The High Court of Justice has overturned a decision handed down by Jerusalem District Court Justice Noam Solberg, calling his decision unreasonable. The case pertains to a petition filed by parents of a student in the Shuafat 3 Elementary School together with ACRI (Association for Civil Rights in Israel) and an environmental watchdog group, claiming the child is sick too often, the result of the school being located too close to a factory which emits harmful emissions.

While the district court turned down the petition, the High Court reversed the ruling and instructed Jerusalem City Hall to find acceptable alternative learning facilities for 783 children. The district court ruled the city is working to find a solution and it is not the court’s place to interfere in City Hall’s ongoing efforts.

The three justice panel Justices Eliezer Rivlin, Elyakim Rubinstein and Miriam Na’or stated this must be done immediately for leaving the children in proximity of the factory for a single day is one day too long.

With the construction of the partition barrier, City Hall rented the building and invested NIS 1.5 million to bring it to standard to house elementary school students residing in the so-called Shuafat Refugee Camp. Parents report many children complain of headaches, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms as a result of inhaling the fumes of the nearby factory since 2008.

Justice Solberg’s name has been in the media as one of the choices of the right-wing as a candidate to serve on the High Court, or as a possible replacement for Attorney General Menachem Mazuz when his term expires.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)