Tribute to the Palestinian Children...

Since the start of the Intifada in September 2000, not one Palestinian child has been left untouched by Israel’s continued brutal occupation: children too young to walk or speak have been shot dead by Israeli forces, others have seen friends and family members killed or injured, watched as their homes have been destroyed and parents humiliated, been beaten and tortured and thrown into prison without charges or trial. Physically and psychologically, socially and educationally their young lives are systematically being destroyed.

Such is the extent of the children’s suffering that concepts which are usually key for child rights organisations, such as the right to play, seem like unattainable luxuries. It is impossible to begin discussing these entitlements when Palestinian children are methodically denied even their most basic right: the right to life and personal security.

Over the course of 2003, a total of 130 children were killed by Israeli troops in the occupied territories, and a further 21 Palestinian children have been killed in the first three months of this year alone. The youngest of these, six-year old Khaled Maher Walwil from Nablus, died less than a fortnight ago. He was shot in the back as he turned away from the window on the second floor of his house. Khaled had stayed at home that day, too frightened to go to school because there were Israeli soldiers in the area.

The impact of the occupation permeates every level of children’s lives and has a direct impact on their fundamental rights. A short journey to school is fraught with danger; obtaining a permit to travel to hospital can take weeks, and for the Palestinian children of East Jerusalem, even the right to be cared for by their parents is under threat. The Israeli stranglehold on the OPT is squeezing the life out of the Palestinian economy. Already half the Palestinian workforce is unemployed, leaving 70 per cent of the population living below the poverty line. With the UN halting food deliveries to Gaza due to new Israeli restrictions, cases of malnutrition there are bound to increase, compounding the threat to the physical and mental development of Palestinian children. The protection of child rights, even in their most basic form, is absolutely necessary and vital in this worsening situation when the number and impact of violations are increasing daily. The international community has a responsibility to uphold and protect the rights of children and enforce these standards when states transgress. It is imperative that the world acts today to force Israel to abide by its explicit responsibilities to all children in the Occupied Territories as set down in the CRC and consequently, cease immediately the deliberate violation of their rights.

Defence for Children International / Palestine Section

A video to ponder;April 5, 2004