Join in the #DefendOurSchools call for action to stop the imminent demolition of Khirbet Um Qussa School in Masafer Yatta. The looming demolition of Khirbet Um Qussa School sounds yet another the alarm bell about the demolition of several other schools in Masafer Yatta and Israel’s ethnic cleansing plans for at least eight villages in the region.
On Sunday, June 18, 2023, the primary school of Khirbet Um Qussa received a demolition order from the so-called Israeli Civil Administration (ICA). June 21st is the date given to Palestinians to appeal against the demolition order. The legal team defending the school submitted a request to ICA to cancel the demolition order. However, the ICA, an entity to administer and enact Israeli apartheid practices will most likely dismiss the lawyers’ request. Appealing to Israeli courts will be the last resort to stop the demolition of the school. Previous experiences to protect other schools show appealing to Israeli courts is a desperate attempt at gaining time. Israeli courts are created for the sole aim of bureaucratizing and administering Israeli ethnic cleansing and apartheid.
Let’s mobilize and organize to build the necessary political pressure to defend Um Qussa school and end Israel’s ethnic cleansing!
The school of Khirbet Um Qussa started as a group of tents through popular efforts and donations in 2020. The school now consists of eight classrooms hosting about 60 students-between the first and fourth grades- from Um Qussa and the neighboring communities of Al-Makhroub and Al-Obaidiya.
Khirbet Om Qussa School received its first demolition order in June 2021, which gave the Israeli authorities the green light to demolish the school within 96 hours. The order did not enter into force thanks to popular protests and solidarity with the community. A few months later, the school received another order to stop construction work although the construction of the school was already completed.
Before the construction of the school, the children used to walk eight kilometers to and from the school of Az-Zwaidan, a precarious journey in the wilderness where violent illegal Israeli settlers threaten the safety of the children.
The existence of the school since 2020 has been crucial to ensure that students are able to receive adequate education without putting their lives at risk. Moreover, the school represents an effective tool to strengthen the steadfastness of the families living in the three communities benefiting from the school to stay on their land and undermine Israeli illegal settlement expansion.
If the demolition of the Khirbet Um Qussa School takes place, it will be the third school demolished in less than a year. Last month on May 7th, Israeli bulldozers demolished the school of Jib Al-Theeb in the district of Bethlehem. A few months before, on November 23rd, the Israeli authorities razed As-Sfai School in Masafer Yatta to the ground.
Defending Khirbet Um Qussa School from the looming Israeli demolition will also protect the five other schools threatened by Israeli demolition in Masafer Yatta, and several other schools in the Jordan Valley and beyond.
We urge you to #DefendOurSchools as part of the Right to Education initiative, launched by popular committees and Palestinian civil society organizations in 2020 in solidarity with the relentless steadfastness of Palestinians facing Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing practices and policies:
- Write to your foreign ministry and consulate in Palestine and urge them to take action to:
- To use their diplomatic ties and pressure Israeli authorities to revoke the demolition order of the school of Um Qussa.
- Publicly denounce the imminent demolition of Khirbet Um Qussa School, and the policy of school demolition at large.
- Support the #DefendOurSchools campaign, a call for solidarity advocates for Palestinian schools threatened with demolition. Find out more about the campaign here.
- Join the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. Israeli academic and cultural institutions are deeply complicit in rationalizing and justifying the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the denial of Palestinian rights, including the right to education.
- Join campaigns to hold the multinational corporations that sell the equipment used to demolish Palestinian schools, homes and infrastructure to the Israeli military. JCB, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Volvo, Caterpillar and others are directly profiting from and complicit in Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing.
Please see below a sample letter to be sent to your ministry of foreign affairs, parliament and/or consulates.
Thank you for your solidarity!
Sample letter:
To:
Subject: Stop the demolition of the Khirbet Um Qussa School in Masafer Yatta
Dear Sir/Madam,
We write to you to denounce the imminent Israeli demolition of the school of Khirbet Um Qussa in Masafer Yatta (South Hebron Hills). On Sunday, June 18, 2023, the school received an order from the Israeli Civil Administration (ICA) to demolish the school, under the pretext that it was built without a permit. Israeli authorities systematically deny such permits to Palestinians while granting building permits and subsidies to ever more illegal Jewish-only settlements, as part of Israel’s policy of annexation and apartheid.
The demolition of schools and the larger Israeli efforts to deny Palestinians their right to education are a brutal violation of human rights, Israel’s obligations as an occupying power and a central element of the crime against humanity of apartheid.
The legal team in charge of defending the school submitted a request to the ICA to revoke the order. If the latter rejects the request, the team will appeal in Israeli courts. However, based on previous experiences, both the ICA and Israeli courts are expected to dismiss the appeal and sooner or later enforce the demolition order.
We urge you to ensure that Palestinians’ right to education in Masafer Yatta and beyond is respected by exerting pressure on the Israeli government to respect its legal obligations as an occupying power.
We call on you to take the following steps:
- Use all diplomatic channels to ensure that the Israeli government refrains from the demolition of the School of Khirbet Um Qussa and other threatened schools in Masafer Yatta and Area ‘C’ at large.
- Visit Khirbet Um Qussa, where the demolition of the school is expected to take place, to emphasize your support of Palestinian human right to education.
- Issue a public statement denouncing Israeli policy of school demolition, annexation and apartheid, and in defense of Palestinians’ right to education in Masafer Yatta, the Jordan Valley and throughout Palestine.
The school of Khirbet Um Qussa started as a group of tents through popular efforts and donations in 2020. The school now consists of eight classrooms hosting about 60 students-between the first and fourth grades- from Um Qussa and the neighboring communities of Al-Makhroub and Al-Obaidiya.
Khirbet Om Qussa School received its first demolition order in June 2021, which gave the Israeli authorities the green light to demolish the school within 96 hours. The order did not enter into force thanks to popular protests and solidarity with the community. A few months later, the school received another order to stop construction work although the construction of the school was already completed.
Before the construction of the school, the children used to walk eight kilometers to and from the school of Az-Zwaidan, a precarious journey in the wilderness where violent illegal Israeli settlers threaten the safety of the children.
If the demolition of the Khirbet Um Qussa School takes place, it will be the third school demolished in less than a year. Last month on May 7th, Israeli bulldozers demolished the school of Jib Ath-Theeb in the district of Bethlehem. A few months before, On November 23rd, the Israeli authorities razed As-Sfai School in Masafer Yatta to the ground.
Looking forward to your urgent response,
Best regards,
