Violation: Removal notice for a new building.

Location: Wad Al-Malih – The Northern Jordan Valley.

Date: Dec 28^th 2020.

Perpetrators: The building inspector in the Israeli Occupation Civil Administration.

Victims: Children of Bedouin Communities.

Description:

Monday morning, December 28^th 2020, The Israeli Occupation Forces accompanied by the building and organization officer raided Hammamat Al-Maleh area east Tubas, and served a removal notice for Al-Maleh basic school on the pretext of building without a license.

The notice was entitled “Removal of a new building” and numbered “10118”, under which the occupation threatened to demolish and remove a school within 96 hours, issued on reference to military order “1797”.

Reportedly , the targeted school  consists of four classrooms with a total area of 40 m² built of bricks and zinc sheets , two metal bathrooms , and a front yard with a total area of 100 m² leveled late last august , and used as a school for 35 students (first – to third grade) living in Hammamat Al-Maleh , Al-Maita, Al-Burj , Ein Hilweh , and Umm Jamal communities , the school was built in the supervision and fund of Colonization and Wall  Resistance Commission on lands that belong to the Latin Patriarch.

Photos 1-3: Al-Malih Basic School

Notice number 10118 demolition and removal of a school

Al-Maleh village Council head Mahdi Daraghmeh told LRC the following:

“Al-Malih communities witness an escalation of Israeli Human Rights Violations, which turned the area’s lands into military training areas were construction is banned, and lack the basic needs for survival, people of these communities depend on At-Tayaseer and Bardala villages for basic services, 6 km away from the community. For education, children of the community go to At-Tayaseer school, they have to go through At-Tayaseer checkpoint and to avoid that daily suffering especially for children, a school with basic materials was built for them, but the occupation insists to kill every glimpse of hope to force people of the community to evict the area.”

Al-Malih school is only the newest episode of a series of Israeli violations that targeted Palestinian schools , Last August the Occupation targeted Wad At-Teen school east Kafr Malik , and before that most of At-Tahadi schools were targeted in Jordan valley and other marginalized areas. Destroying schools and prohibiting education is only a part of the occupations’ measurements to empty the Hammamat Al-Maleh area from its people.

According to LRC Israeli Violations Monitoring Section, the occupation threatened to demolish 35 schools and kindergartens during the last five years between (2016 – 2020) . Reportedly, Hebron is the most targeted in this regard, followed by Ramallah, then Jericho. See the graph bellow that provides information about the targeted schools between (2016 -2020)

Targeting Palestinian Schools and Kindergartens is a clear violation of Human Rights Conventions and agreements on the Right to Education as a fundamental right. The Israeli Occupation particularly targets Palestinian schools in C area, which is under Israeli full control according to Oslo accords , and where the occupation is obliged to provide with facilitation. But Israel does exactly the opposite; they demolish Palestinian schools at area C that are built with basic materials.  One of the main UN resolutions Israel is breaching is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 26:

(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.