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More about Children from our Archives...
Israeli forces 'interrogate Jerusalem children' 5/17/2013 - JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces interrogated two Palestinian children in Jerusalem on Thursday, their father said. Iyad al-Awar told Ma'an that Israeli forces raided his home and tried to detain his children, 6-year-old Qassam and 5-year-old Nasrallah. Al-Awar prevented the arrest but troops handed him a warrant ordering him to.... New women's center hosts educational Nakba commemoration event 5/17/2013 - International Solidarity Movement - 17th May 2013, International Solidarity Movement, Asira Al-Qibliyyah, Occupied Palestine, Team Nablus - The event ended in a Palestinian dabkah performance by a local girls dabkah group, celebrating culture and proving that Palestinian history has not been forgotten. A new women's center in Asira Al-Qibliyyah hosted an event for women and children in commemoration.... Nakba survivor: ’If you wanted to live, you left’ Ma’an News Agency 5/15/2013 BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Ghatheyya Mifleh al-Khawalda was 15 years old when she fled her home during the Nakba of 1948. Now 80, Ghatheyya was once a carefree teenager who used to live with her mother and sister in the village of al-Qastina, northeast of Gaza. Although her early life was marked by tragedy -- her grandmother died when she was born and her father passed away on Eid al-Adha -- she says she had a happy childhood. "We had a very nice house, a big house with marble floors in the hallway. My father was a farmer, and we had farmland with orange trees, apple trees, grapefruit trees and others. I used to spend my days playing with my sister and the other girls in the village. We were very happy," she told the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. Her life changed dramatically in 1948, when Jewish militias arrived in the area where she lived. "We had heard stories about attacks on other villages. Still, the attack on al-Qastina came without warning. Before that, there had been a British military camp nearby, but that year the British left and allowed the Jewish groups to take over." Some Jewish militia members were wearing uniform and others had civilian clothes, Ghatheyya said, and when they arrived in the village they began firing at people, killing three villagers. "We ran away, afraid for our safety, and went to Tal al-Safi, a nearby village on a hill. It was within walking distance, and we were in a hurry to leave, so we didn't take anything with us. It was like Doomsday. It was utter terror. People's minds were imprisoned by fear. We couldn't think of anything except leaving, not even simple things like bringing food with us," she said. more.. e-mail Hakol Chai creates humane education program for Arab sector Jerusalem Post 10 May 2013 - NGO project aims to prevent children’s violent behavior toward animals. Lebanon: Protect our children’s future by protecting UNRWA schools Relief Web 8 May 2013 - Source: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Country: Lebanon, occupied Palestinian territory, Syrian Arab Republic Op-Ed by Director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, Ann Dismorr Education is the basis of human development and is... Ahrar: “1227 Palestinians Kidnapped, 16 Killed, This Year” IMEMC - The Ahrar Center for Detainee’s Studies and Human Rights reported that Israeli soldiers kidnapped 1227 Palestinians, including children, women, elderly, intellectuals and legislators, since the beginning of this year, shot and killed 16 more Palestinians. ... occupied Palestinian territory: Detention Bulletin - Issue 39 - March 2013 Relief Web 3 May 2013 - Source: Defence for Children International/Palestine Section Country: occupied Palestinian territory March registered the highest number of Palestinian children imprisoned and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system since October 2010, reaching a total of 238, an increase of two children... Violence is a cruel reminder of a reality that is neither calm nor stable Mairav Zonszein, +972 Magazine 4/30/2013 When murder and violence flash in the West Bank, Israelis should remember that on the other days they don’t hear about terror, lots of violence is taking place. Those who choose to live in an illusion of calm and stability should consider themselves both privileged and lucky. And neither of those things can last forever. Days like today, ones that start out with a Palestinian stabbing an Israeli to death and end with Israeli settlers rampaging around, starting fires and hurling stones at innocent Palestinian bystanders – many of them children: days like today are a cruel expression of the dire situation we all live in here – but more specifically, illuminate the illusion of stability that Israelis live with. A few months ago, the IDF was proud to announce that there were no fatal terror attacks in the West Bank at all in 2012, and it really is a feat. In fact, Evyatar Burovsky was the first Israeli victim of a fatal attack committed by a Palestinian in the West Bank since September 2011. During this “calm” period, most Israelis continue going about their lives. They aren’t affected by the violence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on a daily basis. But days like today, when the phrase “terror attack” is back in the news, Israelis suddenly remember that we are in a violent conflict. The government, of course, does a good job of reminding us we are the victims. But on all those days when there is no violence against Israelis in the news, on all those days when Israelis can go about their business, the situation is actually not at all stable or calm. It’s definitely not calm for the Palestinian population, specifically in the West Bank where life under occupation is anything but free of violence. more.. e-mail Syrian Arab Republic: In Syria, educating students a priority Relief Web 30 Apr 2013 - Source: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Country: occupied Palestinian territory, Syrian Arab Republic 30 April 2013 Syria Now in its third year, the conflict in Syria has had a severe impact on children’s... PHOTOS: The face of Israel’s discriminatory home demolition policy Activestills, +972 Magazine 4/30/2013 Demolitions of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem are part and parcel of Israel’s publicly stated plans to reduce and control the demography of Palestinians and non-Jews in Jerusalem. With little chance of receiving building permits, Palestinian families often decide to build anyway, hoping that maybe their home will be spared. On Wednesday April 24, Israeli authorities demolished three Palestinian houses in the At Tur neighborhood on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem. The pretext, as usual, was that the owner had built illegally, though he had spent months applying for permits from the Jerusalem Municipality and provided all requested documentation. One of the structures demolished was an addition built to house the youngest generations of the 45-member Jaradat extended family, illustrating one of the basic quandaries facing East Jerusalem Palestinians: As families grow and children get married to start families of their own, where can they live if the government will not grant them permission to build? Israelis sometimes display a disturbingly blasé attitude toward the demolition of Palestinian homes. One sometimes encounters the attitude, even among self-proclaimed leftists, that “there are laws,” and since an Israeli Jew cannot build a house without permission, why should a Palestinian be able to? They might even offer examples of how their own family wanted to build and were denied permission. So if Israelis obey the law, isn’t it the Palestinians’ fault when they are punished for breaking it? This attitude may seem reasonable to foreigners as well. Most countries have zoning and building regulations that are generally respected as a necessity for maintaining orderly communities. But what these attitudes fail to grasp is the systematic discrimination faced by Palestinians under Israeli occupation, a context well-documented by various human rights organizations.... more.. e-mail Palestinian Children Denied Education in Israeli Prisons Uruknet Israeli forces detain 4 children, parent in Hebron 4/26/2013 - HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Friday detained four children for allegedly throwing stones in Hebron, locals said. The children, aged 8-12, were detained along with the father who tried to stop soldiers from detaining his son. [END] '3 children detained' by Israeli police in Jerusalem 4/25/2013 - JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli police detained three children on Thursday morning during a raid in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiyeh, a local committee member said. The three children, aged 13, were arrested by Israeli police who were accompanied by intelligence agents, Follow-Up Committee member Muhammad Abul Humus told Ma'an. A spokesman.... Israeli police detains 3 children during raid in Issawiyeh PIC - Israeli police and undercover forces shot a Palestinian youth and detained three children, following a raid in the east Jerusalem town of Issawiyeh on Wednesday. US academy to open in Nablus 4/24/2013 - NABLUS (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian teacher who spent 22 years working in the United States has decided to open an educational academy in Nablus which will follow the US school curriculum." My dream is coming true, I always wished to see our children educated the American way and we finally got permission from the.... G4S responds to public anger but remains complicit in Israel’s abhorrent prison system Global BDS 24 Apr 2013 - Palestinian Prisoners Day was last week marked with actions in 11 countries protesting the complicity of British-Danish security company G4S in Israel’s prison system. The company provides equipment and services to prisons at which Palestinian political prisoners, including child prisoners, are illegally detained and subjected to... UNICEF tones down report on child detainees in wake of Israeli pressure Uruknet UNICEF tones down report on child detainees in wake of Israeli pressure Haggai Matar, +972 Magazine 4/20/2013 A story in The Australian newspaper offers a glimpse into the makings of a UN report on Palestinian children detained by Israel, including a look into how Israeli pressure muffled the report’s criticism. The issue of Israel’s treatment of detained minors has been gaining more and more attention in recent weeks. Aside from ongoing parliamentary debates in the UK, Israel’s Channel 