10 june 2015
By Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Palestine
Throughout its unglamorous history, the UN issued many scandalous reports and adopted many scandalous resolutions reflecting lack of justice and absence of moral honesty.
This ever-existing symptom also reflected western hegemony over the international organization.
However, none of these reports and resolutions seems more scandalous than this week's report which kept Israel off the List of Shame, which includes states and entities that abuse children.
This particular report is manifestly scandalous precisely because Israel is probably one of the most obscene abusers of children under the sun.
Indeed, there are a few countries in this world that can be compared to Israel in this respect.
At the top of the list of shame sits the Nazi-like Syrian regime of Bashar el-Assad which habitually and routinely murders children (and other civilians) in large numbers, either by dropping crude barrel bombs on residential neighborhoods and crowded streets or using deadly chemical agents against heavily populated areas.
To be sure, Israel uses neither crude barrel bombs nor chemical weapons to annihilate Palestinian children. Instead, the Jewish state achieves the same results by using huge laser guided bombs and missiles to destroy residential multi-story buildings, packed with civilians, including children.
Needless to say, the ultimate result of such barbarity is a little Auschwitz.
Exterminating from high altitudes is, of course, Israel's preferred way of murdering Palestinian children and casting shock and awe in their hearts.
But it is by no means the only way. In its last year's blitzkrieg in Gaza, Israel obliterated entire neighborhoods, such as Shujaiyya, utterly annihilating everything, including human, building and plant.
According to eyewitnesses, the scene at the bombed-out neighborhood very much looked as if borrowed from the German city of Dresden in 1945.
Killing knowingly is killing deliberately
In its last year's aggression on the Gaza Strip, Israel murdered at least 500 Palestinian children, in addition to hundreds of other civilians, including many entire families.
In earlier rounds of aggression, Israel had murdered and maimed hundreds of children.
Israel has a long history of premeditatedly murdering Palestinian children. In light, one would exaggerate little by saying that Israel boasts the highest per capita rate of child-killers in the world.
Israel readily acknowledges that it kills Palestinian children knowingly.
A few years ago, this writer spoke with an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokeswoman who said that "Yes, we do know that Palestinian children are being killed as a result of our military activities, but we don't do it deliberately."
But this is a sheer lie, because in the final analysis killing knowingly is killing deliberately.
Indeed, mistakes in wars do occur and innocent civilians get killed. However, mistakes happen a few times not hundreds of times because in this case killing civilians becomes de facto policy.
This has always been and continues to be Israel's policy. They kill the innocent civilians first and then, only then, the Israeli foreign ministry and other mouthpieces of Israeli hasbara (propaganda) get busy justifying the Nazi-like atrocities, mainly by concocting every conceivable lie and inventing fabulous narratives that have absolutely no iota of truth.
This reminds me of routine communiqués issued by the Israeli security forces during the first Palestinian intifada which started in December of 1987. Then the Israeli army spokesman would issue statements like this following the murder of Palestinian boys in the streets of the West Bank.
"IDF soldiers fired into the air to disperse Palestinian rioters. Palestinian sources reported five youths killed." The wording of the Israeli army statements made many foreign observers, utterly affronted by the brutal ugliness of Israeli dishonesty, wonders if Palestinian boys had wings and could fly.
Moral bankruptcy
The clarion failure of the UN to condemn brazen Israeli criminality and brash violation of international law underscores the moral bankruptcy of the world body.
Consequently, more states and peoples will lose confidence in the ability and willingness of the UN to foster peace and justice throughout the world. Unfortunately, this is becoming more evident as time passes.
Eventually, this could transform our world into a real jungle, an unmistakable portent signaling ultimate self-destruction.
Khalid Amayreh is a Palestinian journalist and current affairs commentator living in Israeli Occupied Palestine.
Throughout its unglamorous history, the UN issued many scandalous reports and adopted many scandalous resolutions reflecting lack of justice and absence of moral honesty.
This ever-existing symptom also reflected western hegemony over the international organization.
However, none of these reports and resolutions seems more scandalous than this week's report which kept Israel off the List of Shame, which includes states and entities that abuse children.
This particular report is manifestly scandalous precisely because Israel is probably one of the most obscene abusers of children under the sun.
Indeed, there are a few countries in this world that can be compared to Israel in this respect.
At the top of the list of shame sits the Nazi-like Syrian regime of Bashar el-Assad which habitually and routinely murders children (and other civilians) in large numbers, either by dropping crude barrel bombs on residential neighborhoods and crowded streets or using deadly chemical agents against heavily populated areas.
To be sure, Israel uses neither crude barrel bombs nor chemical weapons to annihilate Palestinian children. Instead, the Jewish state achieves the same results by using huge laser guided bombs and missiles to destroy residential multi-story buildings, packed with civilians, including children.
Needless to say, the ultimate result of such barbarity is a little Auschwitz.
Exterminating from high altitudes is, of course, Israel's preferred way of murdering Palestinian children and casting shock and awe in their hearts.
But it is by no means the only way. In its last year's blitzkrieg in Gaza, Israel obliterated entire neighborhoods, such as Shujaiyya, utterly annihilating everything, including human, building and plant.
According to eyewitnesses, the scene at the bombed-out neighborhood very much looked as if borrowed from the German city of Dresden in 1945.
Killing knowingly is killing deliberately
In its last year's aggression on the Gaza Strip, Israel murdered at least 500 Palestinian children, in addition to hundreds of other civilians, including many entire families.
