Two Palestinian teenagers were killed by Israeli gunfire in the span of just a few days in the occupied West Bank, bringing the death toll of Palestinian youth killed by Israel in 2021 to 77.
Sixteen year old Palestinian teenager Ahmed Shamsa succumbed to his wounds on Thursday morning, a day after he was shot in the head by Israeli forces in the northern occupied West Bank village of Beita in the Nablus district. According to locals Shamsa is the fifth Palestinian to be killed by Israeli forces in Beita since protests against the establishment of a new Israeli settler outpost in the area began in early May. Shamsa is the ninth Palestinian youth to be killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the year.
Reporter Tareq Hajjaj reflects back on the harrowing last few weeks in Gaza where he twice fled his home to escape Israeli attacks, and reveals the trauma of reporters who cover wars that they are also trying to survive.
Israeli forces shot and killed Palestinian teen Saeed Odeh on Wednesday night in the Nablus district in the northern occupied West Bank. “Israeli forces routinely unlawfully kill Palestinian children with impunity, using intentional lethal force against Palestinian children when they pose no threat,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish of Defense for Children International – Palestine.
On Wednesday, Israeli forces arrested five Palestinian children, ranging between the ages of 8 and 13, in the South Hebron Hills as they picked the seasonal wild flowers to bring back home to their families. Eyewitnesses say the children were first attacked by Israeli settlers, and then detained by Israeli soldiers at the settlers’ demand. “This was obviously an attempt by the settlers to intimidate the boys by using the soldiers,” eyewitness Basel Adrah tells Mondoweiss. “They didn’t steal or damage anything. All they were doing was picking akoub. Is this a crime?”
Ayman Abu Alia remembers his son, Ali, who was killed by Israeli snipers on his 15th birthday. “In the past few days, I have seen all the young men and boys in the village stand with us, and it makes me feel like Ali is still standing here with us,” Abu Alia tells Mondoweiss, “He’s still here, brave, and standing up for his people and his land. That’s how I will remember my son.”
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. 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.
On November 12, U.S. Representative Betty McCollum gave a speech to the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. “It is my hope that Parliamentarians from across the globe will find common purpose and work together in solidarity with the Palestinian people,” McCollum said.
Read Rep. Betty McCollum speech upon accepting the Champion of Palestinian Rights Award from American Muslims for Palestine: “Why would congress, or any American, ever want to fund the abuse of a child?”
Brad Parker explains, “Everybody can understand the physical violence against a child. I think that’s a universal red line that exists for most people. And in that, I think was the overarching sort of consideration in shaping the campaign. We wanted to have something that was really basic, straightforward, accessible, relatable so that it expanded the movement and also complemented the other things that were happening.”