2 News aired a story on the nighttime arrests of child stone-throwers in the Al-Arub Refugee Camp (Hebrew), and we at +972 published Samar Hazboun’s beautiful and horrific photo essay of children’s testimonies from their detention. Both of these were preceded by a UNICEF report published last month, which has gained much attention for its criticism of Israel’s policies towards minors in the occupied territories. Israel differentiates between Israeli and Palestinian minors by law, offering them different sets of rights, subjecting the Palestinian youths to a military court system, and often denying them basic rights in interrogations in an attempt to extort confessions. The UNICEF report concluded that “ill-treatment of Palestinian children in the Israeli military detention system appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalized.” Harsh words indeed. However, it now appears that even these words have been scrutinized and carefully picked, intentionally leaving out words such as “torture” due to Israeli pressure on the UN body. Research published this week by John Lyons, Middle East correspondent for The Australian, shows how attempts were made by UNICEF to blur the severe implications of its own findings. Lyons describes the press conference in which the report was released, and says how the room was surprisingly empty due to the agency’s intentional inviting of few journalists following what one UNICEF official called intense “pressure to cancel this event.” more.. e-mail Detained: Testimonies from Palestinian children imprisoned by Israel Uruknet Detained: Testimonies from Palestinian children imprisoned by Israel Text and photos by Samar Hazboun, +972 Magazine 4/19/2013 Detained: Testimonies from Palestinian Children Imprisoned by Israel’ uncovers one of the most painful experiences that Palestinian children endure in the ongoing Israeli occupation. Through interviews with ex-detainees and mothers of minors presently in detention, the project documents their stories and aims to lend a voice to those who are silenced from fear of negative repercussions. Over the past 11 years, according to Defence for Children International, some 7,500 children have been detained in Israeli prisons and detention facilities. Muhammad Daoud Dirbas, at the age of six, was the youngest child to have been detained by Israeli soldiers. Such practices are considered illegal under international law, as are other policies that children are subjected to, such as solitary confinement. I started working on “Detained” about one year ago, because of the lack of visual documentation on the subject. I contacted some human rights organizations, which put me in contact with a few children. Unfortunately, those children refused to be interviewed; having been contacted several times by journalists, they were afraid of repercussions. I then decided to contact people I knew from Palestinian cities like Nablus and Hebron where child detention is most prevalent. Through these friends, I was able to find and contact additional children. Sadly, it was quite easy to find them since it is such a common phenomenon. In most cases, I found children who suffer from various traumas. Some were not able to talk about what had happened in prison; others burst into tears, and it was sometimes hard for me to hold my own tears back as I was conducting the interviews. Many children agreed to talk to me “off the record”; I thus know their stories but was not able to officially interview them or take their pictures. In some cases, I was able to talk to the parents once the child left the room, and thus obtained more detailed information about how the children were dealing with what had happened to them. more.. e-mail Israeli forces 'detain teens, child' in al-Arrub refugee camp 4/18/2013 - HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Thursday detained two teenagers and a child in the al-Arrub refugee camp in the southern West Bank, a local popular committee spokesman said. Mohammad Awad said Israeli soldiers raided the camp and detained 11-year-old Abdulla Abu Sharar, Odai Nemr Jawabreh, 18, and Wisam Salih al-Badawi, 19. [END] Israel detaining 236 Palestinian children 4/17/2013 - BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israel is detaining at least 236 children as young as 12, among nearly 5,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, the Palestinian Authority said ahead of Prisoners Day on Wednesday. Israel is the only country in the world that has devised military courts for children, and it has detained over 8,000 children.... Israel court orders house arrest for Jenin woman 4/15/2013 - JENIN (Ma'an) -- An Israeli court decided Saturday to place the mother of a Palestinian prisoner from the Jenin district under house arrest in Israel after she was detained for allegedly smuggling a phone to her imprisoned son. Fathiya Abu Raed's husband told Ma'an his wife went with two children.... Israel destroys West Bank community center, arrests 20 Jillian Kestler-D'Amours, Burin, Electronic Intifada 4/12/2013 Large slabs of wood lay scattered on the brightly tiled floor. Ripped posters were still clinging to the walls by bits of tape. A handful of computer hard drives were ripped out, and lay haphazardly on their sides. The electricity wires were cut, and broken windowpanes let in what little light entered the room. “[The Israeli interrogator] told me, ‘We are now breaking your dream and your friends’ dreams,’” said 23-year-old Ghassan al-Najjar, while standing on piece of a broken wooden desk. “They said, ‘We will come back soon, but next time will be to take you and put you in the prison.’” Al-Najjar founded the Bilal al-Najjar Martyrs Center with friends in his home village of Burin, in the northern occupied West Bank, in 2007. Located in the heart of the village, the center provides language and computer classes, and other educational resources, to women, children, the elderly, and anyone else in Burin. At 11:30pm Wednesday, at least 400 Israeli forces — among them, soldiers, border police and Shin Bet intelligence officers — stormed Burin, al-Najjar told The Electronic Intifada. At around 12:30am, they began ransacking the homes of some of the center’s 400 volunteers. In total, the homes of at least 50 volunteers were raided, and the center was completely trashed. Ten volunteers were beaten and 20 more were arrested; 17 were quickly released, and three remained in Israeli custody by early Thursday evening. Al-Najjar said his home was raided. His parents, his sister and her three young children (three-year-old twins and a three-month-old baby), who were asleep at the time, were forced outside by a group of at least 60 soldiers. more.. e-mail Adoption, Surrogacy, and Birthright Dissident Voice: 15 Apr 2013 - Adoption and surrogacy are today uniquely framed in terms of family creation, and the mythologies that surround this status quo still hold within all realms of “First World” societies, despite a growing challenge from adoptees, true mothers and families, as well as originating communities that source such children. Such challenges recognize the economic and political realities that undergird adoption and surrogacy as we understand it today, and most recently take the form of government apologies for the Baby Scoop era, the Magdalene Laundries, and the targeting of Indigenous Peoples within the era of Anglo-American empire. Examined from this normally unvoiced perspective, the functional aspects of these practices reveal themselves to be premised upon economic and political factors based on the needs of growing nation-states, with the desire to “create family” relegated to a supportive conceit of bourgeois society. These “pseudo-” or “proto-adoption” practices are nonetheless manifested in the industry as...more Poverty forces Gaza children into labor market 4/14/2013 - GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Poverty in the Gaza Strip is forcing a growing number of Palestinian children to drop out of school and enter the job market. Israel's siege on the coastal territory, the high cost of living and the loss of family members who were previously bread winners, have forced children.... The inner syntax of Palestinian stone-throwing Amira Hass, Haaretz, Independent Australian Jewish Voices 4/7/2013 It would make sense for Palestinian schools to give classes in resistance: how to build multiple ‘tower and stockade’ villages in Area C; how to behave when army troops enter your homes; how to identify soldiers who flung you handcuffed to the floor of the jeep, in order to submit a complaint. Throwing stones is the birthright and duty of anyone subject to foreign rule. Throwing stones is an action as well as a metaphor of resistance. Persecution of stone-throwers, including 8-year-old children, is an inseparable part - though it’s not always spelled out - of the job requirements of the foreign ruler, no less than shooting, torture, land theft, restrictions on movement, and the unequal distribution of water sources. The violence of 19-year-old soldiers, their 45-year-old commanders, and the bureaucrats, jurists and lawyers is dictated by reality. Their job is to protect the fruits of violence instilled in foreign occupation - resources, profits, power and privileges. Steadfastness (Sumud) and resistance against the physical, and even more so the systemic, institutionalized violence, is the core sentence in the inner syntax of Palestinians in this land. This is reflected every day, every hour, every moment, without pause. Unfortunately, this is true not only in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza, but also within Israel’s recognized borders, although the violence and the resistance to it are expressed differently. But on both sides of the Green Line, the levels of distress, suffocation, bitterness, anxiety and wrath are continually on the rise, as is the astonishment at Israelis’ blindness in believing that their violence can remain in control forever.... Even if it is a right and duty, various forms of steadfastness and resisting the foreign regime, as well as its rules and limitations, should be taught and developed. Limitations could include the distinction between civilians and those who carry arms, between children and those in uniform, as well as the failures and narrowness of using weapons. -- See also: Source: Haaretz (by subscription) and Warsaw Ghetto fighter to Israeli youth: Rise up against the occupation more.. e-mail Students celebrate reading week at Solomon's Pools 4/8/2013 - BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- School children in Bethlehem concluded national reading week on Sunday with a ceremony at Solomon's Pools. The event, organized