Soldiers escort Palestinian children to, from school in emergency measure

World Today

The Palestinian military implemeneted a measure to protect Palestinian children following threats and attacks from Jewish settlers. It was meant to be an ad-hoc fix, but its long-standing existence points to the regions ongoing, unresolved problems. CCTV America’s Stephanie Freid reports from Tiwani in the West Bank.

International law deems the 350,00 settlers living on Palestinian land illegal occupiers. Stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations intended to address the occupation issue led to implementation of an emergency solution for the children. Israeli military now ecort children to and from school.

That ’emergency’ measure has been in place for 10 years. The children arrive at meeting points. From there, Israeli soldiers escort them past Jewish settlements to their village.

The children can wait from 10 minutes to an hour at the meeting point. They can also decide to leave and take the long route around to get home. That route is an hour out of the way. They can also go on through without the military escorts.