Palestinian Children to Celebrate Back to their Schools
With hope and happiness, 1.2 million Palestinian children in Occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) started their new school year 2021/2021 on Sunday 15 August. Many children have been waiting for returning to schools after months of discontinuing face-to face classes during COVID-19.
Many Palestinian children were unable to enjoy their right to education during COVID-19 since there 35% of Palestinian household having access to home computer.
Children in Gaza were unable to continue their last school year due to the Israeli escalation in May. 180,000 children in Gaza will return to their damaged schools that need to be reconstructed and maintained since there is no reconstruction materials allowed to enter Gaza.
The Palestinian children do not only face the violation of their right to education, but their right to protection is also being violated. Since the beginning of 2021, a total of 79 Palestinian children have been reported killed and 1,269 injured in oPt , 68 children among them were killed in the Gaza Strip during the Israeli recent escalation and the other 11 children were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank including East Jerusalem.
In many parts of West Bank specially in area “C” which is under Israeli control, Palestinian children are exposed to Israeli Settlers ‘s violence and there are some schools that face threats of demolition. Since the beginning of the year, 24 Palestinian children (5 girls and, 19 boys) have also been injured by settlers. As an occupying power, Israel has a legal duty to protect children and teachers from harassment and violence by settlers on their way to and from school – and in any event. All parties must commit to the protection of children in accordance with international law no matter where they are.
As of the end of June, there are 225 Palestinian children detained in Israeli detention facilities. On 29 July, Israeli Forces raided the offices of Defence for Children International – Palestine. They confiscated equipment, including computers and hard drives from.
Through its program of “Child Sponsorship”, ActionAid Palestine works in partnership in with the Palestinian ministry of education and other local partners to support online education, enhance the infrastructure of Palestinian schools in the governorate of Hebron . AAP also supports recreational relief-psychological support activities to improve the welfare of children and educational environmental. AAP works in Gaza with local partners to provide children and their mothers with psychological -social support.
Background Information
ActionAid in Palestine (AAP) is a part of global federation working for social justice and gender equality and eradicate poverty in more than 45 countries around the world. AAP started its work in Palestine in 2007 to strengthen the resilience of Palestinian People as ActionAid believes that they should enjoy their rights to freedom, justice and self-determination. AAP implements a number of programs through its engagement with communities and women and youth groups seeking to empower them and enhance their influential civil and political participation to understand their rights and undertake collective activism to address the protracted rights violations resulting from the prolonged occupation of Palestine. AAP works simultaneously to enhance their leadership capacity and knowledge to practice their citizenship in holding authorities and other duty bearers to account.
For more information, please contact
Riham Jafari
Coordinator of Advocacy and Communication in Palestine
Mobile:
+972 (0) 595242890
Office:
+972 (0) (2) 22 13 137
Email: