Following Adalah's Petition: Supreme Court Orders AG to Repair Road and Traffic Junction to Improve Access to Elementary School in Unrecognized Arab Bedouin Village of al-Fur'a in the Naqab

At a hearing held on 14 September 2005 on a petition filed by Adalah in July 2005, the Supreme Court of Israel ordered the state to repair a road and traffic junction in order to facilitate access to the elementary school in the unrecognized village of al-Fur'a in the Naqab (Negev). The Court also ordered the Attorney General's (AG) Office to file a response by 30 September 2005 regarding the allocation of funds for the repair of the junction, emphasizing the need for the construction to take place soon thereafter.

These rulings follow a petition filed on 13 July 2005 by Adalah Attorney Marwan Dalal on behalf of three Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel - fathers of children studying at the school - and the head of the Village's Local Committee against the Ministries of Education, the Interior, Construction and Housing, and Transport, as well as the Abu Basma Regional Council in the Naqab. The petitioners demanded that the Supreme Court issue an order obliging the respondents to pave the four-kilometer dirt track which currently provides access to the school from al-Fur'a village.

Adalah argued in the petition that during the winter months, rainfall makes the dirt track particularly treacherous, and that as a result, the vast majority of the school's teachers and 1,187 pupils cannot attend classes for fear of being injured. Consequently, the school is frequently closed and lessons suspended, and the lack of a safe and paved road thus severely impacts upon the pupils' studies and disrupts their educational progress. Adalah also emphasized that the state's failure to pave a road to the elementary school represents a clear violation of the children's rights to education and access to education under both Israeli and international human rights law.

In its response to the petition of 1 August 2005, the AG's Office stated that the relevant authority will undertake the repair of the track, but refused to commit to making improvements to the junction that links the main road between Beer el-Sabe (Beer Sheva) and ‘Arad to the track leading to the school. The respondents claimed that the junction is unconnected to the original petition's demands for improved access to the school. However, in its response the AG's Office conceded that, in the opinion of the state's specialist engineers, the junction poses serious dangers to the safety of those walking and driving along the road due to poor visibility. At a Supreme Court hearing held on the petition on 4 August 2005, Adalah argued that the question of improved access to the school was inexorably connected to the condition of the junction, and that the state must repair it as well as the road. The Court ordered the state to repair the road leading to the school within two months and to submit its position regarding the junction within 30 days.

During the hearing on 14 September 2005, Adalah argued that repairs must be made to both the road and the junction in order to provide the children who study at the school with safe access to the school. Adalah again stressed that the question of the road leading to the school cannot be separated from the junction and its potential hazards. The relevant authorities should therefore carry out immediate renovations to eliminate any potential dangers which could harm the 925 Palestinian Bedouin pupils who are transported by bus along the dirt track daily in order to attend classes.

During the hearing, Adalah further demanded that the respondents reiterate their commitment to cut and pave a road to the school, noting that no repairs had been made within the one-and-a-half months since the issuance of the Court's order to repair the road. The AG repeated the state's commitment to repair the road within the two-month deadline set by the Court, and also agreed to make the necessary repairs to the junction. However, the AG requested a deadline of 30 October 2005 to submit a report to the Court regarding which ministry would allocate the estimated cost of NIS 1.25 million for the agreed renovations to the junction. Adalah challenged this request, stating that the delay was unnecessary, and that the state's failure to act immediately would produce a continuation of the dangers posed by the track and the junction to the safety of the pupils and their teachers.

The Court concurred with Adalah's position, emphasizing that repairs to both the track and the junction must be completed in a timely manner, and noted that it is the responsibility of the respondents to identify which ministry should pay for the construction. The Court ordered the AG to respond by 30 September concerning which ministry will pay the construction costs and stressed that all repairs to the junction and road must begin immediately afterwards.

H.C. 6773/05, Ali Afnan Jabouah, et. al. v. Ministry of Education, et. al. (case pending).

For more information, see: “Adalah Petitions Supreme Court Seeking Order to Pave Road Leading to Elementary School for 1,187 Arab Bedouin Children in Unrecognized Village of al-Fur'a in the Naqab,” Adalah's Newsletter, Vol. 15, July 2005