by the Tamer Organization for Community Education and the education ministry, included traditional activities and performances denouncing Israeli settlement activities and land confiscation. Sami Imruwwa, director of the ministry'.... New Israeli Military Order Ineffectual in Safeguarding Child Detainees Uruknet 'Parents in the UAE need to learn about diabetes' The National 5 Apr 2013 - More than two-thirds of parents in a survey admit their children have not been screened for diabetes despite a family history of the disease. The Unheard Voices of Palestinians Alan Wieder, CounterPunch 3/22/2013 David Grossman's "The Yellow Wind" Revisited David Grossman did the interviews for his book, The Yellow Wind, in May 1987, six months before the first Intifada. Not only did the book show that particular decade’s oppressive reality of Israel toward Palestine, it illustrated the causes of that Intifada, and sadly, the one that followed and those that will come because of Israel’s continuing oppression that is now wed with expanding settlements on Palestinian land in what is at the very least the closest, present parallel to the Bantustan states in apartheid South Africa. Although somewhat confounding, Grossman did not himself define Israel as the oppressor and Palestine as the oppressed. “Defining Israel’s position as wrong in principle and the Palestinian position as entirely righteous, is simplistic and false,” he said. Grossman’s book is compelling, however, because he relies on the voices of “ordinary” Palestinians and Israelis, not politicians or officials, living in the West Bank at the time. And the people that he spoke with clearly do signify – the oppressor and the oppressed. "The fact is that when I wrote the book I had no intention of suggesting a solution. I am a writer not a politician, and the writer’s job, I believe, is to put a finger on the wound, to write anew, in a language that the reader has not yet learned to insulate himself against, about the intricacies of the existing situation, to shatter stereotypes that make it easy not to deal with the problems. The writer’s job is to remind those who have forgotten that humanity and morality are still important questions and to warn of the future implied by the present." (Intro/NP) Traveling for seven weeks in the West Bank, Grossman spoke to Palestinians and Israelis. He met shopkeepers, soldiers, farmers, widows, children, oppressors, victims, and more. For the purpose of this review, we will re-visit the words of some of the Palestinians whom Grossman portrays in the book.... more.. e-mail IOF soldiers detained 90 children last month PIC - Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up 330 Palestinians in the past month of March including 90 children, a human rights group said on Monday. ‘My surprise was even greater–’ Israeli emboff pens Dickensian letter to Lancet justifying harsh treatment of children throwing stones Mondoweiss - Oh, what bureaucratic officious and oleaginous prose is marshaled in the cause of child imprisonment: the press attache for the Embassy of Israel in London delegitimization by writing to The Lancet t o protest an editorial that calls for certain basic protections for Palestinian minors imprisoned... More than 100 Jerusalemite detainees within 3 months, including 20 children PIC - The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested since the beginning of 2013 about 105 Jerusalemites, including 20 minors, Palestinian human rights sources revealed. Lessons learned from a box of matzoh Mondoweiss - Matzoh (Photo: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt) Matzoh, the Jewish bread of affliction, has a historical narrative that dates thousands of years. In our haste to leave Egypt, the land where we were slaves, the Israelites gathered their children, animals, belongings, and bread dough before it had a... Obama’s 'Listening' Trip to the Middle East Dr. Elias Akleh, Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN) 3/25/2013 President Obama has just concluded his visit to the Middle East that included Israel, occupied Ramallah, and Jordan. The declared purpose of the visit was to listen to the concerns of the heads of states in an attempt to devise some means to revive the peace process. The real undeclared purpose of the visit is to re-instate Israel’s international status that had suffered increased isolation and criticism. United Nations Children Fund issued its investigating report of Israeli army abuses of young Palestinian children and accusing it of grave violations of international humanitarian laws. Fourteen members of the UN Security Council had condemned, last December, Israel for advancing the construction of the illegal settlements (colonies) in occupied West Bank and Palestinian East Jerusalem stating that such plans undermine their faith in Israel’s willingness to negotiate with Palestinians. A General Assembly resolution was issued on January 14th 2013 calling on Israel to end its settlement (colonies) expansions declaring such activity as illegal. Many Israeli diplomats and pro-Zionist American politicians had expressed their concern about the increasing worldwide criticism of Israel, even among its supporters, for its settlement (colonies) expansion plans in the West Bank. Statements of the members of the new Israeli government had shown that this government is the most extremist since the illegal establishment of the state. The new Israeli government had declared its major goal of enlarging the illegal settlements (colonies) and achieving a million Jew on occupied West Bank. Besides expansionism its members have no vision of any possible peace with Palestinians or even negotiating with them. Danny Danon, for example, the new Israeli deputy defense minister vowed to expand settlements (colonies) stating that US and the rest of the world will have to get used to see increased settlement construction. He also sees that there is no Palestinian peace partner to talk to. Avigdor Leiberman, leader of Yisrael Beitenu, stated that “anyone who thinks peace can be reached with the Palestinians is delusional.”.... more.. e-mail Israel releases 3 children detained in Hebron 3/22/2013 - BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Three Palestinian children being held in Israeli custody were released on Friday, the Palestinian liaison department said. Ahmed Abdel Raouf Burgan, 15, Ahmed Abdel Muti Abu Mayaleh, 13, and Mohammed Abdul Muti Abu Mayaleh, 13, were released after being arrested in Hebron this week, a statement said. Twenty-year-old Muhammad Mahmou Abusackor.... Israeli Human Rights Centre Objects to Detaining Palestinian Children Palestine News Network Israeli forces detain students in Hebron 3/20/2013 - HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Wednesday detained some 30 students who were on their way to school in the southern area of Hebron, locals said. Locals told Ma'an that the students were transferred to Kiryat Arba police station, and the Israeli forces were detaining every student passing Tareq Bin Zeyad street.... Related: Thirty children arrested in Hebron on their way to school and Video: Israeli soldiers round up children in Hebron Video: Israeli soldiers round up children in Hebron 3/20/2013 - BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli rights group B'Tselem on Wednesday said Israel's mass arrest of children in Hebron was "unacceptable," and released a video of the detentions. The video shows soldiers forcefully arresting schoolchildren, one of whom is dragged along the ground by a group of soldiers, as the children'.... Related: Thirty children arrested in Hebron on their way to school and Israeli forces detain students in Hebron Sources to PNN: IOF Forces Detain 50 School Children in Hebron Palestine News Network Call to Action: Join Addameer’s Global End Administrative Detention Campaign! Global BDS 20 Mar 2013 - Addameer calls on activists and people of conscience to stand in solidarity with all political prisoners and join Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Organization’s upcoming global campaign against administrative detention. Over 4,743 Palestinians are currently detained by Israel; 10 of them women, 193 of them children,... War Without End Palestine Chronicle: 19 Mar 2013 - By Kathy Kelly Ten years ago, in March of 2003, Iraqis braced themselves for the anticipated “Shock and Awe” attacks that the U.S. was planning to launch against them. The media buildup for the attack assured Iraqis that barbarous assaults were looming. I was living in Baghdad at the time, along with other Voices in the Wilderness activists determined to remain in Iraq, come what may. We didn’t want U.S. – led military and economic war to sever bonds that had grown between ourselves and Iraqis who had befriended us over the past seven years. Since 1996, we had traveled to Iraq numerous times, carrying medicines for children and families there, in open violation of the economic sanctions which directly targeted the most vulnerable people in Iraqi society, – the poor, the elderly, and the children. I still feel haunted by children and their heartbroken mothers and fathers whom we...more IOF soldiers detain 41 Palestinian children in March PIC - Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up 41 Palestinian children in the first half of March while eight minors were injured in the same period at the hands of IOF soldiers. Adalah: Israel denies Palestinian kids in its jails access to education PIC - Adalah center demanded in a joint letter with defense for children international (DCI) the Israeli prison authority to grant Palestinian children and minors access to schooling in its jails. EU To Send Delegation To Evaluate the Situation Of Palestinian Detainees IMEMC - The European Parliament decided to send a fact-finding mission to evaluate the conditions Palestinian detainees face in Israeli prisons, especially detained children and women. ... UNICEF Criticizes Israel’s Treatment of Palestinian Kids Dr. Cesar Chelala, CounterPunch 3/15/2013 A new UNICEF report, “Children in Israeli Military Detention,” is sharply critical of Israel’s treatment of detained Palestinian children. According to UNICEF, 700 Palestinian children aged 12-17, most of them boys, are arrested and harshly interrogated by the Israeli military, police and security agents every year in the occupied West Bank. In some cases, stated UNICEF, it had identified practices that “amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention against Torture (CAT). The UNICEF report confirms what many human rights activists (including Israeli individual and organizations) have been denouncing for years. The UNICEF report is the result of several years