A leading Israeli human rights body has said that dozens of children are losing their right to an education after Israel demolished an EU-funded school in the West Bank on Sunday.
Speaking to The National, B’Tselem spokeswoman Dror Sadot called on the international community to intervene, saying it was the “only way Israel will stop violating human rights”.
The school, in the village of Jubbet Adh Dhib near Bethlehem, was deemed hazardous by a district court in March.
Its demolition sparked protests on Sunday that saw Palestinians hurl rocks at Israeli forces who fired tear gas in response.
A trailer and classrooms constructed of tin sheeting were emptied before the demolition.
COGAT, the Israeli Defence Ministry body that oversees civilian affairs in the occupied territories, imposed a two-month deadline in March to vacate the premises following an order by a Jerusalem court.
The EU condemned the demolition, with its external affairs spokesman Peter Stano saying Israel's actions would affect 81 children and that “demolitions are illegal under international law” in a tweet on Sunday.
The tweet was shared by representatives from European countries including Germany and the Netherlands in Ramallah.
The Palestinian Education Ministry said the move was a “heinous crime” that fits a wider pattern of damaging the “Palestinian educational sector, targeting students, teachers and educational institutions”.
Regavim, an Israeli organisation that describes itself on Twitter as “a social movement established to promote a Zionist agenda for the State of Israel and to protect its resources”, praised the demolition, saying in a tweet on Sunday that “it’s amazing how so many people fall prey to the Palestinian propaganda machine”.
“It is the [Palestinian Authority] that is cynically using children to advance their political ploy,” it added.
Ms Sadot said the move by Israeli authorities was part of what her organisation views as a wider campaign to “to basically expel dozens of communities from Area C”.
Area C, which covers 60 per cent of the region, falls under the control of Israeli authorities.
“[Israel does] this by a lot of means,” Ms Sadot said. “One is demolitions, whether it’s homes, public buildings or water infrastructure. Even if it’s not a foreign-funded school, we are seeing such actions every day.”
Construction is a long-standing source of contention in the West Bank.
Israel rarely grants construction permits to Palestinians. This has led to a proliferation of illegal buildings, which Israel often demolishes.
The EU and its member states are the largest donors to Palestinians. The website of its diplomatic service said that “last year saw a total of 954 structures demolished or seized by occupation authorities throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem — the highest number recorded since 2016".
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 war. The region is home to almost three million Palestinians. About 475,000 Jewish settlers also live there in state-approved settlements that are considered illegal under international law.
In January, a group of UN experts called for action to stop Israel's “systematic and deliberate” demolition of Palestinian structures.
England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Final scores
18 under: Tyrrell Hatton (ENG)
- 14: Jason Scrivener (AUS)
-13: Rory McIlroy (NIR)
-12: Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP)
-11: David Lipsky (USA), Marc Warren (SCO)
-10: Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Chris Paisley (ENG), Matt Wallace (ENG), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR)
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Moonfall
Director: Rolan Emmerich
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry
Rating: 3/5
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
UAE SQUAD
UAE team
1. Chris Jones-Griffiths 2. Gio Fourie 3. Craig Nutt 4. Daniel Perry 5. Isaac Porter 6. Matt Mills 7. Hamish Anderson 8. Jaen Botes 9. Barry Dwyer 10. Luke Stevenson (captain) 11. Sean Carey 12. Andrew Powell 13. Saki Naisau 14. Thinus Steyn 15. Matt Richards
Replacements
16. Lukas Waddington 17. Murray Reason 18. Ahmed Moosa 19. Stephen Ferguson 20. Sean Stevens 21. Ed Armitage 22. Kini Natuna 23. Majid Al Balooshi
