After we petitioned the High Court of Justice in 2018, a demolition order was issued against the structure – which the Israeli authorities have admitted is also dangerous from a safety perspective. However, the Civil Administration has taken no steps to enforce the law.

 

The CA continues to drag out the legal process, invoking various excuses as to why enforcement can’t be exercised.

Over the last two months, we gave the CA a final chance to carry out the demolition order. But this week we realized that no change is set to happen on the ground, so we filed another petition with the Jerusalem District Court to bring an end to this saga.

 

This morning, as part of the legal process, our field coordinator arrived at the school to hand over a copy of the petition to the school management.

 

This school is merely one example of a widespread phenomenon. Last week, we published – in Hebrew – a comprehensive report about illegal, PA-built schools in Area C. The English version should be available in the nearby future. Our report reveals that, over the last decade, the Palestinian Authority has built 100 (!) schools without permits in strategic areas.

 

You might be thinking: ‘These schools are crucial for the education of Palestinian schoolchildren!’ But no. Our data indicates that these schools are no humanitarian necessity; they were quickly set up, without permits, in order to advance the Fayyad plan.

 

The density in PA schools (313 students on average per school) is lower than in Israeli schools (337 students on average per school) and much lower than the density in schools in Jordan (476.9 students on average).

 

An analysis of our data also proves that these new schools weren’t built to compensate for problems of long distances. All of the schools, without exception, were established between a few hundred meters to three kilometers from already-existing schools.

 

You see, the PA knows all too well that Israel is unlikely to knock down the illegal schools. If Israeli authorities enforce the law, the media pump out heartbreaking photos of underprivileged children being ‘denied’ an education.

 

If Israel turns a blind eye in order to avoid a black eye, the schools become anchors for new outposts in previously uninhabited – and generally uninhabitable – areas, and more funding pours in to alleviate the humanitarian hardships of these fabricated communities.

 

📸 Noam Chen