of information gathering by the UN agency related to grave violations committed against Palestinian children in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, including the arrest and detention of children. The information gathered is regularly reported to the United Nations Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. Mounting allegations of ill-treatment of Palestinian children held in the Israeli military detention system prompted this review. According to Article 37 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, State Parties shall ensure that “No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,”…and “Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge the legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and to a prompt decision on any such action.” These provisions have been repeatedly violated by the Israeli authorities. more.. e-mail Army Detains A Child In Bethlehem IMEMC - Wednesday March 13, 2013, Israeli soldiers detained a Palestinian child, 14, after claiming that she hurled stones at their jeep west of Bethlehem city. The child was released later on. ... Women 'carry all' of Palestine’s suffering Eva Bartlett, Gaza Strip, Electronic Intifada 3/8/2013 GAZA CITY (IPS) - “In Gaza we don’t lead normal lives, we just cope, and adapt to our abnormal lives under siege and occupation,” said Dr. Mona El-Farra, a physician and a long-time women’s rights activist in the Gaza Strip. On International Women’s Day, when many of the world’s women are fighting for workplace equality and an end to domestic violence, Farra and the majority of Gaza’s women fight for the most basic of rights. “It is difficult to live in this small piece of land, where basic needs like clean water, regular electricity, proper sanitation and means of recreation are not met. Women in Gaza are particularly traumatized by the continuous Israeli military attacks,” said Farra. A 2009 Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) report highlighted the suffering of Palestinian women under the illegal Israeli-led siege imposed on Gaza, and under the 23 days of Israeli attacks in 2008-2009 which killed over 1,400 Palestinians, including 112 women. The report noted Gazan women’s continued struggle “as they attempt to come to terms with their grief and their injuries; with the loss of their children, their husbands, their relatives, their homes and their livelihoods” (“Through women’s eyes,” 28 September 2009). For Hiba an-Nabaheen, 24, a media studies graduate from Gaza’s Palestine University, the biggest issues facing women in Gaza are the poverty and unemployment that result from the siege. “How can a woman whose husband has died or been imprisoned continue to take care of her children? The deadly Israeli wars we endure don’t compare to the growing poverty we face. I’m a university graduate and can’t find work, and many graduates like me face the same problem, including those with exceptionally high marks." more.. e-mail Israeli doctors accused of collusion in torture Sharmila Devi, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) 3/11/2013 Questions are being raised about the involvement of Israeli doctors in the suspected torture of a young Palestinian detainee who died in custody last month. Sharmila Devi reports. The death of a Palestinian prisoner in disputed circumstances in an Israeli prison has reignited a longstanding controversy over alleged physician complicity in torture as well as sparking renewed Palestinian anger over the estimated 4600 prisoners held by Israel. The Israeli Medical Association (IMA) denied that medical professionals were involved in torture or abuse and said that as far as it knew, torture was not approved or used by Israeli security forces or prisons. However, human-rights campaigners say Palestinian prisoners have long suffered from beatings, sleep deprivation, prolonged and painful handcuffing, humiliation, and medical neglect-considered torture under international standards. Arafat Jaradat, a 30-year-old petrol attendant with two children, was arrested on Feb 18 on suspicion of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails during a West Bank demonstration held last November against Israeli military action in the Gaza strip. Palestinians say his arrest, months after the demonstration, and his interrogation was part of a longstanding Israeli policy to coerce prisoners to become informants after their release. Palestinian leaders say some 800 000 Palestinians have been detained by Israeli forces since 1967, and Jaradat was the 203rd prisoner to die. He died after several days of interrogation by Israeli's Shin Bet internal security service on Feb 23 at Israel's Megiddo prison.... more.. e-mail 10 years after US invasion, Kurds look to the West Daily Star 10 Mar 2013 At an elite private school in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, children learn Turkish and English before Arabic. University students dream of jobs in Europe, not Baghdad. And a local entrepreneur says he doesn't like doing business... ISESCO Condemns Israel’s Maltreatment of Detained Children Palestine News Network Israel accused of abusing detained children Uruknet UNICEF report reveals Israel’s 'institutionalised' ill-treatment of Palestinian children Samira Shackle, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) 3/7/2013 UNICEF report this week found evidence of "widespread, systematic and institutionalised" ill-treatment of Palestinian minors by Israeli officials. Israel imposes two parallel legal systems across the occupied West Bank. Illegal Jewish settlers who commit a crime face the mainstream Israeli courts, with in-built legal rights and safeguards. Palestinians, on the other hand, are channelled through a military court system, with none of the legal protections enjoyed by Jews. This is true for adults and children alike. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) sets out a range of rules to safeguard the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. Although Israel has ratified the convention, a UNICEF report this week found evidence of "widespread, systematic and institutionalised" ill-treatment of Palestinian minors by Israeli officials. According to the report, Israeli forces have arrested, interrogated and prosecuted around 7,000 Palestinian children aged 12 to 17 over the past decade; that's an average of 700 a year, or around two every day. Most of them are boys, and the vast majority of arrests are for throwing stones, which is classed as an offence under Section 212 of Military Order 1651. The maximum sentence for children of 12 and 13 is six months behind bars, but from the age of 14 the penalty rises dramatically to between 10 and 20 years. The disproportionate nature of a 10-year prison term for a 14 year old who has thrown stones needs little elaboration. The report tracks the whole process from arrest, through a trial, to imprisonment, and identifies practices that "amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention against Torture". more.. e-mail UNICEF: “Israel Mistreats Detained Palestinian Children” IMEMC - The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) issued a report stating that Israel is mistreating Palestinian children it is holding in its detention and interrogation centers, and added that the abuse against the children is systematic. ... UNICEF: Israel mistreats Palestinian children in custody 3/6/2013 - JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Palestinian children detained by the Israeli military are subject to widespread, systematic ill-treatment that violates international law, a UNICEF report said on Wednesday. The United Nations Children Fund estimated that 700 Palestinian children aged 12 to 17, most of them boys, are arrested, interrogated and detained by the Israeli military, police and security.... Israel accused of abusing detained children AlJazeera 6 Mar 2013 - UN report says Palestinian minors, most arrested for rock-throwing, face systemic ill-treatment by Israeli authorities. UNICEF Accuses Israel of 'Systematic' Abuse of Jailed Palestinian Children The Foward Breaking News 6 Mar 2013 - Palestinian children detained by the Israeli military are subject to widespread, systematic ill-treatment that violates international law, a UNICEF report said on Wednesday. Click here for the rest of the article... PPS in Nablus condemns the detention and torture of children PIC - Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) in Nablus condemned detaining and torturing the children by the Israeli occupation authorities. Netanyahu agenda for Obama leaves out Palestinian state– ‘especially in this Middle East’ Mondoweiss - Benjamin Netanyahu says he will discuss "peace" with Obama later this month but spoke only of a "meaningful compromise" with Palestinians, nothing about a Palestinian state. And he set a new condition for peace, that Israel's neighbors first educate their children to live in peace. "This... ‘Our Prisoners Are Dying’: Students Mobilize in Gaza Palestine Chronicle: 4 Mar 2013 - By Adie Mormech – Gaza City ‘Our prisoners are dying.’ said Gaza student Khaled Shehab from the Islamic University. “We won’t wait till the death of another prisoner to move in solidarity with all the detainees.” Khaled was joining the thousands attending the growing number of demonstrations in the Gaza Strip right now. It is not lost on young people in Palestine acting in support of Palestinian prisoners that many who have spent years in Israeli jails were at the same age when they were originally imprisoned. While there has recently been a spotlight on the 219 Palestinian children currently detained by Israel, it is often forgotten that the majority of detainees arrested are youths or in their early twenties. Some have spent the entire decade of their twenties removed from their parents, their families and communities, a young person’s life defined by Israeli prison walls. Mohammed Al Adini explained...more Did a Gaza family burn to death because of an unpaid bill? Rami Almeghari, Gaza Strip, Electronic Intifada 2/28/2013 With their electricity cut off, the Dheir family had no choice other than to rely on candles for lighting. Their desperation had deadly consequences. On 30 January, six members of the family were burnt to death from a fire caused by the candles. Qamar Dheir was only three-months-old. The baby perished along with three other children — Mahmoud (11), Nabil (6) and Farah (3) — and their parents Hazem (30) and Samar (27). That morning, people in the Gaza neighborhood of al-Shajaiyeh woke up to learn they had a depressing task to perform: to help bury a young family. Ibrahim Zaina, an uncle of Hazem Dheir, was woken by his wife at 3am