After 8 years of litigation, safety crosswalk constructed by Arab Bedouin Al-Fur'a school

The road to Al-Fur'a Elementary School in 2005. Photo: Adalah

The new road and junction in 2013. Photo: Adalah

The Ministry of Transportation has finally completed a safety crosswalk at the major intersection in front of the Arab Bedouin Al-Fur'a Elementary School in June 2013, eight years after it committed to do so before the Israeli Supreme Court. Al-Fur'a is an unrecognized Arab Bedouin village in the Naqab (Negev). Adalah filed a petition to have the intersection paved in 2005, followed by a request to hold the Ministry of Transportation in contempt of court in 2011.

State committed to building road and junction in 2005

Adalah’s original petition to the Supreme Court attempted to force the Ministry of Transportation to pave the junction connecting the highway to Al-Fur'a's main road in July 2005, and to construct a safety crosswalk there for children going to school. The petition was submitted on behalf of three Palestinian 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.

Adalah argued that during the winter months, rainfall makes the dirt track to the school particularly treacherous, and that as a result, the vast majority of the school's teachers and 1,187 pupils, at the time, could not attend classes for fear of being injured. Consequently, the school is frequently closed.

During legal proceedings, the state committed to constructing the junction shortly, and so the petition was dismissed.

2011: Adalah petitions to hold state in contempt

Six years later, the Ministry of Transportation had still not constructed the junction. Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher filed a new petition and motion for contempt of court to the Supreme Court against the state for its failure to fulfill its commitment.

2012: State requests to leave work incomplete

In September 2012, the state finished paving the road, but had not constructed a safety crosswalk, and requested that the court dismiss this latter requirement, as it was expensive and time-consuming. Adalah rejected the request and affirmed that it would follow the situation and continue legal proceedings until the intersection was completed. At a hearing, the court chastised the government for not beginning work on the intersection despite its explicit commitment to do so. The court gave the state a deadline of 20 June 2013 to complete the junction.