Israel Destroys Palestinian Schools Donated by EU

Israeli Military Says Govt Didn't Give Permission for Schools

It’s back to school season, unless you’re an elementary schooler in Jub a-Dib or Badu al-Baba, a pair of Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank which have suddenly found themselves the target of Israeli military action.

Israeli troops moved into the villages earlier this week, just ahead of the beginning of the school year, and destroyed the brand new elementary schools built with funds donated by the European Union. Troops threw stun grenades at civilians who protested the attack.

Israeli officials defended the demolitions, arguing that the Palestinians never had Israeli permission to build schools in the first place. Moreover, they insisted, the structures “were not in use” at the time,which allowed for immediate demolition.

They weren’t in use, because school wasn’t open until the following day, and by then, the buildings were long gone, all wreckage confiscated, the schools’ former sites termed “military zones,” and the students left to study in makeshift tents on the outskirts of the village.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.