Palestine: The education of children at risk - Save The Children Alliance - 2001 Save The Children Alliance, West Bank and Gaza
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Save The Children Alliance
Palestine: The education of children at risk
Save The Children Alliance, West Bank and Gaza
2001Abstract This report investigates the impact of the Al Aqsa intifada on children and children's rights, particularly in relation to access to edcuation. In Palestine education has served as a means to empowerment within the community and has played an important role since 1948. The Palestinian Authority, with help from donor communities, have ensured that educational facilities are accessible to children and that attendance rates and literacy rates are high amongst both girls and boys. This achievement has come under serious threat since the latest outbreak of violence in September 2000. The effects of the Israelis closures has restricted access to schools, to urgent medical services, and has increased levels of family poverty. Numerous children have been injured or killed in the conflict. The effects of the violence on children include sleeplessness and nightmares, extreme nervousness, exhaustion and diminished attention spans. The report points out that Israel consistently violates the rights of children under international law, for example their right to life, survival and development, their right to protection form injury, freedom form collective punishment amongst others. It concludes with a call on all stakeholders involved to ensure that the rights of children are protected and specifically to the Israeli authorities to refrain from measures that impact negatively on the Palestinian children's access to education.
Contents
Introduction 6
Education in Palestine 7
Donor and community commitment 9
Access to basic education is nearly universal 9
Conflict jeopardizes educational achievements 9
The Social Effects of Closures 10
Restricted access to education 11
Restricted access to urgent medical services 12
Disability 12
Family poverty 12
How do children view the closures? 13
Closure, settlements, confrontations and poverty 14
The effects of violence on children in schools 14
Psychological effects 15
A school in Nablus tries to deal with the conflict 16
Children's Rights 16
A contested rights regime 17
Summary and conclusion 18
Recommendations 19
Notes 25
Appendices
Appendix 1: Links 28Palestine: The education of children at risk
6Palestine: The education of children at risk
Introduction
"I like to come to school, we come to school so that we don't go out [on the
demonstrations]". 11-year old Palestinian boy, Balata Refugee Camp
"Now the children want to learn, although it is difficult for them to
concentrate in this situation because they, like the teachers, are upset,
distracted and tired". Palestinian teacher in Khan Younis, Gaza
This report is drawn from information collected by the International Save the Children Alliance in the West
Bank and Gaza, between October and December 2000. It examines the impact of the current violence on
children and children's rights, particularly their access to education.
Education is the right of all children and is fundamental to a child's healthy development. It is especially
critical in Palestine, with its youthful population and an economy which has a low resource base and heavy
dependence on service industries. Since 1994, the international community has spent over $3 billion in
developing viable structures for a Palestinian state, civil society and economy. More than 10 percent of this
total has been spent on education, one of the successes in the fitful development of Palestinian state
institutions. 1 Basic educational attendance and literacy rates are consistently high for boys and girls in
different geographical areas and income groups. These achievements, however, remain vulnerable to rapid
changes in the political environment, as has been starkly demonstrated by recent events that have led to the
erosion of children's basic rights as recognized in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
7Palestine: The education of children at risk
8Palestine: The education of children at risk
Education in Palestine
Education has served as a means of empowerment within the Palestinian community, and as such has played
a significant role within the community since 1948. Population growth and popular commitment to education
have consistently kept demand for education high. Education systems-run principally by the UNRWA
(United Nations Relief and Works Agency ), the private sector and by successive Egyptian, Jordanian and
Palestinian authorities-have done much to meet this demand.
During the occupation by Israel of the West Bank and Gaza Strip starting in 1967, school expansion did not
keep pace with population growth, and the existing infrastructure deteriorated sharply during the first intifada
when many schools closed. In 1994, following the signing of the Oslo Accords, the new Palestinian
Authority inherited a dilapidated and crowded system with only 12 administrators 2 .
Today there are 865,540 children enrolled in primary or secondary schools, nearly all of them are in schools
run by the Palestinian Authority (PA) or UNRWA (nited Nations Relief and Works Agency) (68 and 29 per
cent respectively). The PA (Palestinian Authority) devotes 13 percent of its budget to education 3 , while
more than half of UNRWA's budget goes to education in its 264 West Bank and Gaza Strip schools 4 .
The PA's Ministry of Education has made significant achievements since 1994, building an additional 125
schools, bringing the total number of PA (Palestinian Authority) schools to 1,289. The practice of running
three daily class shifts in schools has been eliminated, although many schools still run double shifts. The
Ministry has also introduced a unified curriculum in divided territories, replacing the various Egyptian and
Jordanian curricula. With these system improvements, the number of students has increased by 43 percent
since 1994, without any significant increase in class density 5.
