On the last day of school before the summer holidays begin, the children of the Palestinian Jahalin Bedouin community in the Khan al-Ahmar area gather in the playground of the Itarat School for what is possibly their very last time.
Located a few kilometres east of Jerusalem, the Jahalin community of Khan al-Ahmar have been slapped with a demolition order of their school by the Israeli authorities.
The move follows a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court last week, ruling the school should be demolished because it was built without any proper building permits.
The community is located under Area C, which under the 1993 Oslo Accords is classified as being under Israeli civil and security control. As a result, it is impossible for Palestinians to obtain permits for any construction.
Thus any structure built by Palestinians in Area C, which covers 61 percent of the occupied West Bank, is considered illegal by the Israeli government and subject to demolition.
The school offers its services to around 200 children from Khan al-Ahmar and surrounding Bedouin communities.
Halima a-Zahuyqa, the principle since 2011, told Al Jazeera that the faculty members and children are gripped with concern over the school’s fate.
The fear of the school’s demolition is not anything new to the students and teachers.
Zuhayqa found that the Israeli army had regularly raided the school during the presence of students to hand over demolition orders and notices.
Source: Al-Jazeera
