Schools

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The aims of this project are firstly to link schools in the Brighton and Hove area with schools in Tubas and the Jordan valley. The links are at the level of friendship between the children and teachers.

Secondly the project is part of a wider effort to publicize the humanitarian issues facing Palestinian Communities within the Jordan Valley.

Friendship links depend largely on those traveling between Brighton and Tubas. Letters in English and Arabic, drawings, pictures and films are all taken by individuals or posted back from Jerusalem. We have one post box within the West Bank. There is no postal service for Palestinians in the occupied territory and little access to the internet in the rural areas.

Despite the communication problems we have nevertheless been able to establish and sustain friendship links both at Primary and Secondary level.

Many villages in the Jordan Valley have been denied schools by Israel. Publicizing their situation leads to pressure on the military occupation to change its approach. This includes publicizing the efforts of local Palestinians and Brighton area citizens to build 'illegal' schools.

The Story of Upper Fasayil School

At Easter 2007, and with the help of local contacts a group of visitors from Brighton visited a village in the Jordan Valley who had lost nearly all their land and were shown a site for a school. Immediately some basic school books and equipment were purchased from Jericho and left with the villagers.

Money was raised in Brighton and in the summer two friends from Brighton spent a month helping to build a mud brick building with a pitched roof. The village was issued with an injunction to stop building but publicity prevented this being enacted.

Heavy rain damaged the bricks before they could be sealed and money was then raised for a breeze block structure. This has now been finished and a teacher is soon to be appointed by the Palestinian Authority.

The building of Fasayil School generated international press attention. The villagers refused to stop building and the school gained more press attention. An international petition against the injunction gained thousands of signatures. The Civil Military administration for the region said that the army would not be going ahead with the demolition due to 'humanitarian concerns'. In March 2008, after Fasayil was mentioned in negotiations, North Fasayil was listed as an area where Palestinians were entitled to build meaning that the threat to Fasayil School and the other houses in North Fasayil may be over. This change has undoubtedly occurred due to the pressure put on the Israeli authorities and the PA by the people of Fasayil and their international supporters.