The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is a reminder that the rights of children should be paramount in our minds. It was passed by the United Nations in 1977, occurring annually on November 29.
As of September 2020, there are 157 Palestinian children detained as security detainees by Israeli authorities, of whom 95 have not been sentenced and two more held in administrative detention or arrest without charge.
“Each year approximately 500-700 Palestinian children, some as young as 12 years old, are detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system,” reports Defense for Children International – Palestine. “The most common charge is stone throwing.” The organization estimates over the last 20 years around 10,000 Palestinian children from the West Bank have been detained by Israeli forces. Based on interviews with hundreds of children, DCI – Palestine found 73 percent said they “experienced physical violence following arrest,” 95 percent said their hands were tied, and 86 percent said they were blindfolded.
Separately, through the Israeli criminal legal system, as of 2015 Palestinians from East Jerusalem and those who are Israeli citizens can be sentenced to up to 20 years for throwing stones at moving vehicles.
International human rights treaties, as well as international humanitarian law, are applicable in the occupied Palestinian territory, as Israel is exercising control as the occupying power, however, Israel objects to this characterization. The application of these treaties has been affirmed by the UN General Assembly, by the UN Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Court of Justice and by human rights treaty bodies. Even though Palestine has joined numerous human rights treaties, that does not mean Israel is not obligated to fulfill its rights as an occupying power.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted in 1989 and defines children as persons under the age of 18, unless the age of adulthood in the country that is applicable to the child is younger. Israeli is a signatory to this convention.
In 2019 the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the minimum age of criminal responsibility should be raised to 14 years in all countries. The committee has also recommended that children under 16 should not be sent to prison. Despite this, Israeli military law in the West Bank permits the detention of children from the age of 12.
According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, children should be informed of the reasons for their arrest when they are arrested and of any charges promptly and this convention also affirms the right to a fair trial.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child outlines that in all situations the best interests of the child should be the primary consideration and must be ensured. Further that a child must be treated in a manner consistent with maintaining the child’s sense of dignity and worth.
There must also be no discrimination in the treatment of the child irrespective of the child’s race, religion, ethnic or other identification.
Further, no child should be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. No child should be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. When children are imprisoned it should be as a last resort and even in that situation, it should be for the shortest period of time.
Imprisoned children should be treated with dignity and respect and should be separated from adult detainees. A child should have access to legal resources and should be given the opportunity to challenge the reasons for his or her detention and there should be a prompt decision on the action to be taken.
Despite these requirements under international law, human rights organizations report children are poorly treated by the Israeli military justice system, including the use of solitary confinement for minors. Israeli security forces have used unnecessary force to arrest or detain children of eleven years of age. UNICEF has said Palestinian children report they have been beaten in custody, threatened and routinely interrogated without lawyers.
This is unacceptable and is one of the key issues we should be focusing on, in holding Israel to account for its human rights violations against the Palestinian people.
Israel deserves to be held accountable for all their crimes including human rights abuses, especially against little kids. The question is who will hold them accountable?hose who have the power to do so, like the US/UK/EU, the nations that enable Israel, send them aid and arms, and defend them against world censure, will not do so. In fact keep protecting them from criticism that is well deserved. Any UN resolution against Israel is vetoed, or they abstain from voting. It is up to other nations who are sincere in helping these powerless people, and want to help these poor children, who have never known freedom, and a better life, to hold Israel responsible, by boycotting their products, and refusing to trade with them. Enough is enough.
All countries need to be held accountable for their (war) crimes. Israel is no exception, and it should not be “singled out” for special treatment. That, we are told, would be anti-Semitic.
(Why would it be anti-Semitic? Because Zionists have proclaimed Israel a “Jewish State” and anti-Semitically conflated it with all Jews.)
So what do Zionists do when it comes to Israel being held accountable for its (war) crimes? They do their best to have it anti-Semitically “singled out” for special treatment.
And to justify their anti-Semitism they:
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Re: Palestinian children:
“Gaza made us men” | The Electronic Intifada
By Ola Mousa**, Electronic Intifada, Dec. 7/20
EXCERPTS:
“Gaza-born Osama Abu El Hosna has become a hero in Austria, his adopted home.
