Palestinian children face daily settler attacks getting to school

Being able to travel to school in relative safety is something children all over the world take for granted. But, for Palestinian children living in the shadow of the ubiquitous and illegal Israeli settlements dotting the West Bank, simply walking to school can be a terrifying experience. "It is really scary walking to school. We never know when the settlers will attack us and beat us," says Rima Ali, 10, from the village of Tuba in the southern West Bank, about two hours drive south of Jerusalem. "Every day we have to watch out that the settlers are not in the valley ahead of us and if we see them we run away," Ali told IPS. Ali still bears the scar from when a settler pushed her causing her to fall to the ground and cut herself below the eye. Hundreds of Palestinian children in Tuba and the surrounding Palestinian villages face the same daily predicament as they try to reach school in the Bedouin village of At Tuwani.