The school in Ein Il Hilwe is a simple tent with plastic chairs
Ein Il Hilwe is a Bedouin community located in the north of the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank. It is one of many Palestinian communities doomed to suffer de-development and stagnation under the strict policies of Area C. The village consists of around 130 people and is strategically located next to one of the few natural springs in the Jordan Valley that has not been confiscated by the Israeli government.
The village itself is located off of the main highway in the Jordan Valley, at the foot of surrounding hills. Taken out of context of the Israeli occupation, Ein Il Hilwe seems to be a picturesque manifestation of simplicity and tranquility. Unfortunately for the residents of the community, the occupation is omnipresent and unlikely to retreat soon; Ein Il Hilwe is surrounded by five illegal Israeli settlements inhabited by settlers who often come and harass the villagers. Like many other villages in Palestine, the effects of the occupation are perhaps most strongly felt by the children of the community.
Only 35 students from Ein Il Hilwe and the surrounding communities can use the school
Children from Ein Il Hilwe, as well as those from surrounding Bedouin communities, used to travel to school in the village in Tayasir, a trek of over 13km that required taking a bus and passing through an Israeli checkpoint. Too often, however, children would face harassment from the soldiers manning the checkpoint. Some were even forced by the soldiers to abandon the bus and walk the 13 km to and from school. Understandably, the brutal treatment from Israeli soldiers forced many of the children to drop out of school. To combat the falling retention rate and to support the existence of the Ein Il Hilwe community, the Save the Jordan Valley Campaign constructed a simple tent school last November. The school can hold 35 children, though many have classes outside, sitting on small plastic chairs where volunteer teachers instruct Arabic, English, Math, Chemistry and Religion, though classes include students of all ages and levels. Unfortunately, because the tent school in Ein Il Hilwe was illegally constructed (according to the draconian rules imposed by the defunct Oslo Accords), it is not recognized by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and therefore receives no funding from the Palestinian government and considered illegal by the Israeli government. The tent and the play area, as well as the cost of transportation for teachers and all school supplies were all provided by developmental organizations. Indeed, the success of the school is entirely dependent on charity.
On Saturday February 26, I attended an advocacy function in Ein Il Hilwe organized by the Save the Jordan Valley Campaign and Ma’an Development Center, during which volunteers helped extend the current play area for the children and met with the leaders of the community. Volunteers were meant to construct a second tent classroom for the community which would have allowed an additional 65 children to attend school, but on Friday, February 25, military jeeps arrived in the town and threatened to demolish both the tent and the existing play area.
The entire community of Ein Il Hilwe is located in a firing zone
Unfortunately, the situation in Ein Il Hilwe is not isolated. Communities throughout Palestine and particularly in the Jordan Valley are subject to the same horrifying circumstances. Area C – meaning full Israeli administrative and military control – extends to over 95% of the Jordan Valley. Most devastating about Area C is the inability of Palestinians to construct, leaving Palestinian communities in a constant state of, at best, stagnation and, at worst, de-development. Between 2000 and 2007, only 6% of Palestinian building permit requests were approved; 91 permits were granted to Palestinians while 18,472 Jewish units were built during the same period. For every building permit that Israel approves for Palestinians, it issues 55 demolition orders.
The students of Ein Il Hilwe are not alone in their suffering either. The Ka’abneh village is another Bedouin community that is surrounded by settlements. Like Ein Il Hilwe, a school was constructed for the community illegally, providing education to 66 students. Over the last three years, the Ka’abneh school has been issued six demolition orders, the most recent in October 2010 for a small bathroom. Likewise, the Jiftlik School faced a similar fate before 2005. Like their compatriots in Ein Il Hilwe, students from Jiftlik were forced to travel to nearby Beit Hassan to go to school. After the construction of the Hamra checkpoint, many from Jiftlik dropped out due to high transportation costs and harassment from Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint. The village decided to build a tent school, similar to the one in Ein Il Hilwe, but Israel demolished the school seven times between 2003 and 2008.