that morning and told that his nephew’s house was ablaze. He rushed to the house and called the fire brigade. “It turned that the fire engines that reached us didn’t have long enough hoses and they had no special lights,” Zaina said. “They asked us to get a man to pump water for them. Shortly after 4 o’clock, the fire was put out and the first corpse was taken to hospital at 4:15.” According to Zaina, a crew from the Gaza Electric Company had arrived at the Dheirs’ house the previous morning and cut off its power supply. Zaina is struggling to understand why this measure was taken. Hazem’s salary, he said, was paid by the Palestinian Authority and around $60 was deducted from it each month to pay for electricity bills. “For almost one month before the fire, Hazem’s power-saving unit — on which he depended during the blackouts that are so widespread here in Gaza — broke down,” he said. more.. e-mail 'They beat us like animals': Egypt's children detained, abused Uruknet Israel unlawfully transfers 60% of Palestinian child detainees Uruknet Jerusalem Child Sentenced To 19 Months IMEMC - Thursday February 28, 2013, The Ofer Israeli Military Court sentenced a Palestinian child to 19-months imprisonment allegedly for throwing stones at Israeli soldiers in Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank. ... Lebanon: Education to Palestinian refugee children Relief Web 24 Feb 2013 - Source: Norwegian Refugee Council Country: Lebanon, occupied Palestinian territory By Frosse Dabit (20.02.2013) The partnership between UNRWA and NRC is crucial in the work of ensuring education to Palestinian refugees in the Middle East, says NRCs Country Director of Lebanon,... Palestinian prisoner dies in Israeli interrogation center By Mya Guarnieri, +972 Magazine 2/23/2013 A Palestinian man died in Israeli custody, reportedly during or after being interrogated by Israel on Saturday. The death comes amid spreading West Bank protests in solidarity with hunger striking prisoners. Near Nablus, settlers reportedly shoot a Palestinian man in the stomach. A 30-year-old Palestinian man, Arafat Jaradat, died while in Israeli custody today. According to Palestinian human rights organization Al Haq, Jaradat is believed to have died either during or shortly after he was interrogated in Meggido Prison. Speaking to the Agence France Presse, a spokeswoman for the Israel Prisons Service confirmed the death. She claimed, “It was probably a cardiac arrest.” But Al Haq reports that Jaradat, who was arrested on February 18, had no known health conditions. Jaradat was from the West Bank village of Sa’ir, which is north of Hebron. He is survived by two children and his wife is reportedly pregnant with their third child. Palestinian prisoners will go on hunger strike in protest of Jaradat’s death, the Palestinian news agency Maan reports. According to B’Tselem, more than 4,500 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons; 178 of the detainees are being held without trial in administrative detention. The UN reports that approximately 700,000 Palestinians have been held in Israeli prisons since the occupation began in 1967. Many of these prisoners have been held without charge on administrative detention orders. Children have also been jailed. In 2012, 143 children between 16 and 18 were held in Israeli jails, including 21 minors under the age of 15. -- See also: Lawyer: Israeli officers tortured Jaradat and Minister: Autopsy shows torture killed Jaradat more.. e-mail Israeli Soldiers Attack Nabi Saleh Weekly Protest, Detain Wounded Child Uruknet Protest in Hebron for the Administrative Detention of Prisoners Palestine Solidarity Project 23 Feb 2013 - On February 18th, Palestinian and international activists gathered from all over the West Bank in Hebron city to protest the administrative detention of young men and even children imprisoned without trial. The protest was in solidarity with the prisoners on hunger strike and particularly to recognize... Prisoner X story alarms Palestinian families 2/19/2013 - GAZA CITY (Ma'an) - The exposure of Israel's "Prisoner X" story has alarmed several Palestinian families whose children went missing and they never learned of their fate. One of these families is Nawati family from the Gaza Strip. Family members say that Muatazz Nawati was working in Israel in the 1980s before.... Related: Israel releases judge's report into Australian's suicide occupied Palestinian territory: Child Killed and Three Injured by Unexploded Ordnance; Al Mezan Expresses its Sorrow and Calls for Adoption of Measures Ensuring Protection Relief Web 17 Feb 2013 - Source: Al Mezan Center for Human Rights Country: occupied Palestinian territory Unexploded ordnance (UXO) continued to threaten life and safety of children in the Gaza Strip. In the last week, one child was killed and another three were injured, raising... EU calls for better conditions for Palestinians in Israeli jails 2/16/2013 - RAMALLAH (Reuters) -- The European Union on Saturday called on Israel to improve conditions for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and a PA minister said there would be rallies next week to support hunger striking prisoners. Nearly 5,000 Palestinians are jailed in Israel, including 178 administrative detainees, 10 women and 193 children, according to the latest.... Teatime in Tihar Jail – A Poem Palestine Chronicle: 14 Feb 2013 - By Ramzy Baroud – with Rafiq Kathwari He sipped then walked slowly head held high greeting the hangman with a gentle nod eyes sunk to heart beard grew defiant remembering the judge asking to repeat alphabets of servitude Instead he roared names of forefathers who too died standing tall like the Himalayas And on that last stroll he remembered his mother’s tender touch his son Ghalib named after the poet he loved friends long gone his silly dreams heaven above this playground where unruly children refuse to learn the etiquette of captivity in rooms with no windows only high grey walls where they pumped petrol into his anus to break Afzal Guru countless others of same skin and soul His face the color of parched earth lips never ceased reciting one last poem the hangman swore for God’s unruly children to live forever Free (Ramzy Baroud, Feb 13, 2013 –...more Army Kidnaps Fourteen Palestinians In West Bank IMEMC - Wednesday at dawn, February 13, Israeli soldiers invaded several areas in the occupied West Bank, mainly in East Jerusalem, broke into and searched several homes and kidnapped at least fifteen Palestinians. The army also detained five children for several hours. ... 'I was determined to live with dignity,' says freed hunger striker Akram Rikhawi Rami Almeghari, Rafah, Electronic Intifada 2/11/2013 Akram Rikhawi had not seen his daughter Rewan since she was two. So when an 11-year-old girl showed up in the same room as him, he had to do a double-take. “Hey, you are Rewan, aren’t you?” he asked. At long last, Rikhawi is back in his family’s home in the Keir neighborhood of Rafah, a city near Gaza’s border with Egypt. He has been released by Israel after going on and off a hunger strike since April 2012. In total, he spent 104 days refusing food. “I am now only thinking of one main thing, rejoicing with my family, especially my children,” he said. “Can you imagine, so far I cannot differentiate between my children’s names or ages? I will try now to compensate myself and them for the years of loss and I hope to live as normally as any father in this world.” Rikhawi has eight offspring and also cares for his late brother’s five children. Saddest moment During his near-decade behind Israeli bars, Rikhawi was only allowed one visit by his mother and his wife. The saddest moment of his imprisonment was when he heard of his mother’s death. “I did not know she died until one month afterwards, when I learned about her death through a local radio program,” he said. After being arrested in June 2004, Rikhawi was sentenced to nine years imprisonment by Israel’s military courts. His arrest took place after he was stopped at a checkpoint, while driving from Gaza City to Rafah. “Israeli soldiers stopped the car and called me by my name: ‘Akram Rikhawi, get out, Akram Rikhawi, get out.’ They transferred me right away to an interrogation center in Ashkelon prison [in southern Israel].” more.. e-mail Group: Israel detains children en-route to prison visit Uruknet Group: Israel detains children en-route to prison visit 2/4/2013 - JENIN (Ma'an) -- Israeli police on Sunday detained two young girls and their grandmother after denying them permission to visit the children's jailed father, the Palestinian prisoners society said. Hala Khanfar, 7, and Jana Khanfar, 8, were detained with their grandmother while trying to visit their father Rami Khanfar in Israel'.... IOF Releases Mother of Prisoner after Detaining Her Along with His Children Palestine News Network Occupation sentences 8 children to imprisonment PIC - Ofer Court in the west of Ramallah sentenced to imprisonment eight children from the town of Beit Ummar, north of al-Khalil, on Sunday. Ministry of prisoners: 4,750 detainees in Israeli jails, including 198 kids PIC - The Palestinian ministry of prisoners' affairs said the number of prisoners detained in Israeli jails rose at the end of January to 4,750 detainees, including 198 minors and children. Fiji charity drive in UAE raises Dh180k The National 1 Feb 2013 - Donors pledged the money to the Foundation for the Education of Needy Children in Fiji affected by Cyclone Evans Mum's the word for learning Arabic in UAE The National 31 Jan 2013 - Expatriate parents at Gems schools are being encouraged to take Arabic lessons in the hope that they will be able to help their children with homework. The Suffering in Syria James Abourezk, CounterPunch 1/31/2013 The US Can End the Pain by Ending Its Interference The violent uprising in Syria has produced some predictable and sorry results. Aside from the numbers of people dying prematurely as a result of the fighting, there are tens of thousands of Syrian civilians, consisting mostly women and children, both inside and outside of Syria who are suffering from the war. This suffering does not choose sides, both opponents and supporters of the Asad government have become victims. Their sympathies matter not as much as the amount of help they need, no matter whose side they’re on. In the refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, Syrians who have been driven from their homes by the fighting are not only near starvation, but are suffering from the cold weather with little help from warm clothing, kerosene for heaters, or any other comforts. The international agencies are overwhelmed and are without enough money to feed and clothe