In earlier rounds of aggression, Israel had murdered and maimed hundreds of children.
Israel has a long history of premeditatedly murdering Palestinian children. In light, one would exaggerate little by saying that Israel boasts the highest per capita rate of child-killers in the world.
Israel readily acknowledges that it kills Palestinian children knowingly.
A few years ago, this writer spoke with an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokeswoman who said that "Yes, we do know that Palestinian children are being killed as a result of our military activities, but we don't do it deliberately."
But this is a sheer lie, because in the final analysis killing knowingly is killing deliberately.
Indeed, mistakes in wars do occur and innocent civilians get killed. However, mistakes happen a few times not hundreds of times because in this case killing civilians becomes de facto policy.
This has always been and continues to be Israel's policy. They kill the innocent civilians first and then, only then, the Israeli foreign ministry and other mouthpieces of Israeli hasbara (propaganda) get busy justifying the Nazi-like atrocities, mainly by concocting every conceivable lie and inventing fabulous narratives that have absolutely no iota of truth.
This reminds me of routine communiqués issued by the Israeli security forces during the first Palestinian intifada which started in December of 1987. Then the Israeli army spokesman would issue statements like this following the murder of Palestinian boys in the streets of the West Bank.
"IDF soldiers fired into the air to disperse Palestinian rioters. Palestinian sources reported five youths killed." The wording of the Israeli army statements made many foreign observers, utterly affronted by the brutal ugliness of Israeli dishonesty, wonders if Palestinian boys had wings and could fly.
Moral bankruptcy
The clarion failure of the UN to condemn brazen Israeli criminality and brash violation of international law underscores the moral bankruptcy of the world body.
Consequently, more states and peoples will lose confidence in the ability and willingness of the UN to foster peace and justice throughout the world. Unfortunately, this is becoming more evident as time passes.
Eventually, this could transform our world into a real jungle, an unmistakable portent signaling ultimate self-destruction.
Khalid Amayreh is a Palestinian journalist and current affairs commentator living in Israeli Occupied Palestine.
A human rights group submitted, on Wednesday, a report to UN about Israeli torture and mistreatment of Palestinian children.
Military Court Watch (MCW) lodged the submission with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, annexing over 300 pages of evidence relating to the treatment of children held in Israeli military detention.
The MCW said, according to Days of Palestine, that the evidence included the cases of 200 minors detained by the Israeli military in the West Bank between January 2013 and May 2015.
Following a review of the evidence, the submission confirmed an earlier finding by UNICEF that “the ill-treatment of children, who come in contact with the military detention system, appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalised.”
“This finding is based on recent evidence that shows that intimidation, threats, verbal abuse, physical violence and the denial of basic legal rights are still commonplace within the system,” MCW said.
Based on data provided by the Israeli military and the UN, the submission estimated that since martial law was imposed in the West Bank 48 years ago, some 95,000 children have been detained, of which 59,000 are likely to have been subjected to some form of physical violence.
In addition, MCW said: “Based on the evidence, the submission also drew a link between this industrial scale abuse and the maintenance of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
“The submission concluded that in order to enable 370,000 Israeli settlers to live in the West Bank in violation of international law without serious interference, the military is required to adopt a strategy of mass intimidation and collective punishment.”
Palestinian Kids Bring Their Cause to Cambridge
Palestinian children and teenagers visiting Britain held a demonstration, yesterday, rallying against Palestinian child imprisonment by Israel in the West Bank and Israel.
Cambridge news reported that the children were given a tour of King’s College, Cambridge, before leading a march through the city’s streets. They wore blindfolds and shackles during their march in order to raise awareness of the horrific circumstances many Palestinian detainees, including children, suffer through.
One of the children (16) told his story of being shot by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on his way home from school. Another (13) has a friend who was arrested at a protest and detained for 2 months without charge or trial.
According to the PNN, there are currently 182 Palestinian minors locked up in Israeli jails, including 26 minors below the age of 16.
Meanwhile, Israel was dropped yesterday from a UN list of children’s rights violators, despite evidence presented to the UN concerning Israeli violations during the 2014 Israeli assault on Gaza. During this assault, 535 Palestinian children were killed, 3374 wounded and approximately 1000 left permanently disabled.
The visit to Cambridge was organised by human rights charity Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association (CADFA) and funded by Erasmus and the European Union (EU).
One of the organisers, Pamela Manning, said: “There is nothing like meeting and talking for breaking down preconceived opinions and for the Palestinians the fact that some of us are listening might just reduce the violence.”
The group’s visit will end with a series of public events in London later this week.
See also: Child Detainees Testify To Torture And Abuse
DCI-Palestine: Israel Willfully Targeted & Murdered Gaza Children
DCI: “UN Shields Israel From Accountability For Atrocities Against Children”
"We Bombed Civilians for Entertainment."
Military Court Watch (MCW) lodged the submission with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, annexing over 300 pages of evidence relating to the treatment of children held in Israeli military detention.
The MCW said, according to Days of Palestine, that the evidence included the cases of 200 minors detained by the Israeli military in the West Bank between January 2013 and May 2015.
Following a review of the evidence, the submission confirmed an earlier finding by UNICEF that “the ill-treatment of children, who come in contact with the military detention system, appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalised.”
“This finding is based on recent evidence that shows that intimidation, threats, verbal abuse, physical violence and the denial of basic legal rights are still commonplace within the system,” MCW said.
Based on data provided by the Israeli military and the UN, the submission estimated that since martial law was imposed in the West Bank 48 years ago, some 95,000 children have been detained, of which 59,000 are likely to have been subjected to some form of physical violence.