Israeli soldiers threatened to demolish the school last week
The Palestinians of the Jordan Valley are under constant attack. Not only does Israel use guns, but also bulldozers and lawyers to force Palestinians to leave their land. In 1967 320,000 Palestinians lived in the Jordan Valley. Today, that number has been reduced by 82.5% to a mere 56,000. Poverty rates soar to 60%, worse than most areas in Gaza. Perhaps most tragic is that students in the Jordan Valley are actively refused their legal right to education by the Israeli occupation. Harassment by soldiers and settlers alike as well as the inhumanely routine practice of school demolition denies Palestinian children the right to learn.
Article 50 of the 4th Geneva Convention requires the occupying force – in this case Israel – to ‘facilitate the proper working’ of schools in the occupied territory. Harassing students, destroying schools and implementing policies undermining Palestinian education is a clear violation of this and many other international laws – including the Convention of the Rights of Children and the Convention against Discrimination in Education. More importantly, the damage done to schools and students today is greatly limiting and handicapping the future generations of Palestine.
The students of Ein Il Hilwe are only one example of how Israel violates international law by denying education
This post originally appeared on Notes From a Medinah
Evil
Please let us know what kind of schools are available to Palestinians in the camps in Lebanon and Syria. I’m sure they have the best that oil money from all those Muslim countries soaking in it can afford to lavish on their Palestinian brothers.
I do not know much about the Palestinian camps in Syria, as I have only spent a handful of days there. However, the situation in Lebanon is one of the worst. Palestinian refugees are denied most of the rights that Lebanese citizens receive, even if they are born in Lebanon. This is caused by a handful of reasons, but, perhaps foremost, is domestic Lebanese politics.
The refugee camps in Lebanon are terrible. I assume, with a name like yours, you have not looked into what life is actually like for Palestinian refugees. Perhaps this is one of the major problems with the die hard supporters of Israel. So many assume that all Arabs are the same. Palestinian people are different than Lebanese. To assume that oil rich countries in the Gulf are willing to pay to make the lives of Palestinians easier is the same as saying that America is looking to invest money in the slums of Manchester because both countries are mostly white.
Israel ethnically cleansed Palestinians from their land in 1948 (and again in 67) but most supporting Israel refuse to look at the consequences of those actions. I am traveling to Lebanon in a few weeks, specifically to visit friends at the refugee camp Bourj el Bourajni which is located outside of Beirut. The conditions in the camp are atrocious, much like they are throughout Palestine. I would be happy to report back about the lack of running water, insanely high unemployment, poverty and lack of electricity.
To assume that Palestinian in other countries are better off than Palestinians in Palestine is completely missing the point. The illegal occupation that is crushing the Palestinian people is destroying the future of Palestine. The IDF has the right, according to Israeli (not international) law, to simply drive by and tear down a school. Do not compare this situation to any other country (however idiotic that comparison is). This has to do with an illegal Israeli occupation that is tearing down schools and forcing innocent children to live out of tents.
If you can find a way to defend such an inhumane policy (without making absurd, irrelevant and foolish comparisons) I would love to hear it. As a human being, I can tell that this is wrong. Prove me wrong.
mocking the victims of evil
“mocking the victims of evil”
Zionist. What do you expect?
The oil revenue goes to weapons which are sold by western corporations, the infrastructure companies that drill and refine the oil are also western. Do you entertain any thoughts that aren’t moldy clash-of-civilizations tripe?
the people reading your comment seem either to all have their heads in a small dark place and/or are totally unwilling to admit that the friends and neighbors of the Palestinians in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan treat them like dirt. they’re unwelcome, untrusted and penned in crumbling camps.
and all the while they decry the inhumanity and injustice done to their brothers, the Palestinians, by other people.
the Palestinians are screwed over by their fellows, but you’re so cruel and insensitive to mention that.
fuster – You don’t have the ability to read English. It seems you are able to discern the meaning of individual words, yet putting them together into a coherent syntax is beyond your reach. Nobody said anything to indicate they are unaware of how Palestinians are treated in other countries. That was pulled from your ass wholesale.
This is why there is no peace between Israel and her neighbor.
I know that Phil allows these malicious Zionist cheerleaders to post here so as to expose the depth of their vileness. But it doesn’t help my blood pressure to read these things.
i know. this is one i’d like to deep 6 forever. if i had my druthers that is.