Children living in the refugee camps and everywhere in the West Bank have not had access to education since 5 March. The plan is to reopen the schools at the beginning of August. We will have three weeks of intensive classes to finish the current school year. Then, at the end of August, we will start the new school year.
I am very worried because I need to come up with new ways to teach children safely. As I cannot depend on international volunteers coming to Palestine, I have to think of alternative ways to support the education of local children. I am currently considering online classes, but it may be difficult to keep children focused. My colleagues and I have a lot to consider, but we will keep trying to do our best.
The most difficult part for me is that my six-year-old son is with his mother in Paris. We speak via Skype for two hours every day, but it’s not enough. He is very young, so it is difficult to hold his attention. We play online games together and that is the best way to keep him entertained during our long calls.
Our conversations are also an opportunity for me to speak to him in Arabic, to help him continue to learn my language. I speak to him in Arabic, but he always responds in French because he is not used to speaking Arabic in France. He keeps asking me: “When are you coming?” I don’t know because the borders are closed, and the airports are closed. It is difficult living through this.
The only positive aspect of my current situation is that I have been able to spend a lot more time with my elderly parents in our village, Awarta. During the lockdown, I stayed with my parents and two brothers. It is the first time in more than twenty years that I’ve spent such a long time with my parents. I am glad that I have been able to spend more time with them, but I hope to see my son soon.
[As told to Jáfia Naftali Câmara]
Poverty and overcrowding in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have made people particularly susceptible to the virus, prompting the Palestinian Authority to declare a state of emergency on 5 March and impose a 14-day quarantine on anyone entering the territory. An estimated 53,000 extra families have been pushed into poverty as a result of the emergency measures. The authority has been unable to offer relief to many of those affected, while UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) has faced difficulties raising funds to help the territory.
In November 2019, the US government announced that it would no longer consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. In January 2020, US President Donald Trump presented a peace plan for Israel and Palestine that would not require Israel to give up any of the territory it has assumed in the West Bank. This was immediately rejected by Palestine, but Israel is pressing ahead with its implementation after embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally managed to form a coalition government.
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Jafia Camara | Radio Free (2020-06-11T10:37:15+00:00) While the world is busy with the virus, Israel is annexing the West Bank. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/06/11/while-the-world-is-busy-with-the-virus-israel-is-annexing-the-west-bank/
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