Palestinian children attend class in a tent on 24 August, after Israeli occupation forces dismantled their school in the West Bank village of Jubbet al-Dib, near Bethlehem, two days earlier.

Dozens of Palestinian children were due to begin classes in Jubbet al-Dib, a village near Bethlehem, last week.

But on the evening of 22 August, Israeli occupation forces destroyed their new school.

It consisted of six prefabricated buildings largely funded by the European Union and several of its governments.

During the five-hour assault in Jubbet al-Dib, Israeli forces declared the area a closed military zone and used stun grenades, tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets to keep residents away as they dismantled and confiscated the buildings.

“It was heartbreaking to see children and their teachers turning up for their first day of school under the blazing sun, with no classrooms or anywhere to seek shelter in, while in the immediate vicinity the work to expand illegal settlements goes on uninterrupted,” Itay Epshtain of the Norwegian Refugee Council said after visiting the village.

“The demolition of a school building the night before the start of the year epitomizes the administrative cruelty and systematic harassment by authorities designed to drive Palestinians from their land,” the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem stated https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/eu-lets-israel-de...