In addition, MCW said: “Based on the evidence, the submission also drew a link between this industrial scale abuse and the maintenance of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
“The submission concluded that in order to enable 370,000 Israeli settlers to live in the West Bank in violation of international law without serious interference, the military is required to adopt a strategy of mass intimidation and collective punishment.”
Palestinian Kids Bring Their Cause to Cambridge
Palestinian children and teenagers visiting Britain held a demonstration, yesterday, rallying against Palestinian child imprisonment by Israel in the West Bank and Israel.
Cambridge news reported that the children were given a tour of King’s College, Cambridge, before leading a march through the city’s streets. They wore blindfolds and shackles during their march in order to raise awareness of the horrific circumstances many Palestinian detainees, including children, suffer through.
One of the children (16) told his story of being shot by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on his way home from school. Another (13) has a friend who was arrested at a protest and detained for 2 months without charge or trial.
According to the PNN, there are currently 182 Palestinian minors locked up in Israeli jails, including 26 minors below the age of 16.
Meanwhile, Israel was dropped yesterday from a UN list of children’s rights violators, despite evidence presented to the UN concerning Israeli violations during the 2014 Israeli assault on Gaza. During this assault, 535 Palestinian children were killed, 3374 wounded and approximately 1000 left permanently disabled.
The visit to Cambridge was organised by human rights charity Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association (CADFA) and funded by Erasmus and the European Union (EU).
One of the organisers, Pamela Manning, said: “There is nothing like meeting and talking for breaking down preconceived opinions and for the Palestinians the fact that some of us are listening might just reduce the violence.”
The group’s visit will end with a series of public events in London later this week.
See also: Child Detainees Testify To Torture And Abuse
DCI-Palestine: Israel Willfully Targeted & Murdered Gaza Children
DCI: “UN Shields Israel From Accountability For Atrocities Against Children”
"We Bombed Civilians for Entertainment."
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) kid kidnapped at dawn Wednesday 12 Palestinian citizens throughout occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
Israeli media sources said that ten “wanted” Palestinians were arrested Wednesday for being allegedly involved in attacks against Israeli forces and settlers.
Three arrests were carried out in Jenin, while two others were reported in Asker refugee camp south of Nablus, the sources said.
Three detainees were nabbed in al-Khalil, while two minors were arrested in Aida camp Bethlehem. A 14-year-old boy was summoned for investigation during an Israeli large-scale raid and arrest campaign in the refugee camp.
A number of local homes owned by ex-prisoners were stormed and violently searched in Awarta town in Nablus. No arrests were reported during the raid.
In occupied Jerusalem, Israeli police forces arrested two Palestinians including a minor from their homes in Issawiya town.
The prisoner Samer Issawi’s mother said in a Facebook post that Israeli forces brutally broke into her son Firas’ home at 2 a.m. and arrested his 13-year-old son.
Israeli media sources said that ten “wanted” Palestinians were arrested Wednesday for being allegedly involved in attacks against Israeli forces and settlers.
Three arrests were carried out in Jenin, while two others were reported in Asker refugee camp south of Nablus, the sources said.
Three detainees were nabbed in al-Khalil, while two minors were arrested in Aida camp Bethlehem. A 14-year-old boy was summoned for investigation during an Israeli large-scale raid and arrest campaign in the refugee camp.
A number of local homes owned by ex-prisoners were stormed and violently searched in Awarta town in Nablus. No arrests were reported during the raid.
In occupied Jerusalem, Israeli police forces arrested two Palestinians including a minor from their homes in Issawiya town.
The prisoner Samer Issawi’s mother said in a Facebook post that Israeli forces brutally broke into her son Firas’ home at 2 a.m. and arrested his 13-year-old son.
9 june 2015
Defense for Children International – Palestine Branch (DCIP), issued a statement expressing deep concern regarding the decision of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to exclude the Israeli army from the UN annual list of groups that commit serious violations against children.
DCI said that the UN leader annually submits to the UN Security Council a report on children and armed conflicts.
The report includes what is referred to as “the list of shame” documenting violations by armed forces and groups. The list included serious Israeli violations that led to killing and maiming children in the Gaza Strip, in addition to Israel’s bombardment of thousands of civilian structures.
“By removing Israel’s armed forces from the ‘list of shame’, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has provided tacit approval for Israeli forces to continue carrying out grave violations against children with impunity,” Khaled Quzmar, DCIP’s general director. “It is deplorable that a proven and strong evidence-based accountability tool to protect children during armed conflicts has been significantly undermined in an effort to shield Israel from accountability.”
The UN Secretary General annual report, released Monday, said that 577 Palestinian children were killed in 2014, the third highest after Afghanistan, where 710 children were killed, and Iraq 967 children, while the number of children killed in Syria is 368.
DCI said the Israeli forces damaged or destroyed 543 schools in 2014, which is the highest record of all other conflicts, in 2014.
Last week, DCI and Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Ban Ki-Moon urging him to resist all political pressures aiming at excluding the Israeli military from the list of shame, explaining that “they led evidence-based advocacy effort to ensure including Israel in the list for killing and maiming thousands of children, and bombarding schools, including UNRWA-run school, in the Gaza Strip.
They called on the UN leader to “apply consistent criteria when determining which parties to list, including all armed forces and non-state armed groups where there is credible evidence of a pattern of violations.”
