Nabi Samuel school does not have the appearance of a normal school but rather looks like a prison wrapped with barbed wire and iron bars. The village of Nabi Samuel lies northwest of Jerusalem and most of its inhabitants were forcibly displaced in 1967. The village was later separated by the Apartheid Wall in 2011 which restricted its residents’ freedom of movement.
A room and a shed
Only 15 students attend the school every morning it has no buildings nor classrooms just one room and a shed which was added recently.
Nawal Barakat the chairperson of a women society in Nabi Samuel said that the educational sector in the village is considered a problem pointing out that 40 students leave their homes every day to reach schools in other villages with great difficulty.
“The school includes a room and a container for 15 students from the first to the third grade which means that the room is divided into three parts” she added.
Barakat pointed out in a statement to Quds Press that the school is next to an Israeli settlement which is a source of constant fear and worry over the safety of children despite the barbed wire and iron bars.
“The settlement turns into a nightclub each night especially during Jewish holidays. This is not acceptable by the people of the village and sometimes clashes erupt because of that” she continued.
Big suffering
Nabi Samuel village sprawling over 4500 dunums has a population of 250 people only. The educational sector is not the only problem there but also health economic and service sectors. The Palestinian Authority is not able to solve such problems while the Israeli occupation continues to harass its population.
Inhabitants of Nabi Samuel village experience difficulty each time they pass through Israeli checkpoints. They have to go through military checkpoints when they enter or exit the village.
Barakat pointed out that workers suffer greatly on checkpoints since there are no places to work in the village. Every time the residents tried to establish a business it would be destroyed by Israeli bulldozers under the pretext of building without a permit.
Students suffer on daily basis due to the absence of transportation in addition to humiliating search at the Israeli road barriers and some of them leave school due to such practices.
The village contains one of the most important historic landmarks in the vicinity of Jerusalem namely the mosque of Nabi Samuel. Unfortunately the ground floor of the mosque was turned into a synagogue for Jewish settlers to come and practice their rituals.
