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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element" dir="ltr"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/eu-rewards-israel-selling-classrooms-donated-palestinians">https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/eu-rewards-israel-selling-classrooms-donated-palestinians</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">EU rewards Israel for selling
classrooms donated to Palestinians</h1>
<p class="node__submitted">
<span class="field field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/ali-abunimah">Ali
Abunimah</a></span> <span class="field field-blog">-</span>
<span class="field field-publication-date"><span
class="date-display-single"
content="2019-06-03T19:22:35+00:00">3 June 2019</span></span>
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<figure id="file-79566"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><figcaption><small><span></span></small></figcaption></figure>
<p>Last week, Israel <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/31/israel-to-auction-prefab-classrooms-donated-by-eu-to-palestinians">announced</a>
that it would auction off two prefabricated buildings
that had been donated to Palestinians by the European
Union.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Israel’s brazenness generated consternation on social
media. Even the EU’s foreign policy spokesperson Maja
Kocijančič <a
href="https://twitter.com/MajaEUspox/status/1134553210419601408">tweeted</a>
that the decision was “incredible.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>Otherwise, Israel was to “provide compensation
without delay for the dismantled and confiscated
assets.”</p>
<p>“The EU expects its investments in support of the
Palestinian people to be protected from damage and
destruction,” Kocijančič added.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<div id="file-79546">
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<blockquote data-width="550">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Israeli Civil
Administration temporarily displaces 13
Palestinian families, a total of 70 people,
incl. 38 children, in Khirbet Ibziq on 13 Dec.
These orders require the families to vacate
their homes from 12:00 noon until 6AM the next
morning on 16 Dec, 23 Dec, 26 Dec, & 31 Dec.
<a href="https://t.co/EWWdhsoDB8">pic.twitter.com/EWWdhsoDB8</a></p>
— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) <a
href="https://twitter.com/btselem/status/1074661422817271808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December
17, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<div id="file-79551">
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<blockquote data-width="550">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Last Sunday, 2 Dec, at 10
AM, Israeli Civil Administration came to Khirbet
Ibziq, NE of Tubas, & confiscated a tractor
belonging to a Palestinian farmer from Bardalah,
on the grounds that he/it was within a forbidden
military zone. <a
href="https://t.co/cMzHLDGa4j">https://t.co/cMzHLDGa4j</a>
<a href="https://t.co/Ar05jyH0Xl">pic.twitter.com/Ar05jyH0Xl</a></p>
— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) <a
href="https://twitter.com/btselem/status/1072164278361358337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December
10, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<div id="file-79556">
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<blockquote data-width="550">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">In 2 years, <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Israeli?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Israeli</a>
authorities have forced residents of Ibziq <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WestBank?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WestBank</a>
to evacuate their homes more than 20 times <a
href="https://t.co/L34qXYcCni">pic.twitter.com/L34qXYcCni</a></p>
— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) <a
href="https://twitter.com/btselem/status/603606423180857347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
27, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<p>Instead, Israel has <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-steps-attacks-palestinian-schools">continued
its widespread assault</a> on Palestinian schools
across the occupied West Bank, particularly in <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/area-c">Area
C</a>.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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 <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/michael-f-brown/after-golan-are-trump-and-netanyahu-coming-west-bank-0">moving
towards annexing it</a> to Israel.</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>But there was no inkling that the EU would do
anything either to enforce international law or to
make Israel pay for its theft.</p>
<p>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?”</p>
<p>“I can’t confirm something that I didn’t say,”
Kocijančič replied. “Our position is very clear from
my answer.”</p>
<p>The only thing that is clear is that the European
Union will continue allowing Israel to <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/how-eu-pretends-not-see-israels-calculated-slaughter-gaza">shoot
children dead</a> 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 <a
href="https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/63534/statement-spokesperson-publication-israeli-authorities-new-tenders-over-800-settlement-units_en">rebuke</a>.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the EU will <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/eu-expands-partnership-israeli-settlement-builder">continue
to lavish money</a> on Israel and its war industry,
sending a message that is clearly understood by
Israel’s government: crime pays.</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<div id="file-79561">
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<p>The 3rd 🇪🇺🇮🇱 EU-Israel Counter Terrorism
Dialogue is taking place today in Brussels</p>
<p>Key to discuss and learn from each other in
addressing common domestic and regional
threats and challenges, in particular thru
combatting terrorism financing<a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EU4Israel?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EU4Israel</a><a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/counterterrorism?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#counterterrorism</a>
<a href="https://t.co/olPmXmRTXs">pic.twitter.com/olPmXmRTXs</a></p>
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— EU in Israel (@EUinIsrael) <a
href="https://twitter.com/EUinIsrael/status/1135450995213967360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June
3, 2019</a></blockquote>
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