Donor and community commitment
Donors have spent $353m on education-specific projects in Palestine since 1994 6 . Many of the
achievements in education would have been unattainable without this support, although there has been a
recent substantial decline in donor commitments to the PA. A World Bank study recently found 78.8 percent
satisfaction with the PA record on educational infrastructure development. The study found slightly less
satisfaction with educational quality, although satisfaction with PA performance was higher in the education
sector than any other 7. Families contribute an average of about $20 a month in education related expenses 8 .
This past summer, a survey of children's attitudes to public spending found that education was their first
priority 9 .
Access to basic education is nearly universal
High literacy rates and near-universal access to basic education are key achievements of UNRWA and the
PA. There are insignificant variations in basic education enrollment (grades 1-10) between poor refugee
camps and better-off cities, although gross enrollment rates in grades 11 and 12 decrease sharply 10 . Children
living at the margins have some special provisions such as a traveling school for Bedouin children, a
Ministry of Education special education program for children with disabilities in 25 schools, and other
inclusion programs in many schools that are negotiated by NGOs and local families. Standardized
achievement tests, however, show Palestinians score lower than other countries in the region, even where
literacy rates are higher 11 .
Conflict jeopardizes educational achievements
With the recent increased intensity of the Palestinian resistance to occupation, and the excessive force 12 with
which the Israeli army has responded, the Ministry of Education and UNRWA initially closed schools for a
9Palestine: The education of children at risk
week. Within this context, they believed that children would be safer at home, although this decision was
quickly reversed based upon past experience. In the previous intifada (1987-1992), schools were closed for
long periods and there was concern that children without structured activities and opportunities for positive
engagement could become more easily directly involved in the conflict. In addition, demonstrations in the Al
Aqsa intifada have become increasingly fatal. Children have been killed at a much higher rate with a much
greater incidence of death by live ammunition. Regular school attendance provides structure and security,
further reinforcing the importance of keeping children in classes (see section further on).
When the schools reopened on 8 October, Israel imposed a wide-ranging internal and external closure of the
Palestinian territories. The closure, and the subsequent violence, has significantly limited the provision of and
access to education in the territories.
10Palestine: The education of children at risk
The Social Effects of Closures
Before the Oslo accords of 1993, the Palestinian territories were under direct Israeli military occupation.
Since 1994, the PA has been granted partial control over fragments of the territories, now controlling 18
percent of the West Bank and 60 percent of the Gaza Strip 13 . These pockets of Palestinian-controlled land
are surrounded by Israeli settlements and Israel-controlled bypass roads that connect the settlements to each
other, to military installations, and to Israel proper. The Palestinian areas were defined to include 93 percent
of the Palestinian population, who are now confined to these land fragments under the security control of the
PA.
To help consolidate its control over the territories, the Israeli government instituted in 1992 a calibrated
system of closure, a system made possible by the bypass roads. Control over these roads allows the Israeli
military to impose closure at will. Closures can be "total" or "partial". They can be "external", totally or
partially banning the movement of people and goods from the West Bank and Gaza Strip to Israel and East
Jerusalem, or they can be "internal", banning movement between the pockets of land controlled by the PA.
Internal closures are sometimes described as a "siege" or a "town arrest". This has been particularly effective
in the narrow Gaza Strip, where closing down intersecting roads completely prevents movement between the
different areas. Between 1994 (when closures began to be systematically implemented) and 1999, Israel
imposed a total of 443 days of closure at a cost to the Palestinians of billions of dollars 14 . Since 8 October
2000, Israel has imposed internal and external closures on all Palestinian territories resulting in, according to
UNSCO, daily internal losses to the Palestinian economy amounting to USD $ 8 million for each working
day during the first two months of the crisis 15 .
Restricted access to education
Closures affect all movement, and affect economic activity and access to services in equal measure.
According to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights such closures are "widespread and
gross violations of Palestinian economic, social and cultural rights." 16 The Ministry of Education estimated
that on 14 November 2000 a total of 20,000 children could not attend school because of closures and fear of
violence 17 . The efforts of teachers and administrators to keep schools open has ensured that this figure
remains relatively low, although the numbers vary significantly and quickly depending on changes in the
political climate.
School attendance drops when there is a high level of violence in a particular area, as parents prefer to keep
their children at home. In areas of chronic violence, or where there is a total or night curfew as in Hebron,
attendance remains low since parents are concerned about the violence associated with the curfew hour 18 .