Full DCI Report:
UN shields Israel from accountability for atrocities against children
Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP) is deeply troubled by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s decision not to include Israel’s armed forces in his annual list of groups that commit grave violations of children’s rights. Each year, the UN Secretary-General submits a report on children and armed conflict to the UN Security Council that includes a “list of shame” of armed forces and groups. Israel’s armed forces were reportedly recommended by Ms. Leila Zerrougui, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG-CAAC), for inclusion in the list for killing and maiming children as well as carrying out attacks against schools. Recently, the United States reportedly pressured Ban Ki-moon, who holds sole discretion in the matter, against taking this action. This is believed to be the first time the Secretary-General has not accepted the recommendation of the SRSG-CAAC.
“By removing Israel’s armed forces from the children’s ‘list of shame’, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has provided tacit approval for Israeli forces to continue carrying out grave violations against children with impunity,” said Khaled Quzmar, DCIP’s general director. “It is deplorable that a proven and strong evidence-based accountability tool to protect children during armed conflict has been significantly undermined in an effort to shield Israel from accountability.”
The Secretary-General's annual report on children and armed conflict, released today, states that 557 Palestinian children were killed in 2014, the third highest behind Afghanistan (710) and Iraq (679) and significantly more than in Syria (368). At least 543 schools were damaged or destroyed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), which was the highest recorded number of all situations in 2014, according to the report.
Last week, DCIP called on Ban Ki-moon to resist political pressure against holding Israel accountable, and Human Rights Watch sent him a letter urging him to “apply consistent criteria when determining which parties to list, including all armed forces and non-state armed groups where there is credible evidence of a pattern of violations.” The draft list also included Palestinian armed groups, but the Secretary-General also removed them from the final version. Over the past 10 months, DCIP has led evidence-based advocacy efforts urging Israel's inclusion in Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's annual "list of shame" for killing and maiming children and carrying out attacks on schools in Gaza.
The decision to remove Israel’s armed forces from the draft list comes despite a report released in late April by a UN Board of Inquiry established by the Secretary-General that found Israel responsible for strikes on UN schools and shelters in Gaza that killed at least 44 Palestinians, including children.
During Israel’s most recent military offensive, known as “Operation Protective Edge”, and as in previous offensives, Israeli armed forces carried out a significant number of direct attacks on civilian homes and other civilian buildings, including schools, killing over 500 Palestinian children and injuring another 3,374 children in attacks throughout Gaza in July and August 2014.
Since 2007, a monitoring group, led by the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, has reported on grave violations against children in Israel and the OPT. The group includes international, Israeli, and Palestinian nongovernmental organizations and UN agencies. The group’s bulletin on Israel’s military offensive in Gaza last summer [PDF] includes extensive and detailed evidence of the killing and maiming of Palestinian children as well as attacks against their schools.
Detailed and comprehensive data and information on grave violations against children in the OPT has been included in each of the Secretary-General’s annual reports on children and armed conflict since 2006.
UN Security Council Resolution 1612, adopted in 2005, formally established a UN-led, evidence-based monitoring and reporting mechanism (MRM) on grave violations against children during armed conflict. The six grave violations against children, as defined by the Security Council, include killing and maiming, child recruitment, sexual violence, attacks on schools or hospitals, denial of humanitarian access for children, and abduction.
MRM working groups systematically gather information and submit documentation on the major child rights violations for inclusion in the UN Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict. Credible evidence of armed forces or groups committing these atrocities against children obligates the Secretary-General to list them in the annex of his annual report.
The significance of the MRM is that it provides a process for accountability when armed forces or armed groups violate universal and fundamental principles. Over the past decade, the global MRM has significantly increased protections for children during armed conflict. However, it has failed to foster the compliance of Israeli forces with international child protection standards.
DCI said that the UN leader annually submits to the UN Security Council a report on children and armed conflicts.
The report includes what is referred to as “the list of shame” documenting violations by armed forces and groups. The list included serious Israeli violations that led to killing and maiming children in the Gaza Strip, in addition to Israel’s bombardment of thousands of civilian structures.
“By removing Israel’s armed forces from the ‘list of shame’, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has provided tacit approval for Israeli forces to continue carrying out grave violations against children with impunity,” Khaled Quzmar, DCIP’s general director. “It is deplorable that a proven and strong evidence-based accountability tool to protect children during armed conflicts has been significantly undermined in an effort to shield Israel from accountability.”
The UN Secretary General annual report, released Monday, said that 577 Palestinian children were killed in 2014, the third highest after Afghanistan, where 710 children were killed, and Iraq 967 children, while the number of children killed in Syria is 368.
DCI said the Israeli forces damaged or destroyed 543 schools in 2014, which is the highest record of all other conflicts, in 2014.
Last week, DCI and Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Ban Ki-Moon urging him to resist all political pressures aiming at excluding the Israeli military from the list of shame, explaining that “they led evidence-based advocacy effort to ensure including Israel in the list for killing and maiming thousands of children, and bombarding schools, including UNRWA-run school, in the Gaza Strip.
They called on the UN leader to “apply consistent criteria when determining which parties to list, including all armed forces and non-state armed groups where there is credible evidence of a pattern of violations.”
Full DCI Report:
UN shields Israel from accountability for atrocities against children
Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP) is deeply troubled by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s decision not to include Israel’s armed forces in his annual list of groups that commit grave violations of children’s rights. Each year, the UN Secretary-General submits a report on children and armed conflict to the UN Security Council that includes a “list of shame” of armed forces and groups. Israel’s armed forces were reportedly recommended by Ms. Leila Zerrougui, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG-CAAC), for inclusion in the list for killing and maiming children as well as carrying out attacks against schools. Recently, the United States reportedly pressured Ban Ki-moon, who holds sole discretion in the matter, against taking this action. This is believed to be the first time the Secretary-General has not accepted the recommendation of the SRSG-CAAC.
