South Hebron Hills, Simia

Sunday morning - terrible pressure and very crowded. Route 60 is also very busy, probably because of Hanukkah. A lot of Israeli cars are traveling in the direction of Be'er Sheva. Roadblocks and checks all along to Al  Fawwar.

We visited mainly in the village of Simia, where a school was destroyed last Thursday  (06/12/18 and see a report from that day). The school building was built a little outside the village and was supposed to serve about 25 children. It should be noted that the village is divided into two by the busy highway 60 and in the second part, across the road, there is another school. There is no crossing or traffic light between the two parts of the village, so sending children from one part to another is very dangerous.

We met the teachers of Arabic, mathematics and English and some of the village women. It was cold on the hill and we were sitting in a circle with the remains of the building and piles of building materials. Another building material was confiscated during the demolition. The English teacher, a young girl from Dura, translated and told that the next day (18.12.2018) they would start teaching there despite the demolition. A kind of canvas was created that gives some protection from the weather but the conditions are very difficult there. The teachers come from Medora and the other villages around.

During the visit, a delegation from the Palestinian Ministry of Education arrived and promised to complain to the Israelis and photographed the ruins from all sides. One of the women in the delegation thanked us for coming  but asked what we could do to help. A sad situation.

Maybe Raya Yaron can persuade Gideon Levy to write about the destruction