Some schools have been closed because they are near settlements that generate high levels of violence, like
UNRWA's Al Mazraa school near the Kfar Darom settlement in Gaza 19 . One village in South Gaza,
Al-Mawasi Khan Younis, is completely surrounded by Israeli settlements and the sea, and its PA school has
been closed since the conflict began because no teachers can get to the village as a result of closure and
settler attacks.
Over 200 schools work separate morning and afternoon shifts, most of them in the Gaza Strip and Hebron.
Double shifts serve larger catchment areas, and thus are more vulnerable to closure as well 20 . While closure
limits the access of some students to schools, the more significant problem arises in ensuring that teachers
who live away from schools can get to work. The Ministry of Education has redeployed many teachers to
address these problems (see below, in Qalqiliya and Bethlehem). Nearly 70 percent of UNRWA's Gaza staff
work in education, and since mid-November 2000 some 40 percent of UNRWA's Gaza employees, were
unable to get from home to work because of the frequent closures of the road from South to North Gaza 21 .
Al Khadr village in the Bethlehem region neatly illustrates the chaos caused by this vulnerability to
unexpected closure. The village is under full Palestinian jurisdiction, but its four schools, near the
11Palestine: The education of children at risk
Jerusalem-Hebron road, are under full Israeli jurisdiction. The Israeli army closed the schools in October
2000 after alleging that schoolchildren threw stones at soldiers on the road, an allegation disputed by the
Ministry of Education. Nevertheless, classes were organized in mosques, house courtyards, public buildings
and neighboring schools for Al Khadr's 2,323 schoolchildren. Teachers cut lessons to four hours a day, but
continued to teach, even if it meant staying overnight in the village since they were afraid to return home at
night 22 .
Palestine's 16 educational districts are defined around the borders imposed on the Palestinian territories. But
total closure makes these districts unmanageable, and in Qalqilya, under total closure for much of November
2000, the district education director had to define nine new units where schools, teachers and students could
be coordinated in times of closure. Local teachers were redeployed to meet the teaching needs of schools that
they could get to; volunteers helped make up the short fall in regular staff 23 .
Restricted access to urgent medical services
In 1998, Save the Children made a submission to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (CESCR) in Geneva, drawing attention to the heavy human cost of the closures in 1996-7 24 . Several
sick children had died in ambulances and other vehicles that were not allowed to cross Israeli army
checkpoints. The committee expressed grave concern at this rights violation, and the Israelis subsequently let
ambulances through checkpoints for a few months. However, the Israeli army soon reinstated its original
policy, and has continued to use closures that results in no access for ambulances and vehicles transporting
the sick in need of urgent medical attention. One of the people who died as a result of recent closures was Ala
Osama Hamdan, a ten-year-old girl with appendicitis from a village near Nablus. She died on 13 October
2000 when the Israeli army refused to allow the car carrying her to hospital to cross a checkpoint 25 . The
CESCR (UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) reiterated its condemnation of closures in
a statement on 30 November 2000.
Disability
It is too early to know the number of permanent disabilities that have been caused by the current violence,
although one estimate indicates that some 1500 Palestinians have been disabled 26 . Some NGOs, like Sadaqa
in Khan Younis, Gaza, are trying to run classes at home for children with disabilities, and the Ministry of
Education is looking into a similar project 27 . Children with disabilities were further limited by the closures
that interrupted access to special care centers. The El Bireh Girls Blind School, like most schools in
Palestine, tried to remain open in spite of the current violence, even though it is near a settlement and had
been fired upon. And integration initiatives have been hampered by physical violence; one parent of two
blind boys insisted on removing his children from school if there was any violence in the area 28 .
For children with disabilities, the unpredictable actions of the Israeli army present special hazards. In Khan
Younis, four deaf children from one family were injured when they were engaged in a demonstration, an
activity that many young children see as a form of dangerous play. When the soldiers responded with gunfire
their friends heard the shots and were able to run away 29 .
Family poverty
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics measures poverty by household expenditure. In 2000, poor
individuals were defined as those who spend less than $2.10 a day 30 . Child poverty is extrapolated from
household expenditure data, and the latest comprehensive figures on child poverty are for 1998. That year
saw the beginning of a recovery in the Palestinian economy following two years when closure was frequently
imposed by Israeli authorities after violence broke out over a dispute related to Israeli activities in East
Jerusalem.
12Palestine: The education of children at risk
The 1998 figures show that 24 percent of children in the Palestinian territories were poor. Gaza child poverty
is higher still, at 37.2 percent; and refugee camp child poverty reaches 37.3 percent 31 . Some areas are
particularly poor: in 1997 the overall poverty rates in south Gaza (an area hard hit by closure) reached 51
percent 32 .