“By removing Israel’s armed forces from the children’s ‘list of shame’, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has provided tacit approval for Israeli forces to continue carrying out grave violations against children with impunity,” said Khaled Quzmar, DCIP’s general director. “It is deplorable that a proven and strong evidence-based accountability tool to protect children during armed conflict has been significantly undermined in an effort to shield Israel from accountability.”
The Secretary-General's annual report on children and armed conflict, released today, states that 557 Palestinian children were killed in 2014, the third highest behind Afghanistan (710) and Iraq (679) and significantly more than in Syria (368). At least 543 schools were damaged or destroyed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), which was the highest recorded number of all situations in 2014, according to the report.
Last week, DCIP called on Ban Ki-moon to resist political pressure against holding Israel accountable, and Human Rights Watch sent him a letter urging him to “apply consistent criteria when determining which parties to list, including all armed forces and non-state armed groups where there is credible evidence of a pattern of violations.” The draft list also included Palestinian armed groups, but the Secretary-General also removed them from the final version. Over the past 10 months, DCIP has led evidence-based advocacy efforts urging Israel's inclusion in Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's annual "list of shame" for killing and maiming children and carrying out attacks on schools in Gaza.
The decision to remove Israel’s armed forces from the draft list comes despite a report released in late April by a UN Board of Inquiry established by the Secretary-General that found Israel responsible for strikes on UN schools and shelters in Gaza that killed at least 44 Palestinians, including children.
During Israel’s most recent military offensive, known as “Operation Protective Edge”, and as in previous offensives, Israeli armed forces carried out a significant number of direct attacks on civilian homes and other civilian buildings, including schools, killing over 500 Palestinian children and injuring another 3,374 children in attacks throughout Gaza in July and August 2014.
Since 2007, a monitoring group, led by the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, has reported on grave violations against children in Israel and the OPT. The group includes international, Israeli, and Palestinian nongovernmental organizations and UN agencies. The group’s bulletin on Israel’s military offensive in Gaza last summer [PDF] includes extensive and detailed evidence of the killing and maiming of Palestinian children as well as attacks against their schools.
Detailed and comprehensive data and information on grave violations against children in the OPT has been included in each of the Secretary-General’s annual reports on children and armed conflict since 2006.
UN Security Council Resolution 1612, adopted in 2005, formally established a UN-led, evidence-based monitoring and reporting mechanism (MRM) on grave violations against children during armed conflict. The six grave violations against children, as defined by the Security Council, include killing and maiming, child recruitment, sexual violence, attacks on schools or hospitals, denial of humanitarian access for children, and abduction.
MRM working groups systematically gather information and submit documentation on the major child rights violations for inclusion in the UN Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict. Credible evidence of armed forces or groups committing these atrocities against children obligates the Secretary-General to list them in the annex of his annual report.
The significance of the MRM is that it provides a process for accountability when armed forces or armed groups violate universal and fundamental principles. Over the past decade, the global MRM has significantly increased protections for children during armed conflict. However, it has failed to foster the compliance of Israeli forces with international child protection standards.
8 june 2015
"Ban Ki-moon’s decision not to include Israel on the list of violators of children’s rights twists the knife in the heart of every Palestinian parent, making it very clear that in the eyes of the United Nations Palestinian children’s lives don’t count," Hemaya Center for Human rights said in a press release on Monday.
It said, "When a military with the most sophisticated and accurate weaponry on the planet can kill more than 500 children in cold blood with complete impunity, as Israel’s absence from the list shows, it reveals more than just the complete disregard for Palestinian lives that has become so commonplace in the halls of power. It also makes it abundantly clear that the UN, the single most important international organisation charged with protecting the lives of the most vulnerable, is failing spectacularly."
The release pointed out that Children are the lifeblood of the future. How can any world citizen look at the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Palestinian child death toll from the 2014 Israeli aggression, and this decision, and not be appalled?
"At best it reflects the paucity of responsible leadership evident in the UN under Ban Ki-moon’s secretaryship, which has seen public faith in the international organisation reach an all-time low."
The center said, "At worst it underlines the gross politicisation of an organisation purporting to uphold the rights of ALL humans – and failing.The only way Ban Ki-moon’s decision – if not his entire leadership in relation to the Palestinian issue – can be called a success is if the intention is to ‘grow’ a generation of increasingly angry cynics with no respect for the abject hypocrisy emanating from Geneva and New York."
Hemaya expressed its utmost disappointment in the attitude to Palestinian children that the decision represents, and called on human rights bodies and concerned citizens everywhere to roundly reject it by supporting and valuing those Palestinian children who survived, and who continue to suffer under illegal occupation, repression and siege.
It said, "When a military with the most sophisticated and accurate weaponry on the planet can kill more than 500 children in cold blood with complete impunity, as Israel’s absence from the list shows, it reveals more than just the complete disregard for Palestinian lives that has become so commonplace in the halls of power. It also makes it abundantly clear that the UN, the single most important international organisation charged with protecting the lives of the most vulnerable, is failing spectacularly."
The release pointed out that Children are the lifeblood of the future. How can any world citizen look at the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Palestinian child death toll from the 2014 Israeli aggression, and this decision, and not be appalled?
