Burin Community School is caught in a bind. Their agricultural programme needs a shed for sheep and larger animals so students can learn the practicalities of animal husbandry. Illogically the school has been designated in Area C (i.e. under Israeli control) so every time the school starts laying the shed foundations, the settlers and army attack and demolish. This traumatises the school children while putting them in danger.

In theory, it is possible to obtain the necessary permit, but this needs us to pressurise the authority into action.

Please watch our short video to understand what is happening on the ground and hear what the school staff and students have to say:

20 November is World Children’s Day.

Contact your MP! Below is a sample letter to use and adapt as you wish. We urge you to write to your MP and ask that they inform James Cleverley, the Minister for the Middle East about this issue and mention that OHT is a UK charity supporting education in rural Palestine. Let’s try to email as many people as we can, include the video link and the letter and hope to draw attention to the Burin School.

https://oliveharvesttrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Sample-letter-to-MPs.docx

Please also email:-

Diane Corner, Consul General, East Jerusalem. She has been to Burin and seems concerned and informed,  britain.jerusalem@fco.gov.uk

 Neil Wigan OBE, UK Ambassador to Israel.  Ambassador, webmaster.telaviv@fco.gov.uk

Two MKs (Members of the Knesset) from the MERETZ party who might find interest in this video are:

Mossi Ras mossi.raz.knesset@gmail.com (Mossi was former Sec Gen of Peace Now) and Gabi Lasky mk.lasky@knesset.gov.il

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NOTES

Israel is signatory to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. It states, ‘ Every child has rights, whatever their ethnicity, gender, religion, language, abilities or any other status.’

And also to the Geneva Convention, 4th Schedule, Art.50 ‘The Occupying Power shall, (…) facilitate the proper working of all institutions devoted to the care and education of children’

Please use ‘20 Nov World Children’s Day’ in the subject line – hopefully more people will open it.