Ramallah - August 18, 2023: Minister Moayed Shaaban, the head of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, said that within one year, the Israeli occupying state demolished 3 schools, in flagrant violation of the most fundamental human rights that guarantee the right to education and the assurance of a healthy and sound childhood, especially for children living under occupation. He also pointed out that the students of these schools do not enjoy these rights and are forced to live in a difficult and ambiguous reality regarding their future education. It is worth mentioning that the upcoming school year is about to commence at the end of this month. Mr Shaaban also emphasized that the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission is legally following up on the files of these schools with the aim of reconstructing them. This effort is especially directed at the Jubb Al-Dib School in Bethlehem Governorate and the mixed elementary school in Masafer Yatta, south of the Hebron Governorate.
Mr Shaaban also added that the message conveyed by the Israeli occupying power does not stop at the limits of its assault on the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people. Rather, it also targets the stance taken by the international organizations and countries of the world that oppose, condemn, and criminalize the occupation’s actions. He also pointed to the Israeli occupation's intention to carry out demolitions, particularly the ones directed at schools, following each visit of solidarity from the world’s ambassadors and consuls to these regions, in a blatant disregard for all human, political, and moral principles that govern the world.
Mr Shaaban emphasised that the fate of more than 1,000 male and female students across more than 53 Palestinian schools, which are threatened with demolition at any moment, is still uncertain. This situation is made the more precarious by the Israeli occupation’s discriminatory planning policy rooted in racial bias that grants unlimited building permits for the colonizers and prevents Palestinians from carrying on with their normal life in these areas, urging the international community to assume its responsibilities in protecting the future of Palestinian children.
Finally he expressed his appreciation today of the European Union’s and the United Kingdom’s condemnation of the demolition of the Ein Samia School, situated east of Ramallah, by the Israeli occupying forces. This stance called for preserving the right of Palestinian children to education. Mr Shaaban urged the international community to play a more assertive role in confronting the measures of the occupying power aimed at eliminating the Palestinian presence in areas classified “C”.