Child poverty levels are also directly affected by household employment, with closures directly affecting
work opportunities. According to the same sources, 36.2 percent of children in households headed by an
unemployed person are poor, compared to 22.8 percent of children in households headed by an employed
person 33 . The recent closures have negatively affected the labor market and economy, with consequences
upon household earnings and poverty levels.
According to a November 2000 report on the economic situation in the Palestinian territories, productivity
dropped to 30 percent, and total income losses are $505,010,080. UNSCO reports that daily internal losses to
the Palestinian economy amounted to $8 million for each working day during the first two months of the
crisis. Unemployment increased from 11 percent to 30 percent in the days after the Israeli closure on 8
October 2000, when nearly all of the 125,000 West Bank and Gaza Strip Palestinians who worked in Israel
could no longer get to work. By the end of November, unemployment was estimated at 40 percent. On
average, each Palestinian worker has four dependants, which means that up to one million people in the
Palestinian territories have been affected by the loss in earnings. Adding previously unemployed household
heads and their estimated dependants to the total, the figure for Palestinians in poverty was estimated in
November 2000 at 1,370,000 people, more than 45 percent of the population 34 . The majority of this
population is composed of children.
According to World Bank estimates, poverty rates were predicted to increase by 50 percent between October
and December 2000 35 . UNRWA provided food aid to 90,000 individual refugees before the crisis; it wanted
to extend food aid to 210,000 refugee families (some 1,470,000 persons) as a result of the crisis 36 . The UN
World Food Program (WFP) provides food aid to non-refugee families through the Palestinian Ministry of
Social Affairs. Before the current emergency, WFP (World Food Programme) distributed free food to
104,000 individuals. It provided food aid to additional 17,900 families (125,300 persons) after the crisis
started and intended to extend food aid to additional 51,500 families (360,500) in the new year, subject to
funding 37 .
And while unemployment hits day laborers who previously traveled to work in Israel the hardest, Ministry of
Education officials and teachers have also had their salaries cut by the PA. These cuts in salaries have been
used to provide one-off cash payments of about $150 to wage laborers unable to access their jobs.
Recent reports have given clear indicators of the negative economic effects that closures have had on the
Gaza Strip 38 . The economic impact of closures on villages in the West Bank is more difficult to assess.
Those villages, and the Gaza Strip, have also been affected by the Israeli army's destruction of agricultural
land in order to punish or to create "free-fire" zones around settlements.
How do children view the closures?
The closures have demonstrated the extreme vulnerability of the Palestinian economy. Teachers at one
primary school noted that children are less likely to have paper and pens, or pocket money, and that some of
them are hungry. Interviews with a 9-year old girl in a Gaza refugee camp illustrate how children develop a
political understanding of the economic effects of closure. She explained that the sharp drop in the price of
tomatoes was an indicator of Palestinian economic hardship. She is the only girl in her family, but she could
not go out to play with girls nearby, because of the troubles. Israel controls nearly all of the electricity and
water supplies to the Palestinian territories, and turned the electricity off in the hour before the Ramadan
pre-dawn and evening meal. She was annoyed about this, but more annoyed about the poor coverage of the
violence on Israeli TV. When the refugee camp in which she lives was bombed, Palestinian TV was cut off
13Palestine: The education of children at risk
and she switched to Israeli TV, "They didn't show a thing, it was like nothing was happening," she said.
Closure, settlements, confrontations and poverty
There is no clear demographic data on the children who are involved in the demonstrations that confront
soldiers or settlers. However, UNICEF believes that many of these children are from the poorest groups.
Khan Younis, in South Gaza, is a particularly poor area, and particularly vulnerable to closure 39 . It is near
the large (and largely empty) settlement complex of Gush Katif. There was an alarming rate of child injury in
Khan Younis, with almost 39 percent of all children injured in October-November coming from this area 40 .
14Palestine: The education of children at risk
The effects of violence on children in schools
More than 15 percent of all schools are within 500 metres of an Israeli military post, and these 275 schools
serve 118,662 pupils out of a school-going population of 865,540 in the Palestinian territories 41 . Four of
these schools have been commandeered by the Israeli army in Hebron, five have been bombed, and 11 have
come under fire 42 .