“On 2 November, Osama witnessed an attack that caused huge shock in Vienna and beyond. Four people were shot dead by a gunman – reportedly an Islamic State sympathizer – who was himself killed by police.
“Osama, 23, was just five meters away from one police officer who was wounded by the gunman. When he saw the officer on the ground, Osama ran over and dragged him beyond a concrete barrier so that he was no longer in the line of fire.
“Osama removed his own shirt, using it to stanch the officer’s bleeding. Helped by two Turkish men, he then managed to bring the officer to an ambulance.
“Osama’s quick response saved the officer’s life.
“Although other officers tried to dissuade him, Osama insisted on remaining with the injured officer as the ambulance sped toward a hospital.
“Osama – who works in a McDonald’s restaurant in Vienna’s Schwedenplatz area – believes that his childhood gave him the strength he needed that night.
“’Gaza made us men,’ he said. ‘I was not afraid when I was in the middle of the shooting and the danger [in Vienna]. We have lived through worse dangers than that.’
“Osama was only 3 years old when the second intifada erupted in 2000. He grew up in Jabaliya, near Gaza City.
“As a young boy, he often saw Israel’s military raiding the area.
“He was still a child when Israel undertook a massive offensive against Gaza – codenamed Operation Cast Lead – in late 2008 and early 2009.
“’It was terrifying,’ he said. ‘I was in elementary school – in sixth grade – and I was going home from school [when the attack began]. I remember there were mothers outside their houses crying and looking for their children. When I got home, my mother took me in her arms. She would hug us every night because my brothers and I were so afraid. Every moment I felt that we were all going to die.”
“Osama’s father, Khalid, left Gaza for Austria in 2010.
“Osama remained in Gaza, living through another major Israeli attack in November 2012. (cont’d)
Good news from down under!!
New Zealand MPs Take a Pledge for Palestine (VIDEO) – Palestine Chronicle
“New Zealand MPs Take a Pledge for Palestine” (VIDEO)The Palestine Chronicle, Dec. 7/20, by Neil Ballantyne
EXCERPT:
“At an event to mark International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people three New Zealand MPs took a pledge to form a new parliamentary Palestine friendship group and to ‘…raise the voices of Palestinian people in New Zealand’s parliament’.
“The event, organized by Wellington Palestine, was attended by over 100 New Zealanders including Golriz Ghahraman, MP (Green Party), Teanau Tuiono, MP (Green Party), and Ibrahim Omer, MP (Labour Party). In a speech to open the event Ghahraman – an Iranian-born refugee and former human rights lawyer – insisted that New Zealand must divest from companies that were complicit in crimes against international law.
“’We do have to divest from investing in the occupied territories. We do have to stop trade with any company – not just Israel – any multinational corporation that’s profiting from the occupation of Palestine. Because crimes are being committed there. Because it isn’t just about land. We know – the United Nations tells us constantly – that forcible movement of people means that a whole range of international crimes are being committed. It is mass killings. It is mass maimings. It is the deprivation of Palestinians from all of their other inalienable rights.’ said Ghahraman.”
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“Without his father, ‘I felt insecure and very afraid,’ Osama said. ‘I saw on TV how there were children whose parents had been killed. I felt a little relieved to know my father was alive and safe in Austria.’
“In 2013, Osama, his mother and his three brothers emigrated to Austria, traveling there via Egypt.
“Once he made it to Austria, Osama was reunited with his father.
“But adapting to life in Vienna was not easy.
“He had to endure a hostile political climate. Austria’s governments in recent years have included right-wing and far-right parties that have fought election campaigns on anti-refugee tickets and tightened immigration laws after coming to power.
“On many occasions, Osama has received abuse – including from colleagues in a firm for which he worked – for having the same first name as Osama bin Laden.
“Osama was awarded the Golden Police Medal for his role in rescuing the officer.
“Khalid, his father, argues that Osama’s heroic deed has helped improve Austrians’ perception of refugees.
“’The picture has changed so much,’ said Khalid, 44. ‘The image of refugees is better. People realize that in seeking asylum and safety we are trying to preserve our humanity.'”
**Ola Mousa is an artist and writer from Gaza.