RAMALLAH, May 26, 2018 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Ministry of Education appealed to whom it referred to as “the free world” to intervene and save Khan al-Ahmar elementary school that serves 170 young Palestinian students from five Bedouin communities east of Jerusalem from imminent Israeli demolition.
The Israeli Supreme Court gave the green light on Thursday to the Israeli military government to demolish the entire Khan al-Ahmar Abu Helu community and the school, built of rubber tires, and to transfer the entire community to another area near the town of Ezzariyeh. The court gave the military right to decide on the time to carry out the demolition.
Minister of Education Sabri Saidam urged international human rights organizations and world governments to intervene and “protect children and their right to education in a safe environment.”
He called for an end to this Israeli policy that “aims to uproot and displace the residents of Khan al-Ahmar from their land and to deny their children education at their school, which was built in 2009 out of used car tires and mud.”
He said that the threat to demolish the community and the school will not stop the students from pursing education even under a tree.
“Targeting schools in the so-called Area C (of the West Bank) is part of the ongoing and systematic Israeli incitement campaign against (Palestinian) education and comes as world remains silent and fails to take action to deter such violations, which are considered crimes against education and civilians.”
The school has nine classrooms serving students up to sixth grade and 15 teachers.
Khan al Ahmar-Abu al Helu is home to 181 people, 53 per cent of whom are children and 95 per cent of whom are Palestine refugees registered with the UN refugee agency, UNRWA. The community is one of the 46 Bedouin communities in the central West Bank that the United Nations views as at risk of forcible transfer, including due to a coercive environment generated by Israeli practices and policies, including plans to move the communities from their current locations.
Eighteen of these communities, including Khan al Ahmar, are located in or next to an area slated in part for the E1 Israeli settlement plan, reportedly aimed at creating a continuous built-up area between Ma’ale Adumim settlement and East Jerusalem.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick expressed during a visit to Khan al-Ahmar in April deep concern at what could become of the community.
“We are monitoring the situation in Khan al Ahmar closely and are deeply concerned by what we see here, and in the scores of other vulnerable Bedouin communities,” said McGoldrick. “We call on the Israeli authorities to respect their legal obligations, as the occupying power, including through stopping the demolition of Palestinian-owned structures and ceasing plans for the relocation of Palestinian Bedouin communities.”
M.K.