them. Inside Syria, commerce has come to a standstill. Farmers have no money for planting seeds, and even so, there are no markets for the food they could produce even if given the money to plant and to harvest. Trying to send produce to market, provided they have something to sell, is a suicide mission, as it’s much too dangerous to travel the roads. My wife, who is of Syrian origin, and whose family are farmers, has learned that her siblings give whatever heating oil they can find to their mother so she can find some warmth. Most Syrian civilians do what they can to help their neighbors and their families who are in need, but it’s more than a matter of money. There simply is not enough bread and heating oil to go around, leaving a large part of the country wanting for the necessities of life. more.. e-mail Hussam Calls on Associations to Exert Pressure on Israel to Allow Children Visit Their Detained Parents Palestine News Network occupied Palestinian territory: OPT Detention Bulletin - Issue 36 - December 2012 Relief Web 25 Jan 2013 - Source: Defence for Children International/Palestine Section Country: occupied Palestinian territory 2012 Year in review The month of December saw a 9.6 percent increase in the number of children prosecuted in the Israeli military courts and imprisoned. This month saw a... Russian evacuees from Syria arrive in Moscow LA Times 23 Jan 2013 - They describe the fear that drove them from a country they'd grown to love, along with the uncertainty they now face. MOSCOW — Russian evacuees from war-torn Syria, mostly worried-looking women and children, emerged from two government airplanes Wednesday into the predawn chill of the... Syria Launches Deadly Airstrikes in Damascus Suburbs New York Times 14 Jan 2013 - Syrian warplanes have killed dozens of civilians, including more than 20 children, over the past few days, raising calls for expanded efforts to address the growing humanitarian crisis. conversations on Palestine re-awaken me to the absurdities of daily life in occupied Palestine In Gaza: 13 Jan 2013 - Disturbingly, I’ve become accustomed to and not surprised by, the daily injustices inflicted upon Palestinians throughout occupied Palestine: aadi (“normal”) as many Palestinians say. In my time in the occupied West Bank in 2007, Israeli army raids and lock-downs (“curfews”), as horrific as they are, became normal, since they happen all of the time. As do the abductions of Palestinians from their homes, including elderly, youths, children, women, and the everyday people striving to provide for their families, having done nothing wrong or meriting being abducted, arrested, imprisoned (usually without charge, “administrative detention”). The more I’ve become immersed in the realities of Palestinians, the more unbelievably ‘normal’ and expected they’ve become. It’s when I discuss this abysmal daily injustices with others who’ve just read or heard of them that they again become as outrageous as they are. “ Is Gaza being bombed right now or are things okay? “ Friends...more Where are the Nobel Poets of Santiago? – A Poem Palestine Chronicle: 8 Jan 2013 - By Ramzy Baroud It was here that Salvador Allende died for our sins Some say his own But the Republic was torn to shreds by Nixonian men with stiff faces Cold hearts And loud bombs Death caravans roamed the streets And women fled to heaven looking for missing children And also here I discovered that Santiago is still full of life, and treachery It was here that Neruda wrote his ‘Song of Despair’ Though he lied His name was never his own You also changed your name Hid your face behind a mask of tears Stood with the ‘others’, angry, in military fatigue And denounced my communist love of music Where are the noble poets? They ran away when the military took over Now they write secret verses from Antarctica Their voices muffled Their words veiled Timeworn No encryption can solve their mystery Here I learned to trust everyone, but...more Iranians in Latin America spook US Ramzy Baroud, Asia Times 1/5/2013 The text of a bill signed into law by US President Barack Obama would likely instill fear in the hearts of ordinary Americans. Apparently, barbarians from distant lands are at work. They are gathering at the US-Mexico border, cutting fences and preparing to wreak havoc on an otherwise serene American landscape. Never mind that crazed, armed to the teeth, homegrown American terrorists are killing children and terrorizing whole cities. It is the Iranian menace that we are meant to fear, according to the new law. When compounded with the other imagined threats of Hezbollah and Hamas, all with sinister agendas, then it seems the time is right for Americans to return to their homes, bolt their doors and squat in shelters awaiting further instructions. Evidently, "The Iranians are coming." It is as comical as it is untrue. But "The Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act", which as of December 28 became official US law, is not meant to be amusing. It is riddled with half-truths, but mostly complete and utter lies. Yes, Iran's influence in Latin America is on the rise. However, by US standards, the expanding diplomatic ties, extending trade routes and such are considered a threat to be "countered" or as per Forbes magazine's endless wisdom, "confronted". Language in politics can be very dangerous as it can twist reality, turning fictitious scenarios into facts. Despite its faltering economy, the US continues to experience a sharp growth in its think tank industry - men and women whose sole purpose is to invent and push political agendas, and who often belong to some foreign entity; in this case Israel. Ian Barman, Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council reflected that sentiment exactly in a recent article in Forbes. more.. e-mail Bought, Sold and Abused in Yemen IPS Twenty-one-year-old Aisha clings to her two children as she recounts her tale of horror. Growing up in the Somali capital Mogadishu, she fell in love and bore a child out of wedlock four years ago. When her family threatened her life for destroying her ‘honour’, Aisha escaped. She braved the... Lebanon’s Fanar Juvenile Center: Childhood Lost Al-Akhbar Series and Features 2 Jan 2013 - The kids come to us from broken families and are surrounded by lies. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah) The kids come to us from broken families and are surrounded by lies. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah) Between the ages of 7 and 18, the detainees at Lebanon’s Fanar juvenile center... Jordan Valley families expelled from Israeli 'firing zone' during Gaza attack remain uprooted IRIN, Electronic Intifada 1/2/2013 JIFTLIK (IRIN) - For those who recently watched images of the Israeli bombardment in Gaza, the wide open hills of the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank appear as a stark contrast. Flocks of sheep accompanied by their herders cross the hillsides, home to some of the most fertile land in all of historic Palestine. And yet despite the abundant land and resources, Palestinians living in the valley are some of the poorest in the West Bank, lacking even the most basic infrastructure. The Jordan Valley is marked by a patchwork of zones in which Palestinians are allowed to live, which leave little room for maneuver. “These restrictions have removed their ability to be self-sustaining. They are in an artificial humanitarian crisis; they have the capacity, the training, the education, but because of man-made restrictions, they are made vulnerable,” Ramesh Rajasingham from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said. Out of bounds For a start, much of the valley is officially out of bounds to Palestinians — 44 percent is marked as closed Israeli military zones (including so-called firing zones) and nature reserves. An additional 50 percent is controlled by Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law. That leaves only 6 percent for Palestinians, according to figures from Save the Children (“Fact sheet: Jordan Valley,” October 2009 [PDF]). A second layer of restrictions reinforces this exclusion.... -- See also: Save the Children - Fact sheet: Jordan Valley more.. e-mail A precarious existence in the Jordan Valley IRIN, Ma’an News Agency 1/1/2013 AL-JIFTLIK (IRIN) -- For those who recently watched images of the Israeli bombardment in Gaza, the wide open hills of the Jordan Valley in the West Bank appear as a stark contrast. Flocks of sheep accompanied by their herders cross the hillsides, home to some of the most fertile land in all of the occupied Palestinian territory and unrivaled even in Israel. And yet despite the abundant land and resources, Palestinians living in the Valley are some of the poorest in the Palestinian territory, lacking even the most basic infrastructure. The Jordan Valley is marked by a patchwork of zones in which Palestinians are allowed to live, which leave little room for manoeuvre. "These restrictions have removed their ability to be self-sustaining. They are in an artificial humanitarian crisis; they have the capacity, the training, the education, but because of man-made restrictions, they are made vulnerable," Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in oPt, told IRIN. For a start, much of the Valley is officially out of bounds to Palestinians - 44 percent is marked as closed military zones (including so-called firing zones) and nature reserves. An additional 50 percent is controlled by Israeli settlements, regarded as illegal by many in the international community. That leaves only 6 percent for Palestinians, according to figures from Save the Children. A second layer of restrictions reinforces this exclusion.... more.. e-mail Does Arab progress founder on an ossified language? Robert Fisk, Dawn 1/1/2013 I’VE HEARD all kinds of reasons for the Arab-Israeli failure to agree on UN Security Council Resolution 242 — because the Arabic text calls upon Israel to withdraw from “the lands occupied by Israel in 1967” (including the West Bank, Gaza and Golan) whereas the English text (as the Americans intended) leaves out the word “the”. So “occupied land” leaves the Israelis free to decide which bits of land they want to hand back. But the French version also takes the definite article “les” — so it can’t be the Arabs’ fault. Or does this all come about because the language Arabs speak and the language they write is not the same. Does it lack clarity? I hear this all the time — from Westerners. There can be a kind of imprecision in practical life. I recall arriving in southern Lebanon during one of Israel’s five invasions and asking how many Israeli tanks were on the road in front of us. “Many’, came the reply of the refugees. How