Israeli Soldiers Attack School near Nablus, Suffocate Students

Abu Juwairiya

Junior Member
In light of the attack on a Pakistani army school, the story below has equal relevance (but less coverage and condemnation), especially as this one involved an actual army attacking a civilian school and children with no weapons training, as opposed to those in the one in Pakistan itself. As the article states the attacks were violations of international law, but have not warranted an American response.

NABLUS, December 15, 2014 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Monday assaulted a number of Palestinian students in a school in Burin village to the north of Nablus, causing many suffocation cases, according to an activist.
Zakaria Sada, an activist with the Rabbis for Human Rights organization, a rabbinic organization in Israel dedicated to human rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories, told WAFA that Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and stun grenades inside the school yards towards students lining up for class, under the pretext of throwing stones at Israeli soldiers.

The attack spread terror and fear among the students, many of whom suffocated due to tear gas suffocation.
Israeli army previously carried out numerous attacks, with the deliberate and reckless use of force, against schools and educational facilities across the West Bank, in a serious violation of international law and students’ right to pursue education in a safe environment.

The Global Coalition to protect Education from Attack said, “During situations of armed conflict, attacks on education may violate international humanitarian and criminal law and constitute war crimes (or crimes against humanity during war or peacetime) as set out in the 1907 Hague Regulations, the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and customary international humanitarian law.”

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund UNICEF stated that, “International law and human rights instruments are clear, not only about the sanctity of education but also the protection of children affected by conflict.”

“The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child applies to all children without discrimination (article 2). It reaffirms the right of every child to life (article 6), insists on the protection of all children from all forms of violence (article 19) and makes clear the right to education (article 28),” states UNICEF.

During the July aggression on Gaza, Israel bombarded several UNRWA-run schools, which Human Rights Watch, along with worldwide condemnation, slammed as “a war crime.”

The article can be found at http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=27307
 
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