"School Uniform" in Front of the Tank

A stark example reflecting one aspect of what is happening in the occupied West Bank by the occupation authorities, which sponsor and provide military, financial, and political support for the daily increase in settler attacks across the occupied territories, which have resulted in the displacement of more than 90 communities, and the martyrdom of more than 38 individuals, becoming 40 as of this morning, with the attack on the village of Al-Mughayyir, and the martyrdom of two and the injury of many by settler bullets in the village, east of Ramallah, and also the demolition of Al-Maleh school in the Jordan Valley. But the model discussed in this article is what is happening in another area, Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, specifically in Umm Al-Khair, the small village east of Yatta, where the villagers (516 citizens) live in catastrophic conditions in every sense of the word, due to direct and continuous targeting by settler gangs, with the protection, support, and cover of the occupation army.

In addition to the successive attacks aimed at displacing the villagers by settlers, as part of organized and repeated attacks on the residents, the execution of the young human rights activist, Ouda Al-Hathaleen, was documented, after one of the settlers (named Yanoun Levi), whose name and appearance are well known to the people in the area, and who is one of the most prominent settlers responsible for terrorizing and attacking the village and neighboring villages, pointed his weapon at the young man and fired directly into his chest from a short distance, leading to his martyrdom. This is part of a series of multi-faceted attacks: land confiscation, placement of caravans, establishment of settlement outposts, and providing them with water and electricity.

But today, the horrific scene is also different from the previous forms, as over the past few days, school students in the village have been prevented from reaching their schools. 51 male and female students were unable to attend and sit at their desks, due to settlers blocking the roads with barbed wire, placed over long distances to form an extended barrier preventing students from passing. These children are innocent, except that they carry school bags, notebooks, rulers, and pens on their shoulders! They just want to have an opportunity for education, and to look to the future away from fence openings and gun muzzles. Today, they also organized a (peaceful) sit-in to express their feelings as children who have been deprived of going to school over the past days, after the return of in-person learning. The response of the heavily armed soldiers was nothing but firing grenades and bullets. Military armored vehicles, helmets, and automatic firearms against a handful of children who came to say: it is our right to learn in a safe and stable environment without terror or fear, sometimes with police dogs, and other times with settler rampages, then attacking the school and militarily closing off the area with all manifestations. The occupation seeks to prevent education in the area, and fundamentally prevent the elements of life there.

They brought more tanks and military forces against the blue and white "school uniform" of girls no older than 10 years old, who are in elementary school. A large crowd, automatic rifles, and tear gas against the students of Umm Al-Khair. What danger do young students of this age pose to a heavily armed army that protects settlers, and gives the green light for continuous attacks and assaults on the village and other surrounding villages? And has the school uniform become a danger to the security of the area? Or is it an all-out war as part of ethnic cleansing policies to erase the Palestinian presence, and education is one of the targeted sectors like health, agriculture, and others? Policies of ignorance are perhaps a prelude to displacement, and emptying the area of its inhabitants after pressure, to change curricula, bomb schools, and other practices and measures. What is happening to prevent students from reaching their schools? And what civilized democratic world accepts to remain silent about these attacks? Masafer Yatta is one of the areas planned for displacement, and the surrounding outposts (Karmel and other outposts and settlements) do not wish well for Umm Al-Khair, nor for the students and people of Umm Al-Khair. In reality, they do not want any Palestinian presence there at all.

"Education is a right for all," this is the slogan of international organizations, human rights principles, and international laws that everyone boasts about. Today, this slogan faces a challenge at Umm Al-Khair school, whose students have the right to receive lessons away from tank tracks and the sounds of bombs and bullets. Umm Al-Khair's message today from under the barbed wire, in the voices of the students: We want legal and moral protection for our right to education. This is the responsibility of the United Nations and international institutions, and this is what everyone awaits, even if after a while.