. Each of the seven placements submitted a short essay with photographs which will be published in due course. In the mean time, this is the contribution from the South Hebron Hills:
The EAPPI presence in the South Hebron Hills is very new, at just over one year old. Yet we are already an important part of the community here, becoming as well known as Operation Dove, an Italian NGO that EAPPI works with which has been here for ten years. Almost daily people in villages we visit express gratitude for our presence. In our travels, we have visited many schools. We often visit At Tuwani, which uniquely among villages in Area C of the West Bank has a master plan and is actually extending the school legally, building a second level. Yet this is the only place in the whole West Bank that violence by Settlers is so bad that Israeli soldiers have been ordered to escort children to school: those coming from the village of Tuba must pass between the notorious Settlement of Ma’on and its Outpost. We have reports, however, that the soldiers often arrive late (so the children, afraid to walk without them, are late for school) and that they often only go half way, leaving the children to run for it on the last leg into At Tuwani.
The school at Jinba, with a satellite location at Khirbet al Fakheit, is under constant threat of demolition because it is in the controversial Firing Zone 918 (part of Area C). EAPPI visited a family in Isfey al Fauqa- also in the Firing Zone- where mother Hana told us that her two children (Rami, 11 and Rawan, 7) leave at 6 am each morning to make it to school by 8. In the warm months, the heat makes the mountainous track difficult. When it rains, the muddy slopes become virtually impossible.
The UN, with whom EAPPI has a close working relationship here, had offered to improve this road, but the Israeli authorities responsible for Area C did not allow it. Hana complained particularly that her children are frequently sick in winter, despite the scrupulous care she takes keeping her house and family clean.
The Jinba School only goes to the 7th grade. After that, children either drop out (the legal age to do so is 16) or attend a school in Yatta, the largest nearby city. This involves staying with relatives- who might not have the same care for their nephews’ and nieces’ academic achievement as parents would- or it would involve one parent moving with them, at great expense and disruption to the traditional family life people here still live. If the school were demolished, this would be the only solution for all families in the area.
One of EAPPI’s principal concerns in the South Hebron Hills is the village of Susiya. It has enjoyed the luxury of having its own school since 1.10.2010.
Despite having five classrooms, the four teachers have only been able to add the 5th grade by combining the 1st and 2nd grades. The history of the school has been stormy, quite literally. At first, the school was just some tents, and after the first three weeks a storm blew them away. With the help of international aid, a proper building has been gradually constructed, complete with windows and a roof. Still, the building is not able to keep out the oppressive heat, dampness or cold of the changing seasons.
Recently the school acquired three portable toilets – and on the same day the Israeli Defense Force delivered a demolition order for them. This was not a surprise to the Headmaster Mohammed Jaber Nawaja. The road leading to the school and the school building itself are under threat of demolition, despite the fact that the school is situated on land owned by the Palestinian Authority. UNICEF offered to supply a playground for the school but the Israeli authorities refused to allow it. Any investments in the school are bound to be futile; the bulldozers could be there any day.
The school does not have enough teachers, books or supplies for the 37 students. In fact, the Palestinian Authority has had trouble paying the four teachers and headmaster their salaries. It shouldn’t have to. According to the IV Geneva Convention, Israel (which has complete control of Area C, where the school is located) has an obligation to provide for the daily needs of the civilian population, including education.
About 800 meters from the school is the illegal Israeli settlement of Suseya. This school has running water, mains electricity, a basketball court, an irrigated oval and a swimming pool, things that Palestinian children can only dream about. [For comparison, Susiya School is in the black rectangle, upper left.]
The 500 meter long hand-built (the IDF would not allow machinery into the area) access road leading to the school may seem short enough but for the small children it is not. The heat of summer is hard enough, but it is the cold and rainy winter days that transform the road into a muddy and slippery challenge. In addition, the children need to contend with aggressive settlers, who threaten them with large dogs, use foul and often sexual language, and sometimes even throw stones at them.
Diana is in 2nd grade in Susiya School. Her favorite subject is English. She likes school but she says that the 30-minute walk there is too long. She doesn’t want to walk to school alone for the fear of the settlers and their dogs. One time the army stopped her and ordered her to go home. This was really scary for her. Now she walks to school with her uncle who provides the necessary protection for her and her cousins who go to the same school.
Teachers face problems, too. Not only is their salary uncertain, but they have also been harassed by the settlers. Despite having documentation that they work there, the army has detained them on the road leading to the school.
