Human Rights and Democracy Media Center- SHAMS, condemns the crime of the Israeli occupation to demolish Ein Samia School on Thursday 17/8/2023. The school serves the children of Qabboun Bedwin Gathering close to Kufur Malek Village, to the east of Ramallah City. The school was built thanks to the funds of several international organizations during the current year.
SHAMS Center affirms that demolishing the school while we are approaching the new academic year is a deep consideration of the policy of targeting Palestinian educational institutions and Palestinian children by the Israeli racist government. The policy of the Israeli government is interpreted through a series of crimes or practices including school demolishing and denying Palestinian children access to the school premises as well as denying Palestinian students the right to access universities and other educational institutions. Palestinian students are denied the right to freedom of mobility and they are killed in cold blood based on predetermined Israeli policy to systematically target the Palestinian student.
SHAMS Center emphasizes that demolishing the school is a profound violation of the right to education, which is a core human right and, according to international law, it is a crime against humanity. The crime is a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Covenant on Economic and Social Rights, and a violation of the Convention on Child Rights. Additionally, it violates the International Humanitarian Law and Geneva Conventions and their annexed Protocols. All these instruments protect the child’s right to education and stress the necessity to protect the educational institutions and ensure that they are not targeted during military conflicts.
SHAMS Center calls upon the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to take immediate measures to stop the Israeli occupation crimes against Palestinian educational and cultural institutions and against Palestinian children.