Fence hurts Palestinian students
West Bank security fence prevents hundreds of Palestinian children from reaching school; Israeli left-wing activists accompany 40 children to school for fear of settler attack
The Palestinian school year started Saturday, with over one million children returning to school, but the festive mood was marred by the presence of the West Bank security fence, local residents and activists say.
About 100 Israeli left-wing activists, including 30 professors and lecturers from Jerusalem's Hebrew University, accompanied 40 students on their first day of school from the village of al-Nu'man south of Jerusalem to their school near the village of al-Khas.
Before the security fence was constructed, the children would walk 10 minutes to school, yet today it takes them over an hour to get there.
Al-Nu'man, which consists of 25 homes, was annexed to Jerusalem in 1967, but residents remained with Palestinian identity cards. As a result, the residents are not permitted to enter Jerusalem now and are considered illegal residents in their very own homes.
Furthermore, friends and family residing in al-Khas are not authorized to enter the village, as West Bank residents are not permitted into Israel. The road between the village and Jerusalem is blocked, preventing basic supplies from reaching the al-Nu'man.
And now, with the construction of the security fence and a new road leading to neighboring Jewish settlements, the residents' access to the West Bank has also been blocked, with the village being cut off from the world around it, including access to schools, hospitals and employment.
Fear of Jewish attack
About 1,050,000 Palestinian children started school Saturday in 2,202 schools throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
On the eve of the new school year, Palestinian charities distributed books, uniforms, bags and school equipment to needy families, mainly those who live in Palestinian villages near the security fence.
Israeli left-wing activists accompanied children from al-Nu'man to al-Khas and international activists did the same for children in Hebron, out of concern that Jewish settlers may attack the children, as they did last year.
Palestinians said the security fence will affect tens of thousands of students this year.
Hundreds of children in the Abu-Dis area near Jerusalem had to reach their schools Saturday by climbing through narrow openings in the fence.
Student Amar Azhaiman from Abu-Dis said, "At the end of the previous school year, the fence was still not as monstrous and scary, it was not complete. But now that construction is finished, I think about the 10 months where I'll have to make my way home and to school. It will be a nightmare."
One student from the village of Akeb, north of Jerusalem, said this year she will have to walk seven kilometers and pass an IDF border crossing to get to school.
Fewer students compared to the previous year
Palestinian education official Nur a-Din al-Rajbi told Ynet the security fence has made many residents flee their homes and cross into Jerusalem.
"Parents now have the added expense of rent, transportation and NIS 3,000 in school fees, as most schools are private," he said. "So we have found ourselves with fewer children. A school which once had 300 students now has 140, and a school that once taught 800, now has only 600."
Jerusalem representative for the Palestinian Legislative Council Hatem Abdul Kader told Ynet the first day of school in the Jerusalem area was catastrophic, due to a shortage of schools in certain areas and a difficulty in reaching schools in other areas.
Kader said that according to his estimation, hundreds of children were left to wander the streets, as they were unable to reach their schools due to the fence.
"This is part of Israel's policy of maintaining illiteracy among the Palestinian population," he said.
Kadar said a number of marches are expected Monday in protest of Israel's policies and the difficulties faced by the Palestinian population, especially due to the construction of the security fence.
