AT TUWANI, Nov 23 (IPS) – Being able to travel to school in relative safety is something children all over the
world take for granted. But, for Palestinian children living in the shadow of the
ubiquitous and illegal Israeli settlements dotting the West Bank, simply walking
to school can be a terrifying experience.
”It is really scary walking to school. We never know when the settlers will
attack us and beat us,” says Rima Ali, 10, from the village of Tuba in the
southern West Bank, about two hours drive south of Jerusalem.
”Every day we have to watch out that the settlers are not in the valley ahead
of us and if we see them we run away,” Ali told IPS.
Ali still bears the scar from when a settler pushed her causing her to fall to
the ground and cut herself below the eye.
Hundreds of Palestinian children in Tuba and the surrounding Palestinian
villages face the same daily predicament as they try to reach school in the
Bedouin village of At Tuwani.
Situated on a hilltop overlooking At Tuwani are the Israeli settlement of
Ma’on and the extended settlement outpost of Havot Ma’on.
The only road which previously connected Palestinians to neighbouring
villages and to the nearby Palestinian town of Yatta – a 10-minute drive away
– has been appropriated for the exclusive use of settlers. Palestinians are
banned from driving on it.
