How to fight the demolition of a West Bank school? Start the year early


Why Khan al-Ahmar’s eco-friendly school cut short the summer break and started the school year early.

Palestinian leaders welcome the schoolchildren of Khan al-Ahmar on the first day of the school year, a month and a half early to stop the demolition of the village, July 16, 2018

Oren Ziv reports in +972:

Dozens of schoolchildren welcomed the new school year in the West Bank hamlet of Khan al-Ahmar Monday morning, a month and a half before it officially starts, in an attempt to stop the impending demolition of the entire village.

Ever since Israel announced its intention to destroy Khan al-Ahmar and evict its residents, the village’s eco-school, which was built out of tires and mud with funding from an Italian NGO, has become the focal point of the demolition. After the High Court of Justice issued an injunction against the demolition last week, the state asked the court to exclude the school from its ruling, so it could demolish it and prevent the school year from starting early.

The Palestinian school year is officially set to begin on September 1st. The Palestinian Authority, however, had hoped to push back the start date, making it increasingly difficult for Israel to justify demolishing the school while the school year was already in session. Both sides understand the power of the school, which has turned Khan al-Ahmar into such a pressing political and diplomatic issue.

The impending destruction and displacement of Khan al-Ahmar, one of dozen Bedouin villages located in the E1 area between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, has been called a war crime by rights groups like B’Tselem and condemned by various foreign governments. In the past, pressure by American and European diplomats succeeding in staving off demolitions that seemed imminent. Ever since Israeli High Court gave its go-ahead for the village’s destruction in late May, Khan al-Ahmar has become a site of frenzied activity, including protests, press conferences, and Israeli and international activists and journalists driving up and down the unpaved road that leads to the village.

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