Rundown school for Palestinian children awaits US aid

Rundown school for Palestinian children awaits US aid

When Joe Biden was elected president, residents of the tiny hilltop village of Jaba in the occupied West Bank cheered.They hope the new US president will restore funding to a project to transform a rundown school in their village into a modern facility by adding an impressive three-story building with a library, a new science lab, more classrooms, an office for social workers and a shaded basketball court.Work on the project stopped in 2019 after the Trump administration effectively ended aid to Palestinians.Jaba, home to about 1,300 residents, is near Bethlehem on a series of small rolling hills that straddle Israel and a string of settlements. It has few businesses, its sole medical clinic operates one day a week, and its streets are narrow. It also suffers from a housing shortage because it is in an area where Israel rarely allows new construction.The original plan to expand the school would have represented one of the village's most significant upgrades in the past decade. It would have allowed the school to increase its student body from 80 to 250, including 50 girls.“We hope Biden will find a way to rectify the cruel decision to halt funding to the school,” said Jaba's