Israel's brazen auction of stolen EU-funded classrooms garners only mild international interest - EU issues empty statement - UPDATE

Yumna Patel
Mondoweiss
Mon, 03 Jun 2019 21:15 UTC

© 'Aref Daraghmeh, B'Tselem

Israeli Civil Administration dismantles and confiscates two pre-fab buildings that were part of a school, Khirbet Ibziq, 23 October 2018

A decision by Israeli authorities to auction off prefabricated classrooms that were confiscated from a Palestinian village last year is causing controversy among local and international leaders.

A report from the Guardian last Friday said that the Israeli Defense Ministry was planning on holding an auction this coming week to sell the two prefab classrooms, citing an advertisement for the "seized property" in the Israeli Maariv newspaper.

The classrooms, along with two tents and three metal sheds, were confiscated by Israeli forces last October from the rural Palestinian village of Ibziq, in the northern occupied West Bank.

The classrooms had been donated to the community by the European Union, which has donated hundreds of similar structures to primarily Bedouin communities across the occupied territories.

They were confiscated under the pretext that they were built "illegally" in Israeli-controlled Area C of the West Bank, where Palestinian are required to obtain Israeli construction permits in order to build anything - a nearly impossible task.

"A list of auction items, seen by the Guardian, showed dates, item numbers, locations and descriptions that matched the confiscated classroom structures," the Guardian said, adding that the auction was being held by Israel's Civil Administration - the agency responsible for enforcing the Israeli government's policies in the occupied territories.

"What the Israelis have done, to confiscate these classrooms, is illegal," Palestinian human rights lawyer and activist Farid al-Atrash told Mondoweiss. "But to then go on and sell it, is reprehensible. It goes against all international human rights laws and norms."

"The fact that the Israelis can go and confiscate EU-funded schools, and then go off and sell them, is testament to the fact that the Israelis fear no one in the international community, and feel they can get away with whatever they want," al-Atrash said.

The Palestine News Network (PNN) reported the Maariv ad as saying "in the case where the owners of these seized assets have not proceeded to request the return of their property within 30 days of the publication of this notice, the assets will be sold."

However, PNN spoke to Shadi Othman, the EU spokesman in Jerusalem, who said that the EU did in fact make an official request to have the confiscated structures returned, but received no response from Israeli authorities.

The "EU missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah had called on Israeli authorities to return the confiscated items to their intended beneficiaries without precondition as soon as possible," Othman told PNN.

He added that the EU requested that if the structures could not be returned, that the EU be compensated for the value of the classrooms, amounting to around $17,100.

At the time of the confiscation, the EU released the following statement:

"Every child has the right to access education and states have an obligation to protect, respect and fulfill this right, by ensuring that schools are inviolable safe spaces for children."

The Electronic Intifada reported last year that from 2001 to 2016, Israel "caused an estimated $74 million in destruction to EU-funded projects. That includes $26 million of destruction to EU projects during Israel's 2014 assault on Gaza," citing a report from Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq.

"Instead of holding Israel accountable, European donors have expressed reluctance in funding aid projects without guarantees from Israel," the report said.

"The Europeans and the international community can no longer just be an audience to the injustices committed by the occupation," al-Atrash told Mondoweiss.

"They need to take concrete actions against the occupation for their violation of Palestinian rights, and hold them accountable in international courts."

Comment: The Electronic Intifada had more to say:

EU rewards Israel for selling classrooms donated to Palestinians

Last week, Israel announced that it would auction off two prefabricated buildings that had been donated to Palestinians by the European Union.

In October, Israeli occupation forces confiscated the structures that were part of a school for dozens of children in Ibziq, a community in the north of the occupied West Bank.

Israel's brazenness generated consternation on social media. Even the EU's foreign policy spokesperson Maja Kocijančič tweeted that the decision was "incredible."

But when Kocijančič delivered the EU's official response at a press briefing on Monday, she indicated that it would be business as usual: Israel can do as it likes and the EU will take it lying down.

"When the structures were seized last year - 23 October 2018 and 5 November 2018 - the EU missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah called on Israeli authorities 'to return the confiscated items to their intended beneficiaries without pre-condition as soon as possible,'" Kocijančič said.

Otherwise, Israel was to "provide compensation without delay for the dismantled and confiscated assets."

"The EU expects its investments in support of the Palestinian people to be protected from damage and destruction," Kocijančič added.

But Israel hasn't compensated the EU, rebuilt the schools, protected the EU's "investments" - or the people of Ibziq who have been the targets of repeated Israeli attacks.

Instead, Israel has continued its widespread assault on Palestinian schools across the occupied West Bank, particularly in Area C.

Area C is the approximately 60 percent of the occupied West Bank that is still fully controlled by Israel under the Oslo accords signed in the 1990s.

The EU still believes this land will make up the bulk of a future Palestinian state even as it becomes clear that Israeli leaders, backed by the Trump administration, are moving towards annexing it to Israel.

Kocijančič did reaffirm that the place where the confiscation took place is occupied territory and that under international law Israel has "the obligation to protect and facilitate development for the local population, and to grant unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance."

But there was no inkling that the EU would do anything either to enforce international law or to make Israel pay for its theft.

So I sent a follow-up question to Kocijančič asking, "Can you confirm that the EU plans to take no action whatsoever to hold Israel accountable for what it has done?"

"I can't confirm something that I didn't say," Kocijančič replied. "Our position is very clear from my answer."

The only thing that is clear is that the European Union will continue allowing Israel to shoot children dead in cold blood, demolish schools and build even more colonies on stolen Palestinian land, and the only thing Israel need fear is a few mild words of rebuke.

In the meantime, the EU will continue to lavish money on Israel and its war industry, sending a message that is clearly understood by Israel's government: crime pays.

Indeed, as Kocijančič was delivering her empty statement on Israel's theft of the school buildings, EU officials were welcoming an Israeli delegation in Brussels to "learn from each other in addressing common domestic and regional threats and challenges."

Update 04/06/2019: Apparently Israel has been shamed into postponing its sale of stolen EU classroom donations. RT reports:

Israeli authorities will reportedly postpone the controversial auction of prefabricated classrooms donated by the EU to Palestinian, amid an escalating diplomatic row over the jurisdiction of international versus Israeli law.

© Reuters / Mussa Qawasma

Israeli armed forces dismantled concrete structures that served as primary school for 43 Palestinian children in Zanouta, south of Hebron city, in the occupied territories

The Israel Defense Ministry postponed the auction of EU-donated classrooms and materials earmarked for Palestinian children for one month amid massive outcry in both online and diplomatic circles. A spokesperson for the Coordinator of Government Activities, which runs the Civil Administration, said the postponement was for "technical reasons" and not due to pressure from the EU.

Uh-huh.

Israel's Civil Administration dismantled and seized two prefabricated buildings originally intended for use as classrooms for some 49 children in a small community in the northern West Bank last fall, citing lack of appropriate building and planning permission. The authorities claim they offered to return the classrooms to the EU on the guarantee that they would not be rebuilt in the West Bank without the requisite permissions, but the offer was rejected.

However, EU representatives deny such a proposal was ever made in the first place, and the two sides are continuing negotiations against a backdrop of deteriorating relations. An additional two tents and three metal sheds were also confiscated from a nearby community for the same reason.

The Israeli Civil Administration conducts regular auctions of property seized from Palestinian communities, and sometimes unauthorized Jewish outposts.

The EU knows that such structures violate Israeli law but claims that international law supersedes it, while claiming "the direct financial injury to donors caused by these seizures amounts to €15,320 ($17,200)."

EU missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah have called for the items to be returned or equivalent compensation be paid as soon as possible.