Poland in Palestine

On 19 December, we made a study visit to Isfey Al-Fauqa, where the Israeli authorities recently demolished the village's only primary school. Isfey Al-Fauqa, as well as the entire Masafer Yatta region in which the village is located, has been designated by the Israeli authorities as 'shelling zone 918', and therefore a zone in which military exercises are conducted that exclude the presence of civilians.

The demolition of the only school on the site is conducive to the creation of a so-called 'coercive environment' in which daily life will become so difficult as to induce the local population to leave the land on which they have lived for hundreds of years. 

Our visit, together with representatives of some EU Member States, as well as like-minded countries outside the EU, was intended to express solidarity with the inhabitants of the village and the entire Masafer Yatta area, whose residents have been systematically threatened by the actions of the Israeli authorities since May this year.  

We also visited Hebron, where we listened to a report by human rights activist Issa Amro in the old city, and attended a meeting of representatives of the Hebron Chamber of Commerce, as the city is busily seeking economic contacts, especially with the EU. Hebron is the largest city in the West Bank, and the Hebron district is the largest or one of the largest suppliers of agricultural products, food, stone and leather products. The main barrier to the development of the metropolis is the lack of access to foreign markets.

Take a look at the photo gallery.