Ayed Zaid the principal of Umm Al-Rihan School which is located south of the West Bank City of Jenin and the rest of the staff every day walk with the students along the main settler road that leads to the school to protect them from traffic accidents.
The job of Ayed Zaid and his colleagues is not limited to school time; the school’s dangerous location requires that they ensure the safety of students when they arrive in the morning and when they return to their homes in the afternoon.
Umm Al-Rihan School is located on a settler road and has no exclusive entrance which makes it highly risky for the students to move alone. The school is part of the southern areas of Jenin which have been placed behind the separation wall in the West Bank.
Umm Al-Rihan School is surrounded by the Israeli settlements of Shaked Hinanit and Tal Menashe which were built illegally on Palestinian lands in Umm Al-Rihan and other neighboring villages.
Education behind the wall
Ayed Zaid told the PIC reporter that there are many challenges facing education in the Palestinian schools located behind the separation wall.
For example he explained the students of neighboring villages and towns arrive at Umm Al-Rihan School after passing through Umm Al-Rihan checkpoint. Israeli soldiers sometimes close the checkpoint or delay opening it causing students to arrive late to school.
Zaid added that Umm Al-Rihan and the adjacent areas are constantly targeted by Israeli settlement schemes calling for providing the school with all the necessary facilities and requirements to enable it to overcome the challenges it faces.
Palestinian citizen Akram Al-Khatib said that going to school for the students coming from the nearby Dhaher Al-Malih village is a journey of suffering as they have to pass through Umm Al-Rihan checkpoint on their way to school.
The checkpoint is opened twice: in the morning and afternoon he pointed out. All students have to arrive at the same time at the checkpoint in the morning and those who finish their classes early have to wait for long hours until the checkpoint is opened again.
Endless suffering
Al-Khatib said that the situation becomes more difficult on the days of exams which requires the intervention of the Palestinian Civil Liaison to ensure that students arrive to their schools safe and on time.
He stressed the need to build a school in each residential community in the areas behind the separation wall regardless of their small population. He believes that it should be borne in mind that each area is an example of “resilience” and “defiance” where residents must be fully supported.
Director of Education in Jenin Salam Al-Taher expressed to the PIC reporter how complicated the issue of Palestinian schools behind the separation wall is. She said that the suffering is endless as the Israeli occupation keeps violating the standards of safe education under international law.
She noted that school dropout rates especially among females are increasing in the areas behind the wall due to the risks children face while passing through military checkpoints daily as they head to school.