Al-Satr al-Gharbi in Khan Younis is an area where the houses lie between small fields and are mostly made
of corrugated iron sheeting. In the middle of the houses is 'Id al-Agha primary school, a big new concrete
building built with German aid. The school lies a few meters from the fence surrounding the Gush Katif
settlement bloc in South Gaza, and a few hundred metres from an Israeli machine gun post that has fired on
the school and houses many nights since the start of this intifada. It is in one of the most violent areas of the
Palestinian territories, but children have kept coming to school.
For most of November 2000, the percentage of children attending school was in the high nineties, but they
dropped for a few days to the low twenties in the aftermath of a Palestinian attack on an Israeli school bus.
Parents feared for the safety of their children in a school so near the front line 43 . One teacher explained:
"The children really want to learn, and they are tough here." F, an 11-year old boy, lives next to the school.
He sleeps in a room with his five brothers and sisters, and his parents. The violence, impoverishment and
closures mean that he could not visit his grandmother, and he did not have a Ramadan lantern to play with,
and could not go out for Ramadan games at night. But he missed only one day of school since the attacks on
his area began. "School is better, you get an education," he said.
The shooting has an impact on the children. As described by a teacher at the school in early December:
"When I ask the students if they are afraid or worried, they say no … In the last three weeks, we have worked
hard to focus the students on their education, and not over emphasize the events. Now the children want to
learn, although it is still difficult for them to concentrate in this situation because they, like the teachers, are
upset, distracted and tired. But we are lucky here, because we are not in the center of the city where the
funerals are. When the children hear the funerals, they become very upset and can't concentrate, and many of
the boys want to join the funeral. In that situation it is very difficult to continue the education process."
The teacher believes that maybe half of the boys want to demonstrate and throw stones after school, and most
of the girls support them. "But before the [current] intifada it wasn't like this, the children talked about
having our own state, about when we will have elections. Now, after what has happened they think more
about stones and guns. They see this everywhere and some of them, naturally, think this is the answer. We try
to explain that there are other ways to fight for our rights, through our words, and through learning and
teaching others about what is happening, by helping each other."
"They won't go [to the confrontations], because they are young", said another teacher. "[But when they say
they want to get involved] I tell them, 'what's the use in dying, you can fight the occupation by getting a good
education". "I tell them, 'what a waste,'" said another teacher. Both teachers admitted, however, that the
children with a fighting spirit fared better psychologically than the ones that withdrew into fear 44 .
Psychological effects
The effect of this violence on children's mental health is difficult to quantify. In November, the Ministry of
Education said that six school pupils had suffered nervous breakdowns as a result of the violence, but many
more children have suffered a wider range of psychological effects. One Gaza-based NGO stated that 20
percent of Gaza children suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the first intifada, and estimated
that the traumatic effects of this violence will be higher 45 .
By the beginning of November 2000, one study noted that shelling and shooting, much of which happened at
15Palestine: The education of children at risk
night, had damaged 431 houses 46 . A study of 217 calls made to a new hotline for parents and care-givers of
children aged 5-16 reported 41 cases of bedwetting, 19 cases of loss of appetite and vomiting, 43 cases of
sleeplessness, nightmares and fear of the dark, 14 cases of continuous crying, stubbornness, and extreme
nervousness, and 70 cases of children insisting on sleeping in their parents' room 47 . Teachers have noted
exhaustion and diminished attention spans in classrooms 48 .
A school in Nablus tries to deal with the conflict
Balata Boys School is an UNRWA school in a refugee camp, with three shifts, but there have been no
fatalities in the basic school afternoon shift. Rassim Kabi, the head teacher, says he and his staff have tried
hard, in co-ordination with police and political factions, to dissuade children from going out to confrontations
with the Israeli army. "We told the boys 'You're not at the right age [to go out on demonstrations]'".
Mr. Kabi measures the psychological impact of the conflict by observing changes in children's attachment to
conventional childhood pursuits, like toys, sport and computers. He estimated that about 10 percent of the
boys in his school are more interested in the confrontations than in conventional child pursuits, especially
those living near the firing lines. The majority of boys listened to news of the conflict with great interest, but
then returned to childhood pursuits, and remained interested in things appropriate to their age. A smaller
group, maybe 10-25 percent, was full of fear and terror. "At the beginning of the conflict, attendance rates
went down to 76 percent, that's why I say that up to 25 percent were affected by fear. Today the attendance is
96 percent". The school introduced sports sessions and creative activities aimed at self-expression to help
children deal with the conflict 49 .