"At best it reflects the paucity of responsible leadership evident in the UN under Ban Ki-moon’s secretaryship, which has seen public faith in the international organisation reach an all-time low."
The center said, "At worst it underlines the gross politicisation of an organisation purporting to uphold the rights of ALL humans – and failing.The only way Ban Ki-moon’s decision – if not his entire leadership in relation to the Palestinian issue – can be called a success is if the intention is to ‘grow’ a generation of increasingly angry cynics with no respect for the abject hypocrisy emanating from Geneva and New York."
Hemaya expressed its utmost disappointment in the attitude to Palestinian children that the decision represents, and called on human rights bodies and concerned citizens everywhere to roundly reject it by supporting and valuing those Palestinian children who survived, and who continue to suffer under illegal occupation, repression and siege.
5 june 2015
Video
Dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded, on Friday, Kufur Qaddoum village, near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, and attacked the weekly protest, which led to clashes; the soldiers fired dozens of gas bombs, causing six siblings, between the ages of six months and five years, to suffer severe effects of tear gas inhalation; one Palestinian was shot with a live round.
This week, the villagers were marching in commemoration of the Palestinian Naksa of 1967, when Israel occupied the rest of Palestine (the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem,) and demanding Israel to reopen the main village road that it shut down 13 years ago.
Morad Eshteiwy, coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Kufur Qaddoum, said dozens of soldiers, accompanied by an armored military bulldozer, invaded the village, and advanced towards its mosque while firing a barrage of gas bombs, live rounds and rubber-coated metal bullets.
Eshteiwy added that the soldiers fired dozens of gas bombs directly at the homes of the residents, in addition to firing rounds of live ammunition and rubber-coated metal bullets, and sprayed the protesters with wastewater mixed with chemicals.
Some of the bombs struck a family home, causing six children, ages six months to five years, and their parents, to suffer severe effects of gas inhalation, while some children fainted, before residents rushed to the family home to rescue them.
The invasion, and the targeting of homes, led to clashes between the soldiers and dozens of local youth who hurled stones and empty bottles on them.
Medical sources said one Palestinian, 45 years of age, was shot in the leg, with a live round fired by the invading soldiers.
Dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded, on Friday, Kufur Qaddoum village, near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, and attacked the weekly protest, which led to clashes; the soldiers fired dozens of gas bombs, causing six siblings, between the ages of six months and five years, to suffer severe effects of tear gas inhalation; one Palestinian was shot with a live round.
This week, the villagers were marching in commemoration of the Palestinian Naksa of 1967, when Israel occupied the rest of Palestine (the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem,) and demanding Israel to reopen the main village road that it shut down 13 years ago.
Morad Eshteiwy, coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Kufur Qaddoum, said dozens of soldiers, accompanied by an armored military bulldozer, invaded the village, and advanced towards its mosque while firing a barrage of gas bombs, live rounds and rubber-coated metal bullets.
Eshteiwy added that the soldiers fired dozens of gas bombs directly at the homes of the residents, in addition to firing rounds of live ammunition and rubber-coated metal bullets, and sprayed the protesters with wastewater mixed with chemicals.
Some of the bombs struck a family home, causing six children, ages six months to five years, and their parents, to suffer severe effects of gas inhalation, while some children fainted, before residents rushed to the family home to rescue them.
The invasion, and the targeting of homes, led to clashes between the soldiers and dozens of local youth who hurled stones and empty bottles on them.
Medical sources said one Palestinian, 45 years of age, was shot in the leg, with a live round fired by the invading soldiers.
The Israeli occupation army killed more than 980 Palestinian children under age 18 and injured hundreds more during its three wars on the besieged Gaza Strip.
During its indiscriminate military attacks on Gaza, Israel, despite its claims on respecting international law, violated all international standards that protect children's rights, including what are stipulated by the 1989 international convention on the rights of the Child, the 1948 universal declaration of human rights and the 1949 Geneva convention.
In a statement released by Defense for Children International-Palestine on the international day of innocent children victims of aggression that is observed on the fourth of June, the organization said that 2014 was the deadliest and most difficult on Gaza children, where more than 530 of them were killed in direct Israeli attacks.
During its indiscriminate military attacks on Gaza, Israel, despite its claims on respecting international law, violated all international standards that protect children's rights, including what are stipulated by the 1989 international convention on the rights of the Child, the 1948 universal declaration of human rights and the 1949 Geneva convention.
In a statement released by Defense for Children International-Palestine on the international day of innocent children victims of aggression that is observed on the fourth of June, the organization said that 2014 was the deadliest and most difficult on Gaza children, where more than 530 of them were killed in direct Israeli attacks.
Palestinian rights groups and prisoners’ families have expressed Thursday deep concern over the Palestinian minors’ escalated arrest at hands of Israeli forces in Jenin city.
Palestinian minors’ families have held Thursday a sit-in outside Red Cross headquarters in Jenin protesting against the Israeli continued arrest of the two children Amer Bajawi, 14, and Sanad Masharqeh, 16.
The two children are schoolboys from Jenin. They were detained on May 24, 2015 while playing outside their homes near an Israeli military tower.
The families handed the Red Cross administration a petition calling for an urgent intervention to save the two detained children’s lives.
The protesters also called on the international human rights institutions to exert pressures on Israel to stop its children arrest policy.
The local activist Ragheb Abu Diak said during the event that more than 300 Palestinian children are currently held in Israeli jails.