Diana’s mother says that she is really worried about the situation of the school. If it is demolished, the children have no other place to go. Her other children go to school in Yatta with a small school bus which is already overcrowded and cannot take additional children. Distance, harassment and aggression from settlers and the military makes walking impossible.
Headmaster Nawaja poses proudly in front of his school. There’s a mural on the wall that says “Peace” in Arabic, Hebrew and English. He says that even though the students come from a village that has been demolished, and despite the fact that many of the children have seen their parents being harassed, their job in Susiya School is to teach the children respect for other people, whoever they may be.
Another key focus for EAPPI is the Imneizil School. This school is somewhat of a success story for us. In mid-2011, when EAPPI here was brand new, the school came under serious threat of demolition. It was an urgent action appeal instigated by EAPPI in Yatta which brought 20 journalists from around the world to the village, putting pressure on the Israeli authorities not to knock down Spanish-funded solar panels which supply not only the school but the whole village with electricity.
The village itself is about 1,500 m from the Green Line, yet Israel’s Barrier goes right behind it, forming the school’s back fence. The school was built in 1993, with a new wing and toilets added in 2009. This is a good thing, because the 120 children- boys and girls- are squeezed into tiny classrooms. A former kitchenette now serves as the 4th grade classroom. Although the threat of demolition has receded, in theory it could still happen at any moment.
In an interview with the headmaster, EAPPI was told of two major disruptions to schooling at Imneizil. The first is a roadblock which turns a ten-minute drive from As Samu’, where many teachers live, into a 40-minute commute via Yatta and Susiya, where the roads are windier and of poorer quality. The second is the electricity situation. As though on cue, a computer in the room beeps the restart tone: a sure sign of a brief power cut. The solar array needs work, but electrical engineers are not cheap. As a consequence, there is no cooling fitted to any classroom, despite the summer heat, and the school’s only gas heater is ineffectual against the winter cold even in a small room.
Following the interview with the headmaster, EAPPI make a small tour of the school. We are proudly shown the 10th class, which in this period is studying technology.
A cruel irony that the only computer in the whole school is in the headmaster’s office. The 8th class is doing sports, playing volleyball in the school’s courtyard. The 16 boys switch out regularly, because there is only one ball, and anyway space for only one net. One can only imagine how this small area of asphalt must have looked at break time. The girls are sitting to the side, they had their turn earlier. In a small room immediately off the courtyard, with the volleyballers’ shouts still distractingly audible, the 5th class is learning English.
The visit today had been timed to co-incide with the end of school.
EAPPI regularly monitors the Beit Yatir checkpoint, because around 20 students of Imneizil School live in A Seefer, a village in the Seam Zone between the Green Line and the Barrier. In order to get from one Palestinian village to another, they must pass through this checkpoint.
Twice a week, we accompany the students on their way home, into the Seam Zone. The routine is simple. First, the children all gather at the boom gate. Soldiers prioritize Israeli traffic, so if cars with yellow plates drive up, the children must wait. While we are there, the soldiers are seen to be kind to the children- they know their names, speak Arabic with them, and on one occasion gave one a can of Fanta. However, the family reports that when we have not been there, the children occasionally wait up to an hour for no apparent reason.
Once they are gathered, their papers are taken from them and they walk to a mobile office a short distance away. Inside, the children’s school bags are scanned (and to be sure, searched) and the children walk through a metal detector. They wait in a covered area outside while a soldier disappears into an office for a bit with the papers. When this soldier returns, the papers are handed back and the children go on their way. We have timed this at anywhere from eight to fifteen minutes, not including the walk from school to the checkpoint and then from checkpoint to home- maybe an additional half hour.
A bus would be unthinkable because of the difficulty getting Israeli licenses to be allowed to cross the checkpoint.
In conversation with the family, whom we have visited a few times, they stress that although problems in the morning are less frequent, they are more important because each minute is lost class time. As it is, the children are occasionally late. In the afternoon, they may be too tired or stressed to concentrate on school work, preferring to nap or play.
We here at EAPPI South Hebron Hills are proud to be part of the accompaniment programme, and encouraged by those who tell us that we have made a material difference to their quality of life. Working with local partners like Rabbis for Human Rights and Ta’ayush, we believe that reporting on violence by Settlers, helping to prevent it with protective presence, and advocating on behalf of those without a voice is a meaningful contribution to the resolution of this conflict.
I work for the National Council of Churches as an Ecumenical Accompanier serving on the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). The views contained herein are personal to me and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer or the WCC. If you would like to publish the information contained here (including posting on a website), or distribute it further, please first contact my national co-ordinator ([email protected]) or the EAPPI Communications Officer ([email protected]) for permission. Thank you.
