{"id":121055,"date":"2018-10-29T12:00:06","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T12:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=121055"},"modified":"2018-10-27T11:54:19","modified_gmt":"2018-10-27T10:54:19","slug":"a-cruel-choice-why-israel-targets-palestinian-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/10\/a-cruel-choice-why-israel-targets-palestinian-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A Cruel Choice\u2019: Why Israel Targets Palestinian Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Problems facing the education system in Palestine have compounded to unforeseen levels. (UNRWA)<\/p><\/div>\n

26 Oct 2018 – <\/em>Several Palestinian students, along with teachers and officials, were wounded in the Israeli army attack on a school south of Nablus in the West Bank on October 15. The students of Al- Sawiya Al-Lebban Mixed School were challenging an Israeli military order to shut down their school based on the ever-versatile accusation<\/a> of the school being a \u201csite of popular terror and rioting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPopular terror,\u201d is an Israeli army code for protests. The students, of course, have every right to protest, not just the Israeli military Occupation but also the encroaching colonization of the settlements of Alie and Ma\u2019ale Levona. These two illegal Jewish settlements have unlawfully confiscated thousands of dunams of land belonging to the villages of As-Sawiya and Al-Lebban.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Israeli citizens,\u201d that the Occupation army is set to protect by shutting down the school, are, in fact, the very armed Jewish settlers who have been terrorizing this West Bank region for years.<\/p>\n

According to a 2016 study <\/a>commissioned by the United Nations, at least 2,500 Palestinian students from 35 West Bank communities must cross through Israeli military checkpoints to reach their schools every day. About half of these students have reported army harassment and violence for merely attempting to get to their classes or back home.<\/p>\n

However, this is only half of the story, as violent Jewish settlers are always on the lookout for Palestinian kids. These settlers, who \u201calso set up their own checkpoints,\u201d engage in regular violence as well, by \u201cthrowing stones\u201d at children, or \u201cphysically pushing (Palestinian children) around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUNICEF\u2019s protective presence teams have reported that their volunteers have been subjected to physical attacks, harassment, arrest and detention, and death threats,\u201d according to the same UN report.<\/p>\n

In other words, even the \u2018protectors\u2019 themselves often fall victim to the army and Jewish settler terror tactics.<\/p>\n

Add to this that Area C\u2014a major part of the West Bank that is under full Israeli military control\u2014represents the pinnacle of Palestinian suffering. An estimated 50,000 children face numerous hurdles, including the lack of facilities, access, violence, closure and unjustified demolition orders.<\/p>\n

The school of Al Sawiya Al Lebban located in Area C is, therefore, under the total mercy of the Israeli military, which has no tolerance for any form of resistance, including non-violent popular protests by school children.<\/p>\n

What is truly uplifting, however, is that, despite the Israeli military Occupation and ongoing restrictions on Palestinian freedom, the Palestinian population remains one of the most educated in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

According to the United Nations Development Program<\/a> (UNDP), the literacy rate in Palestine (estimated at 96.3%) is one of the highest in the Middle East and the illiteracy rate (3.7% among individuals over the age of 15) is one of the lowest in the world.<\/p>\n

If these statistics are not heartening enough, bearing in mind the ongoing Israeli war on Palestinian school and curricula<\/a>, consider this: the besieged and war-stricken Gaza Strip has an even higher literacy rate than the West Bank, as they both stand at 96.6% and 96% respectively.<\/p>\n

In truth, this should not come as a total surprise. The first wave of Palestinian refugees that were ethnically-cleansed from historic Palestine were so keen on ensuring their children strive to continue their education, they established school tents<\/a>, operated by volunteer teachers as early as 1948.<\/p>\n

Palestinians understand well that education is their greatest weapon to obtain their long-denied freedom. Israel, too, is aware of this dichotomy, knowing that an empowered Palestinian population is far more capable of challenging Israeli dominance than a subdued one, thus the relentless and systematic targeting of the Palestinian educational system.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s strategy<\/a> in destroying the infrastructure of Palestinian schooling system is centered on the allegation of \u2018terror\u2019: that is, Palestinians teach \u2018terror\u2019 in their schools; Palestinian school books celebrate \u2018terrorists\u2019; schools are sites for \u2018popular terror\u2019 and various other accusations that, per Israeli logic, compels the army to seal off schools, demolish facilities, arrest and shoot students.<\/p>\n

Take for example, the recent comments<\/a> made by the Israeli mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, who is now leading a government campaign aimed at shutting down operations by the UN organization that caters to Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is time to remove UNRWA from Jerusalem,\u201d Barkat announced<\/a> early October.<\/p>\n

Without any evidence whatsoever, Barkat claimed that \u201cUNRWA is strengthening terror,\u201d and that \u201cthe children of Jerusalem are taught under their auspices, terror, and this must be stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, Barkat is being dishonest. The jibe at UNRWA in Jerusalem is part of a larger Israeli-US campaign aimed at shutting down an organization that proved central to the status and welfare of Palestinian refugees.<\/p>\n

According to this skewed thinking, without UNRWA, Palestinian refugees would have no legal platform, thus closing down UNRWA is closing down the chapter of Palestinian refugees and their Right of Return altogether.<\/p>\n

The link between the shutting down of Al Sawiya Al Lebban, the targeting of UNRWA by Israel and the US, the numerous checkpoints separating students from their schools in the West Bank and more, have more in common than Israel\u2019s false allegation of \u2018terror.\u2019<\/p>\n

Israeli writer Orly Noy summed up the Israeli logic in one sentence. \u201cBy destroying schools in Palestinian villages in Area C and elsewhere, Israel is forcing Palestinians to make a cruel choice\u2014between their land and their children\u2019s futures,\u201d she wrote<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n

It is this brutal logic that has guided the Israeli government strategy regarding Palestinian education for 70 years. It is a war that cannot be discussed or understood outside the larger war on Palestinian identity, freedom, and, in fact, the very existence of the Palestinian people.<\/p>\n

The students\u2019 fight for their right to education in Al Sawiya Al Lebban Mixed School is by no means an isolated skirmish involving Palestinian school kids and trigger-happy Israeli soldiers. Rather, it is at the heart of the Palestinian people\u2019s fight for their freedom.<\/p>\n

___________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of <\/em>Palestine Chronicle. He has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and has been writing about the Middle East for over 20 years. Baroud is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California Santa Barbara. His books include <\/em>Searching Jenin, <\/em>The Second Palestinian Intifada, and <\/em>My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza\u2019s Untold Story. His latest book is The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story<\/a> (Pluto Press, London, 2018). His website:<\/em> www.ramzybaroud.net<\/a>. <\/em>Email: <\/em>info@ramzybaroud.net<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 ramzybaroud.net<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several Palestinian students, along with teachers and officials, were wounded in the Israeli army attack on a school south of Nablus in the West Bank on October 15. \u201cPopular terror,\u201d is an Israeli army code for protests. The students, of course, have every right to protest, not just the Israeli military Occupation but also the encroaching colonization of the settlements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":121056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-palestine-israel-gaza-genocide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}