NABLUS, West Bank, (PNA/Xinhua) — Every morning, eight-year-old Palestinian girl Beesan Awad, who sits on a wheel chair, is anxious on the way to school for fear that Israeli soldiers might stop or even “attack” them.
“Israeli army’s heavy training in the area and the demolition of our homes make us so scared,” said the girl. “We are not afraid of the (nearby Israeli) settlement, but we are afraid of the settlers and soldiers who may come and attack us.”
Mus’ab, 12 years old, said that Israeli soldiers sometimes forced the Palestinian school children to get off the school bus while they are on their way to school. “We arrive at our school late and when we get back home, it would be already dark.”
Each morning, Fatima would push her sister Beesan’s wheel chair to the bus station and wait there. The sisters rely on the school bus to reach school, which is about four kilometers away from their home in al-Maleh area in the Jordan Valley.
However, “the way to school is full of risk, especially when the bus doesn’t come to the station on time,” said Beesan.
As the largest part of the West Bank, the Jordan Valley was classified by Oslo peace accords in 1993 as area (C), which is under full Israeli security and administrative control.
In fear of potential conflicts between the Palestinians and Israel settlers, many Palestinian families prefer not to send their children to schools. While other students do attend school as usual, they often do not have enough time for homework, for they spend too much time walking back home and don’t have access to electricity in the evening.
Mohamed Zakarneh, a director in the Palestinian ministry of education, said “there are 290 schoolchildren who walk at least four kilometers to reach their schools.”
“There is only one school bus, which was donated by the Palestinian (National) Authority. The school bus is for all the schoolchildren of the Jordan Valley, therefore we get up very early in the morning and we get back from school very late in the evening,” said Muhanad, a 12-year-old boy.
Aaref Daraghmeh, mayor of al-Maleh, told Xinhua that schoolchildren living in the area “are suffering a lot, and many of our children usually stay at home, as their parents prefer to keep them at home to avoid the long school journey of suffering and fear.”
Zakarneh noted that his ministry had proposed building up more schools in the area and urged donor countries to finance such programs. However, these proposals were ignored, since the Jordan Valley as area (C) is under full Israeli army control.