Some boys from the school were wounded in the conflict. "K" was wounded in the chest and leg when a shell
exploded near him as he went to buy bread for his father. He was treated as a hero when he returned to school
after major surgery, "The boys all crowded round me, they welcomed me back and they were all queuing up
to sit next to me." "N" is 11, and has a record of low educational achievement. He may have been seeking
other routes to achievement when he went to throw stones at Joseph's Tomb, a site in Palestinian-controlled
Nablus that until 6 October 2000 was home to a Jewish religious school and an Israeli army emplacement.
"N" went to throw stones at the soldiers. A Palestinian policeman tried to stop him, but he was hit in the leg
with two bullets. He was out of school for four days, and the boys did not believe he had been hit when he
came back to school at first but eventually acclaimed him as a champion. He said "I like to come to school,
we come to school so that we don't go out [to the demonstrations]". Another boy, "B", is often absent from
school, and does not like to talk about it. "He wouldn't come to school at all, we've tried to encourage him,
we said, 'It's just normal, it's a natural thing to do'" said his mother. "He'd come for a day then be off for four
days. He's afraid of helicopters".
16Palestine: The education of children at risk
Children's Rights
Between 29 September and 31 December 2000, Israeli settlers and soldiers killed 94 school children under
18, including 47 children under the age of 15. More than 2100 children were injured, 80 percent of whom
were hit with live ammunition or with rubber-coated steel bullets. More than 70 percent of child deaths
resulted from shots fired to the upper body 50 .
Israeli interpretation of international law on the use of force in such confrontations illustrates how children's
most basic rights can be violated in the current conflict. The Israeli army does not accept the applicability of
the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials as a standard with
which their Open-Fire Regulations have to comply because they contend that Israeli army soldiers are not
policemen 51 . At the same time, Israel rejects the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which
regulates the actions of an occupying army, with the claim that this Convention only applies to territory
seized from a state-and Palestine was never recognized as a state.
A contested rights regime
Israel contests their responsibilities in upholding the rights regime for Palestinian children. As already noted,
93 percent of the Palestinian population of the Palestinian territories live under the partial jurisdiction or
security control of the PA. Israel claims that this ambiguous and limited Palestinian jurisdiction means that
Israel has no obligation to respect the rights guaranteed to Palestinians and their children by the human rights
treaties it has ratified. These conventions include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
In August 1998, Israel reported to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), which monitors compliance
with the ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), and claimed that it did not have any
obligations under the ICCPR in regard to the occupied territories. The HRC (UN Human Rights Committee)
rejected this claim, and asked Israel to report on the application of the ICCPR in the occupied territories in its
next report 52 . In December 1998, Israel reported to the CESCR, and provided inadequate information on the
application of the treaty to the occupied Palestinian territories. In its concluding observations the CESCR
stated: "The Committee is of the view that the State's obligations under the Covenant apply to all territories
and populations under its effective control. The Committee therefore regrets that the State party was not
prepared to provide adequate information in relation to the occupied territories." 53 It requested Israel to
"provide additional information on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights in the occupied
territories, in order to complete the State party's initial report and thereby ensure full compliance with its
reporting obligations." In December 2000, when Israel released its draft initial report to the CRC (Convention
on the Rights of the Child) monitoring committee, it included no mention of children in the Palestinian
territories, and its responsibilities to them.
In his most recent report, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian occupied
territories set out the human rights treaties and standards that provide the legal framework for his review of
Israel's obligations to respect the rights of Palestinians 54 . The Special Rapporteur confirms that Israel has an
obligation to respect the rights of Palestinians under international humanitarian law, in particular the Fourth
Geneva Convention, and the six principal human rights treaties that Israel has ratified.
The lack of international protection for Palestinian rights has contributed to a situation where children's rights
to go to school, receive medical care, or to live in peace in their homes is contested despite guarantees
provided by the CRC and other human rights treaties.
Under international law, children have a number of specific rights. The recent conflict and use of force
against Palestinian children deprives them of their rights to life, survival and development 55 ; protection from
17Palestine: The education of children at risk
injury 56 ; and humanitarian protection for refugees and for children in armed conflict 57 . The recurrent
practice of closures violates children's rights to freedom from collective punishment 58 ; freedom of
movement 59 ; an adequate standard of living 60 ; education 61 ; and access to health services, including services
for children with disability 62 .
18Palestine: The education of children at risk
Summary and conclusion
The children who contributed to this report have a clear understanding of the effects of the occupation and a
complex and highly politicized response to it. The most recent violence has led to reduced access to
education, and other basic services including urgent medical care. Within this context, children have become
engaged in political action early as they see their rights reduced.
Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories is managed by a system of closures, which leads to extreme
economic hardship, and violates children's freedom of movement as well as their rights to education and
other services in many cases. Closures and their consequences disproportionately affect poor children.
