When the Barrier was constructed around East Jerusalem, it left the Bedouin community of Tel al 'Adassa physically separated from the rest of the West Bank. However, residents there hold West Bank ID cards and are not allowed to stay in East Jerusalem.

Zeinab was twelve years old when this picture was taken, in 2010, and her sister Zeina was nine.

Their aunt, Um Ibrahim, told us then that since 2006, the children’s access to school in Bir Nabala, on the other side of the Barrier, had changed from a ten minute walk into a one hour journey, or longer, depending on the waiting time at the checkpoint.

❝Because of the Wall and the lack 

of permits,❞ she said, ❝my daughter Amna’ dropped out of school when she was fifteen and another two children quit school at the age of eleven and thirteen.❞

❝Girls are more likely to miss school and to drop out,❞ she explained, ❝because, unlike boys, they are less likely to climb the Wall.❞

Zeinab and Zeina used to attend school in Bir Nabala, but also dropped out.

Their father decided to enrol them, togeather with their younger brother, in a private school in Beit Hanina, Abu Ibrahim added.

❝This was to make sure they receive an appropriate education, although they’re not allowed to live in Jerusalem.

❝However, the costs are high. The enrolment fee is NIS1,000 [US$277] per child, in addition to another NIS1,000 for their uniforms and books.❞