many? “Ktir” — very many. 10? “Na’am”. (Yes.) 20? “Na’am” (Yes again.) A dangerous lack of clarity there, surely. Hasan Karmi, the Palestinian lexicographer who died six years ago, nursed the theory that having learnt colloquial Arabic as children before progression to the much more precise written form — and because language is so crucial to the development of thought — “Arabs were often handicapped by a lack of precision in their thinking”. Hence, perhaps, the failure of Arabs to maintain their historical superiority in science and intellectual thought. more.. e-mail Protest for healthier meals at after-school program Jerusalem Post 31 Dec 2012 - Parents, children, educators and nutritionists hold a vigil against unhealthy lunches served at after-school program. Three Children Sentenced To 4 Months Each IMEMC - The Palestinian Detainees Studies Center reported that the Israeli Salem military court sentenced three Palestinian children from Azzoun town near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, to four months imprisonment each. ... PA says secures release of Qalqiliya child 12/26/2012 - QALQILIYA (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian military liaison in Qalqliya secured the release of a 14-year-old after Israeli forces detained him near the West Bank town, security officials said. The family of the boy, Anas Tabib, said he was taken to an investigation center in Ariel settlement after claiming he was carrying a sharp.... This Christmas, remember Palestine’s Christians Mairead Corrigan-maguire, Ma’an News Agency 12/22/2012 Recently, the Israeli Embassy in Ireland posted a "thought for Christmas" its Facebook page to the effect that if Jesus Christ and his mother Mary alive today, they would be "lynched in Bethlehem by hostile Palestinians." As Christians all over the world prepare to celebrate Christmas, we should also remember what that little town of Bethlehem, where Jesus was born over 2,000 years ago, looks like today. These are distressing times for the Christians of the Holy Land, as revealed by a South African ecumenical delegation who were "traumatized" during an Advent visit to Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem and East Jerusalem this month. Upon their return, they jointly said that they "did not expect the extent to which Israel violates international law to oppress the Palestinian people." They reported that "it felt like walking into another apartheid ambush … the multiple Israeli house demolitions, the discriminatory Israeli legal system, the daily intimidation of Palestinians by the Israeli Defense Forces, the Israeli Apartheid Wall and its associated regime of restrictions on movement and access for Palestinians, the imprisonment of a large percentage of Palestinians (including children), the ongoing confiscation of Palestinian water and land, the closure of previously bustling Palestinian streets and businesses." To simply take the case of Bethlehem -- although Christians live in many other areas of Palestine and Israel – one sees that from an historic high of 80 percent in 1947, Christians now make up only around 20 percent of the population. The past decade alone has seen over 10 percent of Christians leaving their homeland. more.. e-mail Israeli Soldiers Kidnapped 900 Children In 2012 IMEMC - The Palestinian Ministry Of Detainees reported that this year witnessed a sharp increase in Israeli violations against Palestinian children, and said that Israeli soldiers kidnapped this year 900 Palestinian children comparing to 700 kidnapped last year. ... Two Children Detained in Beit Ommar Demonstration Palestine Solidarity Project 22 Dec 2012 - Today, dozens of Palestinians participated in the weekly demonstration organized by the Beit Ommar popular committee and Palestine Solidarity Project near the illegal Israeli settlement of Karmei Tsur. The demonstration was met by Israeli soldiers, who immediately ordered the area a closed military zone. Sound bombs... Report: 4600 Prisoners in Israeli Jails including 182 Children, 184 Administrative Detainees Palestine News Network 4600 Palestinians, Including 182 Children, Imprisoned By Israel Uruknet 4600 Palestinians, Including 182 Children, Imprisoned By Israel IMEMC - Former Political Prisoner, Palestinian Researcher, Abdul-Nasser Farawna, stated that Israel is currently holding captive 4600 Palestinians, including 182 children and 11 women, in addition to 1200 detainees who are ill, including 20 who are continuously held at prison clinic. ... PM expresses 'deepest condolences' to Obama Jerusalem Post 15 Dec 2012 - Netanyahu conveys sympathy on behalf of the people of Israel, after gunman slaughters 20 children, 6 adults at Connecticut school. Witnesses: 2 teens detained at Bethlehem protest 12/13/2012 - BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Two Palestinian children were detained by Israeli forces on Thursday afternoon during a protest against the killing of a teenager in Hebron a day earlier, according to witnesses. A demonstration was held near Bethlehem's Aida refugee camp to condemn the fatal shooting of Muhammad Salaymeh in Hebron's.... Fact Sheet: 25th anniversary of the First Intifada The Institute for Middle East Understanding, +972 Magazine 12/10/2012 Twenty-five years ago this past weekend, a large-scale popular uprising by Palestinians began against Israel’s then 20-year-old military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. Sparked by an incident in which four Palestinians were hit and killed by an Israeli driving in Gaza on December 8, 1987, Palestinian frustration at living under repressive Israeli military rule and Israel’s growing colonial settlement enterprise erupted, grabbing international headlines and drawing attention to the plight of Palestinians living in the occupied territories. On this 25th anniversary, the IMEU offers the following fact sheet on the First Intifada. Facts and figures During the First Intifada, Palestinians employ tactics such as unarmed demonstrations, including rock throwing against soldiers, commercial strikes, a refusal to pay taxes to Israeli authorities, and other acts of civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance. They are coordinated largely by grassroots ad hoc committees of Palestinians in the occupied territories rather than the PLO leadership abroad. In response, Israeli soldiers use brutal force to repress the mostly unarmed popular rebellion. Then Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin implements the infamous “broken bones” policy, ordering security forces to break the limbs [WARNING: Graphic video] of rock-throwing Palestinians and other demonstrators. More than 1000 Palestinians are killed by Israeli forces during the First Intifada, including 237 children under the age of 17. Many tens of thousands more are injured. According to an estimate by the Swedish branch of Save the Children, as many as 29,900 children require medical treatment for injuries caused by beatings from Israeli soldiers during the first two years of the Intifada alone.... more.. e-mail Singing hearts out to ensure Filipino children are educated back home The National 8 Dec 2012 - Yan ang Boses is a fun event held to raise funds for the UAE chapter of the University of the Philippines Alumni Association. A tale of blind father with four sons in jails PIC - The family of Hajj “Abu Azzam Meri†is one of the Palestinian families who suffered a lot from the occupation, where his four sons were detained in Israeli jails and banned from seeing their children. Report: “ 650, Including 85 Children, 7 women, Kidnapped In November” IMEMC - The Palestinian Detainees Research Center published a report on Sunday revealing that Israeli soldiers kidnapped 650 Palestinians in November; adding that 85 women and 7 children were among the kidnapped Palestinians. ... Pupils in UAE waste too much time on net The National 28 Nov 2012 - Children are wasting time on social-networking websites instead of studying or spending time with their families, education authorities have warned. Saudi authorities detain families at rights protest Daily Star 27 Nov 2012 Saudi security forces detained dozens of men, women and children on Tuesday after they staged a rare protest outside a human rights group's office in Riyadh to demand the release of jailed relatives. The Likud presents: The craziest, most radical list ever expected to win elections Noam Sheizaf, +972 Magazine 11/26/2012 Knesset members behind attacks on the left, Arabs and asylum seekers won the day at the Likud primaries. All moderates but one were pushed down the list, and probably won’t serve in the next Knesset. The Likud, Israel’s ruling party the last four years, and the one expected to win the next elections according to every poll I have seen since 2009 (!), held its primaries on Sunday and Monday. The outcome was somewhat expected but is still stunning, and more than anything, it reveals the deep change Israel is going through. The top of the ticket will be held by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Roughly one-third of the seats will go to Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu party, as part of the deal on the joint ticket the two parties reached (Lieberman himself will hold the number two spot); therefore, only the first 20 candidates on the Likud list are expected to enter the Knesset. All the so-called Likud “moderates,” except for Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, were pushed out of the top seed and will probably be out of the Knesset; that includes ministers Benny Begin, Michael Eitan and Dan Meridor. The most vocal backbenchers – those behind attacks on the left, Arabs and human rights NGOs – won the day. The Likud looks right now like the Tea Party’s dream team. Examples: #1 in the Likud primaries is Gidon Sa’ar, the current education minister and the person behind the school trips that take Israeli children to the settlement in occupied Hebron, and the effort to open a university in the settlement of Ariel. He also has a lot to do with the attempt to shut down the Department of Government and Politics at Ben-Gurion University in Be’er Sheva. more.. e-mail When the Smoke Clears in Gaza Yousef Munayyer, The New Yorker 11/19/2012 Sooner or later, hopefully sooner, the all-too-familiar scenes of violence in the Gaza Strip—the sight, on Sunday, of children’s bodies being pulled from a flattened house; the rocket launches—will temporarily stop. As after every round that preceded this, a ceasefire will eventually be reached. The question is what we will have learned. Since the bombing began, both sides have asked how this ends. If the answer is something other than with a repetition in a few more