Over the span of 30 months, 296
attacks against education by Israeli forces or settlers and
settlement private security guards took place during 235
separate incidents. Israeli forces perpetrated three out of
four attacks. These included
soldiers’ raids on schools, harassment, arrest and
assault of children in schools and at checkpoints, firing
towards children and blocking teachers and students from
reaching schools. They also included the downright demolition
of schools and confiscation of equipment – many of which were
funded by the European Union and European
governments.
"Israel, as the occupying power, has
failed to ensure that Palestinian children can safely access
schools. The Israeli forces have instead themselves denied
children education and demolished schools for vulnerable
communities in the West Bank,” said NRC Secretary General Jan
Egeland. "Israel’s policies and practices toward Palestinian
schools have created an environment of constant fear that
traumatises children, while abandoning its obligation under
international law to not commit attacks on
education.”
Emboldened by ultranationalist
rhetoric, Israeli settlers stormed schools and stoned school
buses, damaging and vandalizing school property. Nablus and
Hebron were especially hard hit, and together account for
nearly 80 per cent of all recorded incidents perpetrated by
settlers or settlement private security guards that harmed
education in the reporting period.
Twelve-year-old Mahmoud attending Burin
secondary school in Nablus was hit in his head by a tear gas
canister shot into the schoolyard by soldiers when armed
settlers gathered outside on 2 February this
year.
“I did not see the canister because
there was so much smoke that I could not open my eyes. I was
not breathing much, either," said Mahmoud, who had to be
hospitalised. "It hit my head and I started
bleeding.”
In 41 attacks, Israeli authorities
demolished, confiscated, or placed under risk of demolition
school structures, property, equipment, or materials.
Bedouin/herding communities in Area C of the West Bank – under
total Israeli control – were especially affected by such
attacks. Israeli authorities routinely issue ‘stop work’ and
demolition orders, seize materials and even raze schools to the
ground together with other structures used for educational
purposes, including donor-funded humanitarian aid
projects.
Haitham, 12, from Jabal Al-Baba
explained why there is no school in his local community,
forcing him to trek through the dust or mud for 30 minutes
every day in order to reach the nearest school: “The occupation
army does not allow us to have one. We built one, but it was
demolished. We will build it again. Even if the army demolishes
it, we will rebuild it.”
Meanwhile, should Israel officially
annex parts of the West Bank, in violation of international
law, it would exacerbate already fragile schooling conditions,
likely cutting off over 18,000 students from their current
Palestinian educational system, teachers, and staff, with a
devastating impact for these
students.
NRC urges Israel to abide by its
obligations not to commit attacks against school children and
education, and calls on governments to apply pressure on Israel
to comply with international law and ensure children’s safe
access to education.
Notes to
editors:
-
NRC based its analysis on
incidents collected by the UN and NGOs based in the occupied
Palestinian territory, cross-checked with data collected by
the Palestinian Ministry of Education. It also did in-depth
interviews with community leaders, school staff, parents, and
children.
-
NRC implements programmes
in education, counselling and legal assistance programmes for
Palestinians. In the period under review (January 2018 – June
2020), NRC reached 14,315 children across 144 schools in the
West Bank through its psychosocial work. It also reached
12,627 Palestinians through legal assistance, including
contesting Israel’s demolition threats against
schools.