In 2014, international rights group Defense for Children reported that 93 percent of children detained by Israeli forces were denied access to legal counsel, while others endured prolonged periods of solitary confinement for interrogation purposes, a practice that also amounts to torture under international law.
Palestinian minors’ families have held Thursday a sit-in outside Red Cross headquarters in Jenin protesting against the Israeli continued arrest of the two children Amer Bajawi, 14, and Sanad Masharqeh, 16.
The two children are schoolboys from Jenin. They were detained on May 24, 2015 while playing outside their homes near an Israeli military tower.
The families handed the Red Cross administration a petition calling for an urgent intervention to save the two detained children’s lives.
The protesters also called on the international human rights institutions to exert pressures on Israel to stop its children arrest policy.
The local activist Ragheb Abu Diak said during the event that more than 300 Palestinian children are currently held in Israeli jails.
In 2014, international rights group Defense for Children reported that 93 percent of children detained by Israeli forces were denied access to legal counsel, while others endured prolonged periods of solitary confinement for interrogation purposes, a practice that also amounts to torture under international law.
3 june 2015
Israeli soldiers installed, Wednesday, a sudden roadblock at the main entrance of Silwad town, east of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and kidnapped one child, who also holds an American citizenship. The soldiers also detained a young man for a few hours.
The child’s mother said the soldiers stopped a car transporting her child, Taleb Ghaleb Hamed, 15 years of age, and another young man, around 22 years of age, who was released a few hours later, the WAFA News Agency said.
She added that the soldiers took her child to the Mikhmas interrogation center, before moving him to the Ofer Israeli prison.
The child is scheduled to appear in the Jerusalem District Court Thursday; his family was not granted any further information, and were not allowed to see him.
On April 17 2015, The Palestinian Prisoners Day, the Census Committee of the Palestinian Committee of Detainees issued a report revealing that Israeli soldiers have kidnapped 1545 Palestinians, including 258 children and 77 women, since the beginning of the year.
The child’s mother said the soldiers stopped a car transporting her child, Taleb Ghaleb Hamed, 15 years of age, and another young man, around 22 years of age, who was released a few hours later, the WAFA News Agency said.
She added that the soldiers took her child to the Mikhmas interrogation center, before moving him to the Ofer Israeli prison.
The child is scheduled to appear in the Jerusalem District Court Thursday; his family was not granted any further information, and were not allowed to see him.
On April 17 2015, The Palestinian Prisoners Day, the Census Committee of the Palestinian Committee of Detainees issued a report revealing that Israeli soldiers have kidnapped 1545 Palestinians, including 258 children and 77 women, since the beginning of the year.
2 june 2015
On Tuesday, 02 June 2015, Israeli naval gunboats chased and opened fire at a Palestinian fishing boat sailing off northern Gaza shore wounding two fishers. On Monday morning, 01 June 2015, Israeli naval forces also arrested five Palestinian fishers, including a child, while fishing off Gaza shore.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns these attacks against Palestinian fishers that deny them their right to freely practice fishing in the Gaza sea.
PCHR also expresses its concern over the continued Israeli policy of targeting fishers' livelihoods in light of the illegal naval blockade imposed on Gaza sea and in conjunction with the sardine season as well.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 06:00 on Tuesday, 02 June 2015, Israeli gunboats opened fire at a Palestinian fishing boat sailing within four nautical miles off al-Sudaniya shore, north of Gaza City, wounding two fishers.
Moheeb Ahed Baker said to a PCHR fieldworker that at approximately 06:00 on Tuesday, 01 June 2015, he and five other fishers went together for sailing on a fishing boat belonging to Bahjat Baker.
He added that they started fishing four nautical miles off al-Sudaniya shore. They had fished for an hour and a half, but suddenly an Israeli gunboat that was around opened fire at them.
Baker pointed that they tried to flee after they heard the gunfire, but Israeli gunboats chased and directly fired at them. As a result, he sustained five bullet wounds to the legs and Mohammed Mahmoud al-Louh sustained two bullet wounds to the left leg.
On Monday, 01 June 2015, Israeli forces arrested five fishers, including a child, while fishing about four nautical miles off Gaza City shore.
These fishers were identified as: Adel Sa'id Abu Reyala (42), Yusef Adel Abu Reyala (19), Mohammed Ibrahim al-Najjar (35), Rami Ibrahim al-Najjar (30) and Ibrahim Hani al-Najjar (11). Four of them were released on Monday midnight, while Rami al-Najjar has remained in custody.
PCHR condemns the violations committed by the Israeli navy forces against Palestinian fishers in the Gaza Strip, and calls upon Israeli forces to:
1. Immediately stop its policy of chasing and arresting Palestinian fishers, to allow them to sail and fish freely, and to return confiscated fishing boats and tools;
2. Pay compensation to the victims of Israel’s violations for the physical and material damage caused to fishers and their property;
3. Release Palestinian fishermen who have been under the Israeli custody; and
4. Calls upon the international community, including the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention 1949, to intervene in order to stop Israeli violation against Palestinian fishermen.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns these attacks against Palestinian fishers that deny them their right to freely practice fishing in the Gaza sea.
PCHR also expresses its concern over the continued Israeli policy of targeting fishers' livelihoods in light of the illegal naval blockade imposed on Gaza sea and in conjunction with the sardine season as well.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 06:00 on Tuesday, 02 June 2015, Israeli gunboats opened fire at a Palestinian fishing boat sailing within four nautical miles off al-Sudaniya shore, north of Gaza City, wounding two fishers.
