Tell the Israeli Prime Minister: Ensure Safe Passage for Palestinian School Children!

WHAT'S THE STORY HERE?

  • For more than ten years Palestinian children have been exposed to ethnically-motivated violence on their way to school
  • Israeli extremists from nearby illegal outpost are the suspects
  • Israeli security forces often ignore the attacks (see documentation below)
  • Policy makers are indifferent to this failure
  • This is a campaign of the Israeli human rights organization Rabbis for Human Rights

YOU CAN HELP END THIS DISGRACE! SEND A LETTER TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU!

Please fill in your information on the right and click “start writing” to send a letter now.

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VIDEO TESTIMONIALS (MORE COMING SOON) :

22 year old Ali's testimony (now a university student)


Sixteen year old Randa's testimony:
Fourteen year old Hamza's testimony:

Fourteen year old Mohammad's testimony

Khader- Head Teacher at the Tuwani school testimony:

Extended overview with additional children's testimonies:

Footage of soldiers standing idly by, not taking action to prevent violence against Palestinians by extremist settlers:


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The South Hebron Hills are home to some of the most vulnerable Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Poverty levels are high, and many communities have been denied access to basic services including clean water, sewage and electricity. Children from the small villages of Tuba and Maghiyir al Abeed attend school at the nearby village Tuwani. However, the road to the school — forbidden for Palestinians except for the schoolchildren —  traverses closely to the illegal Israeli outpost "Havat Maon," known for harboring a number of ideologically extreme and sometimes violent Israeli settlers. For over ten years these extremists have physically attacked and verbally intimidated these schoolchildren as they attempted to walk to school in neighboring Tuwani.  

Although the state has clearly acknowledged the ongoing danger to the children, it has refused to act against the criminal perpetrators. No arrests, to our knowledge, have ever been made despite clear documentation of the abuse.  In a related case, Rabbis for Human Rights filed a High Court petition in January of 2018 demanding this road be made safely accessible to the local Palestinian communities.

Recognizing the threat and following the attack of  international volunteers escorting the children,  the Knesset's Special Committee for the Rights of the Child recommended the  army accompany the students on their walk every day.

This escort often arrives late, does not accompany the children for the full agreed upon distance,  or simply does not show at all. As a result, the children are forced to choose between their education or their safety.

Photo: Operation Dove

During the first semester of the 2016/2017 school year:

  • 25% of the time the escort arrived late to accompany the students to school
  • 37% of the time the escort arrived late to accompany the students back home
  • 73% of the time the escort did not accompany the students for the entire agreed upon distance
  • In four instances the escort failed to arrive completely
  • In three instances children experienced violent attacks by extremists
  • In one instance, the soldiers themselves threw stones towards the children & carried a slingshot

[Data from Operation Dove activist collective. Additional information can be found here.]



All children have the right to an education free from fear.  We must not allow these violent extremists to speak for us or for Judaism!

Videos filmed & edited by Eskander Hilwi. Graphic Design for ad banner by Lee & Tamar Graphic Design Studio.        

This campaign is a produced by Rabbis for Human Rights and Operation Dove.

Funded by the European Union

This campaign was created with the financial support of the European Union.

Its contents are the sole responsibility of RHR  and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union


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