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Israeli Settlers Terrorize Palestinian Schoolchildren
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Who saves these children from the daily terror they face on their way to school?
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TUBA
VILLAGE, West Bank, November 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) -
They are aged 6 to 12, all their goal every morning is simply to make it
to school. This is taken for granted all over the globe. But in the
occupied Palestinian territories - with Israel’s separation wall and
out-of-control settlers - the experience is a clear embodiment of
“terror”.
They
are five Palestinian children living in the southern hills of Al-Khalil
(Hebron). Their school bus is a donkey, their route a tortuous hour-long
trek through the steep, rocky hillsides.
Their
daily school run has become a nightmare because of the ritual harassment
of Jewish settlers, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
As
the crow flies, it is two kilometers (1.2 miles) from Tuba village where
the children live, to their school in Al-Tuwani village at the
southernmost tip of the West Bank.
The
most direct route to school, however, is a dirt track which runs between
the Jewish settlement of Maon and the neighboring wildcat outpost of
Havat Maon -- a fact which has aroused the ire of local settlers.
Armed
with sticks and stones and accompanied by a pack of dogs, the settlers
have undertaken a campaign of violent intimidation against the five
children and any adults who walk with them, according to AFP.
“When
we walked to school, the settlers' dogs attacked us and they threw
stones, so now we have to go the long way round,” 12-year-old Safiya
Jundiya told AFP.
Frightened
by the repeated incidents of verbal and physical abuse, the children say
they would rather endure the 10-kilometer (six mile) donkey ride across
the rocky hillsides than face the settlers.
Pacifists
Beaten
Just
over a month ago, Safiya's cousin, seven-year-old Miriam Jundiya, a tiny
figure wearing jeans and a pale grey headscarf, was admitted to hospital
after an adult settler hit her round the head with a stick, her family
said.
At
the time, the group was being escorted by two US peace activists when
they were ambushed by a group of masked settlers armed with sticks,
chains and rocks who emerged from the woods around the outpost.
The
children fled, but the two activists, members of an ecumenical pacifist
movement called the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT), were badly beaten,
with one sustaining a punctured lung and the other a broken arm.
Just
over a week later, another group of peace activists were ambushed by
settlers, who broke the arm of an Italian national and stole his video
camera.
No
Arrests
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Israeli
settlers are not only heavily armed, but also enjoy the protection
of the occupation army
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Israeli
police, who are responsible for all settler-related issues, were
notified and even given pictures of the assailants, but no one has been
arrested.
Since
then, the children have resorted to the arduous mountain route which
takes them eight kilometers (five miles) out of their way simply to
ensure they are not spotted by the settlers.
The
day after a debate on the issue at the Israeli parliamentary committee
last week, the children once again tried to use the short route, having
received official permission to cross from the army's district office
for coordination with the Palestinians (DCO).
But
as they walked up the dusty path around 7:30 am, accompanied by the
mayor of Al-Tuwani village, their way was once again blocked by the
settlers, an AFP correspondent witnessed.
Sheer
Terror
A
look of sheer terror flashed across each of their faces as they caught
sight of a group of settlers watching them from the edge of the forest,
two powerful-looking Doberman Pinschers milling around their legs.
As
the mayor ushered them forward towards the path, Safiya's 10-year-old
brother, Tareq, started to cry.
“What
are you talking about - school, school, school?” a settler shouted
mockingly. “Stop talking this rubbish about school!”
Several
Israeli soldiers including a representative of the DCO soon arrived at
the scene and following a heated argument with the settlers, suddenly
decided the previously-authorized crossing should not go ahead, unless
the children agreed to be accompanied by soldiers.
But,
having missed well over an hour of the four-hour school day, the
children decided to abandon the mission and return back to Tuba.
DCO
spokesman Assaf Adulay said the problem occurred because “the regular
group of soldiers who accompany the children did not turn up on time
because of an unfortunate mistake”.
“The
children have never been attacked while the soldiers were escorting
them. Nothing like that has ever happened,” Adulay said, while
admitting the soldiers and police were “aware of the problem” with
the settlers.
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