Moheeb Ahed Baker said to a PCHR fieldworker that at approximately 06:00 on Tuesday, 01 June 2015, he and five other fishers went together for sailing on a fishing boat belonging to Bahjat Baker.
He added that they started fishing four nautical miles off al-Sudaniya shore. They had fished for an hour and a half, but suddenly an Israeli gunboat that was around opened fire at them.
Baker pointed that they tried to flee after they heard the gunfire, but Israeli gunboats chased and directly fired at them. As a result, he sustained five bullet wounds to the legs and Mohammed Mahmoud al-Louh sustained two bullet wounds to the left leg.
On Monday, 01 June 2015, Israeli forces arrested five fishers, including a child, while fishing about four nautical miles off Gaza City shore.
These fishers were identified as: Adel Sa'id Abu Reyala (42), Yusef Adel Abu Reyala (19), Mohammed Ibrahim al-Najjar (35), Rami Ibrahim al-Najjar (30) and Ibrahim Hani al-Najjar (11). Four of them were released on Monday midnight, while Rami al-Najjar has remained in custody.
PCHR condemns the violations committed by the Israeli navy forces against Palestinian fishers in the Gaza Strip, and calls upon Israeli forces to:
1. Immediately stop its policy of chasing and arresting Palestinian fishers, to allow them to sail and fish freely, and to return confiscated fishing boats and tools;
2. Pay compensation to the victims of Israel’s violations for the physical and material damage caused to fishers and their property;
3. Release Palestinian fishermen who have been under the Israeli custody; and
4. Calls upon the international community, including the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention 1949, to intervene in order to stop Israeli violation against Palestinian fishermen.
1 june 2015
Israeli policemen rounded up five Jerusalemites on Monday after storming their houses in Occupied Jerusalem.
The lawyer of Ad-Damear organization Mohammad Mahmoud disclosed that the Israeli forces arrested at dawn on Monday four Jerusalemites and referred them to the Russian Compound police station in the Old City of Jerusalem for investigation.
The forces also arrested on Monday morning a 15-year-old boy while he was heading to his school.
The lawyer of Ad-Damear organization Mohammad Mahmoud disclosed that the Israeli forces arrested at dawn on Monday four Jerusalemites and referred them to the Russian Compound police station in the Old City of Jerusalem for investigation.
The forces also arrested on Monday morning a 15-year-old boy while he was heading to his school.
Israeli soldiers stand near Palestinian children arrested in Hebron.
Palestinian Authority lawyer Hiba Masalha reported that young Palestinian detainees are being "terrified, threatened, and blackmailed" by Israeli authorities while detained.
There are currently 68 Palestinian teenagers being held in Section 3 of Megeddo prison, where Masalha visited recently, and most of the detainees were arrested from an orphanage in Tulkarem in the Northern West Bank.
17-year-old Mahir Hussein, from Qalqiliya in the northern West Bank, told Masalha that Israeli soldiers had fired gunshots into the air to threaten him and two other teenagers when they were detained. The soldiers threatened to kill him and then beat him violently.
Hussein was left bleeding with his hands and feet cuffed for 6 hours before being moved to a hospital in an Israeli military base where he got 24 stitches to seal the gaping wound in his head.
He was transferred to al-Jalama interrogation center where he was beaten and mostly confined to a wooden chair with his hands and feet cuffed for a period of 20 days.
Masalha also met with two other detainees, Wasim Taj and Ibrahim Salmi, both age 17, who reported similar experiences of "brutal" interrogation.
Just last week, Issa Qarage, head of the prisoners' committee, stated that Israeli interrogators used "oppressive and brutal" methods to terrorize Palestinian detainees.
There have been numerous reports of "widespread and systematic" abuse of Palestinian detainees by Israeli forces, including reports by the United Nations and Defense for Children. The Defense for Children report stated that 93 percent of children detained by Israeli forces were denied access to legal counsel, and many endured prolonged periods of solitary confinement for interrogation purposes, which is considered torture under international law.
Palestinian Authority lawyer Hiba Masalha reported that young Palestinian detainees are being "terrified, threatened, and blackmailed" by Israeli authorities while detained.
There are currently 68 Palestinian teenagers being held in Section 3 of Megeddo prison, where Masalha visited recently, and most of the detainees were arrested from an orphanage in Tulkarem in the Northern West Bank.
17-year-old Mahir Hussein, from Qalqiliya in the northern West Bank, told Masalha that Israeli soldiers had fired gunshots into the air to threaten him and two other teenagers when they were detained. The soldiers threatened to kill him and then beat him violently.
Hussein was left bleeding with his hands and feet cuffed for 6 hours before being moved to a hospital in an Israeli military base where he got 24 stitches to seal the gaping wound in his head.
He was transferred to al-Jalama interrogation center where he was beaten and mostly confined to a wooden chair with his hands and feet cuffed for a period of 20 days.
Masalha also met with two other detainees, Wasim Taj and Ibrahim Salmi, both age 17, who reported similar experiences of "brutal" interrogation.
Just last week, Issa Qarage, head of the prisoners' committee, stated that Israeli interrogators used "oppressive and brutal" methods to terrorize Palestinian detainees.
There have been numerous reports of "widespread and systematic" abuse of Palestinian detainees by Israeli forces, including reports by the United Nations and Defense for Children. The Defense for Children report stated that 93 percent of children detained by Israeli forces were denied access to legal counsel, and many endured prolonged periods of solitary confinement for interrogation purposes, which is considered torture under international law.