The following article was submitted by Kimendhri Pillay, a South African Ecumenical Accompanier based in Tulkarem.

Introduction

The United Nations has developed various resolutions addressing the needs of every child, including the right to education. During my stay as an EA in Tulkarem, I have heard and witnessed numerous accounts of children's rights being violated on a daily basis as a direct result of the occupation. This article looks at the horrific effects of the occupation on school children, looking at the constant obstacles that face children and their families.

In October 2002, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 27/2, entitled: "A world fit for children". This resolution aimed to "give every child a better future". This resolution claims that progress had been made since the commitment made for children 11 years previously at the World Summit for Children. Sadly this has never translated into a reality for Palestinian children. The lives of Palestinian children continue to deteriorate.

A World Fit for Children

According to "A world fit for children", some of the principles and objectives to be achieved are:

• Principle 5: Educate every child, giving them access to primary education.
• Principle 6: Children must be protected against acts of violence, abuse, exploitation and discrimination.
• Principle 7: Children should be protected from the horrors of armed conflict. Children under foreign occupation must be protected, in accordance with the provisions of international humanitarian law.

All the above principles have been violated in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Checkpoints and their effects on children side-lined

Much international attention was given to the recent teachers strike; however the impact of checkpoints on access to education is comparatively ignored. Teachers around the West Bank were on strike at the beginning of the school year, due to salaries that had not been paid for 7 months. Is the blame rightfully placed on the funding cutbacks due to the elected Hamas led government and on teachers? Israel as the occupying power is required to provide free education for all school children. Both the international community and the occupying power are failing in their duty to school aged children all across the Occupied Palestinian Territories. However, access to schools encompasses more than just the recent closures, which have been at the top of the media agenda locally. Even local Palestinian media are missing the main point. A recent article by Mohammed Daraghmeh: "Palestinian strike imperils school year", speaks in great length about how the teachers strike is detrimental to the education of children. He further states that parents are unsure whether to blame the Hamas led government or the teachers. The focus on how checkpoints, acts of violence and the occupation in general add to the burden of children travelling to and from school, have been sidelined by the focus on the strike.

There are many examples of random acts of violence carried out on children at checkpoints. For instance, the soldier that threatened to hit a child; the soldier that mentioned he is ordered to shoot at any Palestinian that does not follow orders of security; the soldier that shoots at a vehicle while there are child onlookers in the nearby vehicles; the soldier that rudely screams out orders to humiliate the parents of these children in their presence, the soldier that instructs men to lift up their clothes before their families and strangers. Travelling through a checkpoint each day, being forced to open your school bag for the soldier, and witnessing violence clearly affects the emotional health and mental state of children, leading to nightmares, bed-wetting, and lack of concentration at school.

Consequences of the Occupier not providing access to Education

By not addressing the salary cut of Palestinian public servants, especially teachers and furthermore not providing alternative means of education for Palestinian children, the following problems have arisen, to name just a few:

1. Parents changing their child/ children from public school to a private school which they cannot necessarily comfortably afford
2. Children using escapisms such as lengthy hours of playing with their friends in the street and lengthy hours of television
3. Children assisting parents in the family business or children working themselves as vendors
4. An increase in conflict with bored children amongst their siblings

The UN World Health Assembly Adopt Resolutions for school children

The World Health Assembly reported, "…Palestinians attach great importance to education." Is the poor access to education of Palestinian children then a strategy of the occupiers to make access to education a struggle for the Palestinians who according to the WHO report have proven to value education? WHO further reports that "85% of those between 5 and 17 years of age attend schools. This percentage has dropped by more than 50% in the past seven months because of closures, communication disruption…" World Health Organisation (WHO) - 54th World Health Assembly Adopted 16 May 2001, pg 5.

Conclusion

Rahman, a Muslim from New Zealand expresses that, "Until the Palestinian people have a viable country that provides them with access to employment and a decent standard of living, adequate health care, education and freedom of movement, they have little hope for the future". The picture of Palestinian children thus far appears bleak unless all Palestinian voices are heard and international pressure is strongly expressed with the result of a positive change by the occupiers.

References:

World Health Organisation, “Health conditions of, and assistance to, the Arab population in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine,” 54th World Heath Assembly, A54/INF.DOC./7, 16 May 2001.

Anjum Rahman, “The Israel-Palestine Problem: The Perspective of a New Zealand Muslim", Aotearoa Ethnic Network Journal 1:1 (July 2006).

Adam Hanieh, "Canadian Union Takes Step Against Israeli Apartheid," Z Magazine, 10 June 2006.

United Nations General Assembly, "A World Fit for Children," Adopted by resolution S-27/2, 10 May 2002.

Mohammed Daraghmeh, “Palestinian strike imperils school year,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 22 October 2006.

The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) was launched in August 2002. Ecumenical accompaniers monitor and report violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, support acts of non-violent resistance alongside local Christian and Muslim Palestinians and Israeli peace activists, offer protection through non-violent presence, engage in public policy advocacy, and stand in solidarity with the churches and all those struggling against the occupation. The programme is coordinated by the World Council of Churches.

The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works co-operatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by General Secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist Church in Kenya.

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