Preventing children from engaging in confrontation is a difficult task when their rights are subject to
continuous attrition. But Palestinian education systems have succeeded in keeping children active and
focused on childhood pursuits. Palestinian education systems have a long history of significant achievements,
but occupation and violence jeopardizes these achievements. Many children have been killed or injured in the
violence and many more have been psychologically affected. Schools have been damaged by gunfire. The
violence with which Palestinian children live is a daily violation of their rights to life, survival, development
and education.
Children's rights are also affected by a rights regime that is weakened by Israel's unrecognized interpretation
of its obligations under international law and the implementation of the peace process. Israel must recognize
and uphold children's rights, as laid down in the conventions that it has ratified in all the territories that it
controls, including the Palestinian territories.
19Palestine: The education of children at risk
20Palestine: The education of children at risk
Recommendations
Save the Children calls on:
A. The Israeli authorities to:
1. act in conformity with its obligations under international human rights law, in particular the Convention
on the Rights of the Child which requires Israel to respect and ensure the rights set forth in the CRC to
each child within its jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind;
2. fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law, in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention;
3. put an end to the policy of closures that has such a devastating impact on the lives of Palestinian
children including their right to education.
B. The Palestinian Authority to:
1. continue and enhance its efforts to attract children to school and maintain their attendance;
2. strengthen its efforts to keep children away from violent situations.
C. The Donor Community to:
1. urge the Israeli authorities not to adopt military and other measures which have a negative impact on
Palestinian children, their schools (including structural damage, closings, impaired access, etc.) and their
education.
D. The Commission on Human Rights to:
1. insist that Israeli authorities act in accordance with their obligations under international treaties, in
particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
2. adopt the recommendations of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur to
establish an international human rights monitoring presence, including child rights protection officers, in
the Palestinian occupied territories;
3. urge the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Conventions to convene a conference of the
High Contracting Parties to the Convention to consider measures to enforce the Convention in the
Palestinian occupied territories, as requested by UN General Assembly in its Resolutions, which could
contribute to an improvement of the protection of Palestinian children.
E. The International Community to:
21Palestine: The education of children at risk
1. provide political, financial and logistical support for the establishment of an international human rights
monitoring presence, including child rights protection officers, in the Palestinian occupied territories;
2. ensure that as High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention they act in accordance with
the request of the UN General Assembly to convene the conference of High Contracting Parties and to
consider measures to enforce the Convention in the Palestinian occupied territories, thereby improving
protection for children.
22Palestine: The education of children at risk
23Palestine: The education of children at risk
24Palestine: The education of children at risk
Notes
1. Aid Effectiveness in the West Bank and Gaza, World Bank, June 2000
2. Dollars and Sense for a Better Childhood: A Palestinian Child-Focused Budget Study (Draft),
Secretariat for the National Plan of Action for Palestinian Children, September 2000
3. Education Statistical Yearbook 1999/2000, Ministry of Education; Palestinian Children: Five
Years Under Palestinian National Authority, Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS),
2000
4. UNRWA in figures, UNRWA Public Information Office, August 2000
5. Dollars and Sense for a Better Childhood, 2000
6. Third Quarterly Report on Donor Assistance, Ministry of Planning and International
Cooperation, September 2000
7. Aid effectiveness in the West Bank and Gaza, World Bank, June 2000
8. Dollars and Sense for a Better Childhood, 2000
9. Interview with Cairo Arafat, director of the secretariat for the National Plan of Action for
Palestinian Children, 22 Nov 2000
10. Educational Characteristics in the Palestinian Territory, PCBS 2000
11. Dollars and Sense for a Better Childhood, 2000
12. US State Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices - 2000, Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, February 2001
13. Israel always describes territory under Palestinian security control, known as Area A, as a
percentage of the land it occupied in 1967, and not in hectares. It excludes from this
percentage areas that it has defined as part of Jerusalem, the Dead Sea surface, and
no-man’s-land. If these areas were included, the percentage of West Bank land under
Palestinian jurisdiction would be smaller.Remarks and Questions from the Palestinian
Negotiating Team Regarding the United States Proposal, Ministry of Planning and
International Co-operation, January 2000
14. The Palestinian Economy and the Oslo “Peace Process”, Leila Farsakh, 2000
15. UNSCO, The Impact on the Palestinian Economy of Confrontations, Mobility Restrictions and
Border Closures, 28 September-26 November, 2000, Gaza, 26 November 2000
16. CESCR statement, 30 November 2000
17. Ministry of Education press release, 14 November 2000
18. Interview with Salah Soubani, director of information and research, Ministry of Education, 7
December 2000
25Palestine: The education of children at risk
19. UNRWA Public Information Office, 4 December 2000
20. Education Statistical Yearbook 1999/2000, Ministry of Education
21. UNRWA in figures, UNRWA Public Information Office, August 2000; UNRWA Public
Information Office, 4 December 2000
22. “Without chairs, they sit on the floor”, Haaretz, 22 Nov 2000
23. Bantustanization and Decentralization - my notes, Ministry of Education International and
Public Relations department, 22 November 2000
24. CESCR statement, 30 November 2000
25. Illusions of Restraint, B’tselem, December 2000
26. Health Care Under Siege II, Health, Development, Information, and Policy Institute, December
2000
27. Interview with Sadaqa staff, 2 December 2000
28. Interview with Ziad Abdo, General Union of Disabled Palestinians, 9 December 2000
29. Interview with Sadaqa staff, 2 December 2000
30. The Impact on the Palestinian Economy of Confrontations, Mobility Restrictions and Border
Closures, 28 September-26 November 2000, Office of the United Nations Special
Co-ordinator, 2000
31. Palestinian Children: Five Years Under Palestinian National Authority, 2000
32. Palestine Poverty Report 1998, National Commission for Poverty Alleviation
33. Palestinian Children: Five Years Under Palestinian National Authority, 2000
34. The Impact on the Palestinian Economy of Confrontations, Mobility Restrictions and Border
Closures, 28 September-26 November 2000
35. The Impact of Prolonged Closures on Palestinian Poverty, World Bank, 1 November 2000
36. UNRWA Public Information Office, 28 November 2000
37. Interview with Mr Mushtaq Qureishi, WFP representative in Gaza, 27 Nov 2000
38. A Report by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights on the Closure Imposed by Israel on the
Gaza Strip, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, 3 December 2000; The Destruction of
Civilian Properties and the Comprehensive Closure of the Occupied Palestinian Territories
39. Poverty rates of 51 percent for South Gaza, Palestine Poverty Report 1998
40. Report on student deaths and injuries of the al-Aqsa intifada, Ministry of Education, 29
November 2000
41. Report on student deaths and injuries of the al-Aqsa intifada, 2000
26Palestine: The education of children at risk
42. Press release, Ministry of Information, 3 November 2000
43. Interview with Mr ‘Uthman Khalid Jahjuh, head teacher of ‘Id al-Agha primary school, 2
December 2000b
44. Interviews with children and parents in Gaza Strip refugee camps, 4 December 2000
45. Interview with Dr Samir Qouta, Gaza Community Mental Health Project, Gaza 27 November
2000
46. The Destruction of Civilian Properties and the Comprehensive Closure of the Occupied
Palestinian Territories, Al-Mezan, 9 November 2000
47. Report on the Counselling Program (The Emergency Line), Palestinian Working Women
Society, no date
48. Emergency Attention Span - my notes, Ministry of Education International and Public Relations
department, 25 November 2000
49. Interview with Mr Rassim Kabi, head teacher of Balata Boys Basic School, 10 December 2000
50. Statistics from Defence for Children International/Palestine, updated regularly at
www.dci-pal.org, and daily updated figures available from Ministry of Health www.moh.gov.ps
51. Israeli army press statement, 6 December 2000
52. “10. The Committee is deeply concerned that Israel continues to deny its responsibility to fully
apply the Covenant in the occupied territories. In this regard, the Committee points to the
long-standing presence of Israel in these territories, Israel’s ambiguous attitude towards their
future status, as well as the exercise of effective jurisdiction by Israeli security forces therein …
The Committee requests the State party to include in its second periodic report all information
relevant to the application of the Covenant in territories which it occupies.” CCPR/C/79/Add.93,
18 August 1998
53. CESCR, E/C.12/1/Add.27, 4 December 1998
54. E/CN. 4/S - 5/3, 17 October 2000
55. CRC, Article 22, Article 38
56. CRC, Articles 6, 19; ICCPR, Article 24(1)
57. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Article 6; International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 6.1
58. CRC, Article 2
59. ICCPR, Article 12
60. CRC, Article 27; ICESR, Article 11(1)
61. CRC Article 28; ICESR Article 13
62. CRC, Article 24; ICESR, Article 12
27Palestine: The education of children at risk
28Palestine: The education of children at risk
Appendix 1: Links
Save The Children: http://www.savethechildren.org/: http://www.savethechildren.org/
Defence for Children International: http://www.dci-pal.org: http://www.dci-pal.org
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