years—a perpetual state of war—Israelis must wrestle with the question of their own identity. No, that question is not the clichéd one: Does Israel have a right to exist? Rather, the more imperative question is: Is the way in which Israel exists—as an occupier, a colonizer, and ultimately, as an apartheid state—right? Is there another solution, involving a single, democratic state? For decades, the ideas put forward by Ze’ev Jabotinsky in his 1923 essay “The Iron Wall” have shaped the way that many Israelis have approached their relationship with the Palestinians. Jabotinsky, the ideological forefather of Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing Likud party, believed that it was naïve to think that the native Arabs would ever accept what he identified as “Zionist colonization.” Thus, he concluded, the only way that the Zionist project could succeed was through the use of force—“an iron wall which the native population cannot break through.” What has transpired in Gaza over the past several days, and what has transpired in Palestine over the last century, has proven Jabotinsky and his modern day protégés both right and wrong. They are right to believe that the native Palestinian Arabs will not give up their right to the land or to full equality; they are not simply going to go away. But they are wrong to believe that this challenge can be solved by force. more.. e-mail Gaza children return to rubble-strewn schools 11/24/2012 - GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Pupils returning to schools in the Gaza Strip on Saturday found many had been reduced to rubble after Israel's eight-day bombardment of the coastal enclave. Gaza's ministry of education said 52 schools had sustained moderate to severe damage during the Israeli bombing campaign. Ministry director Mahmoud.... occupied Palestinian territory: Children suffering devastating and lasting impact of Gaza crisis, says UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Relief Web 22 Nov 2012 - Source: UN Human Rights Council Country: Israel, occupied Palestinian territory GENEVA (22 November 2012) – While welcoming the ceasefire which started last night, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on Thursday expressed its “deep concern at... Behind the pillars of cloud Rami Zurayk and Anne Gough, Al Jazeera.com 11/22/2012 The food and farming sector in Gaza has been severely maimed, worsening the condition of agricultural sector. Since its creation in 1948, Israel has used food and nutrition as a means to entrench its military and territorial occupation of Palestine. While all eyes are turned today to the savage eradication of children and entire families in Gaza through operation "Pillar of Cloud", Israel pursues its long-term goal of decimating the means of food production, livelihoods and the ability of those in Gaza to make economic and political decisions about what they grow and what they eat. Gaza and the rest of Occupied Palestine is being restructured as an entity where malnutrition is endemic, access to food is denied and people are forced to live under the constant fear of not having enough to eat. In the last eight days, the food and farming sector in Gaza has been severely maimed, worsening the condition of an agricultural sector impaired by six years of Israeli imposed siege, military campaigns and decades of occupation. In the first five days of the assault, the Ministry of Agriculture in Gaza estimated losses to the agriculture and fishing sectors to be above US $50 million. Follow the latest developments in the ongoing conflict According to our colleague Mohammad El Bakri, who is with the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, and other agricultural specialists in Gaza, farmers are in the midst of the crucial olive harvest and olive oil production season and the destruction is a disastrous blow for food and economic security in Gaza. more.. e-mail In photos: Israel relentlessly bombs Gaza, West Bank protests repressed Electronic Intifada 11/18/2012 Israel has shown no mercy in its bombing of the besieged and occupied Gaza Strip, as airstrikes and shelling entered into the fifth day on Sunday (see previous photostory documenting the run-up to and first days of the assault). Israel has reportedly approved the drafting of 75,000 reservists, though so far there has been no ground invasion. With nearly 50 fatalities in Gaza since Israel’s breaking of a tenuous ceasefire on Wednesday, the World Health Organization warned on Saturday that Gaza’s hospitals “are overwhelmed with casualties from Israel’s bombings and face critical shortages of drugs and medical supplies,” according to the Reuters news agency (“Gaza hospitals stretched, need supplies to treat wounded: WHO”). Reuters adds: “the WHO, quoting Health Ministry officials in Gaza, said 382 people have been injured - 245 adults and 137 children.” Gaza’s health facilities were already “severely over stretched mainly as a result of the siege of Gaza,” the UN organization said. Meanwhile, Palestinian resistance groups fired more long-rage rockets towards Tel Aviv, and sirens were heard in Jerusalem for the first time. Gaza groups also fired short-range rockets, many of them intercepted by the Iron Dome system, according to Israeli media. Rockets were also reported to have been fired from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Three Israeli civilians were killed by a rocket fired from Gaza on Thursday. Protests against Israel’s assault on Gaza erupted across the West Bank, where protesters clashed with Israeli soldiers. According to the Ma’an News Agency, five Palestinian citizens of Israel were detained at a protest in Jerusalem’s Beit Hanina neighborhood and ten persons were detained by Israel at protests in Gaza across the West Bank yesterday. Israeli forces also arrested protesters outside Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday. more.. e-mail Letter from Khan Yunis: ‘Our blood is being shed every day and the world has yet to learn that we are human beings’ Mondoweiss - Palestinians gather around a destroyed house in Khan Yunis, November 19, 2012. (Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa via RT ) A message for the world: On UN Children’s day, it is also the 7th day of the Israeli aggression on Gaza. I admit I'm not strong enough to bear... Dubai pupils caught in school rent row may have to repeat year The National 18 Nov 2012 - Hundreds of Pakistani children face having to repeat a year of education if their school is forced to close in April. Qatari Spearheads Effort to Educate 61 Million Children New York Times 18 Nov 2012 - Sheika Moza bint Nasser, wife of the emir of Qatar, created the Educate a Child initiative, which has partnerships with five global development organizations. Special needs children may suffer if expat schooling bill passes The National 16 Nov 2012 - Parents of learning-disabled children say new law requiring mandatory schooling leaves them short of options. Compulsory education for expatriate children in UAE The National 6 Nov 2012 - The FNC's education committee is reviewing a bill on compulsory education for all children between the age of 6 and 18. Palestinian Detainees: no security in injustice CAABU - Council for Arab-British Understanding 11/4/2012 September 2012 INTRODUCTION The clanking of leg irons on a 13-year-old Palestinian boy as he entered the courtroom is a sound I will never forget. It was Kafkaesque; as if this boy could endanger anyone in the middle of an Israeli military base. What a Caabu delegation of British politicians witnessed in the ‘courtroom’ at Ofer was a mockery of law and process worthy of the term ‘kangaroo’. The children had so little faith in the proceedings that all they wanted to do was to see their parents and hear their news for the first time in weeks. These scenes are not unusual. What this report outlines is the way in which entire generations of Palestinians have had to experience the humiliation and degradation of the Israeli military justice system, one of the most oppressive tools of the 45-yearold Israeli occupation. The unfairness of this system gained greater prominence in 2012 following hunger strikes by Palestinians in Israeli detention centres. For these reasons, Caabu has chosen to highlight this issue by taking seven delegations of Parliamentarians to visit military courts and detainees’ families since November 2010. But Palestinians also suffer at the hands of their own fledgling justice system. The weakness of due process and the ill-treatment highlighted in this report illustrate the need for more detailed monitoring and analysis in this area. It is much easier to justify extreme measures – including violence – against people whom we do not see as human.... -- See also: Martial law on the West Bank: Discrimination in action more.. e-mail Martial law on the West Bank: Discrimination in action Kate Meekings, CAABU - Council for Arab-British Understanding 10/3/2012 In May 2012, a Caabu delegation to Ofer military court in the West Bank saw a Palestinian child tried for throwing a Molotov cocktail. The 16-year-old boy looked close to tears throughout his ‘trial’: his legs were shackled together, he had a lesion on his cheek and for most of the time he was in the courtroom his eyes were fixed on his mother, not the judge. When asked how he pleaded, he seemed confused and looked imploringly across the room to his mother, whom he had not seen since his arrest. His lawyer instructed him to plead guilty and he was swiftly sentenced to 20 months in prison. Three months later, on 16 August, six Palestinian civilians - including two children - were wounded in a firebomb attack on a taxi by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Three Israeli children, aged between 12 and 13, from the nearby settlement of Bat Ayin were arrested, questioned, and then released three or four days later. It is useful here to compare the equivalent processes that a 12-year-old Palestinian child would go through if arrested on suspicion of a firebomb attack. While both children would be held criminally responsible for such an attack, only the Palestinian child could receive a custodial sentence. A 12-year-old Israeli child can be held without access for a lawyer for 48 hours, while his Palestinian counterpart can be held for 90 days. Bail is granted for 80% of Israeli children, but only 13% of Palestinian children. As mentioned, an Israeli 12-year-old cannot receive a custodial sentence (older Israeli children, aged from 14 to 17, receive custodial sentences in 6.5% of cases), yet 90% of Palestinian 12-year-olds will receive a custodial sentence. Clearly I cannot know for certain whether any of the young people mentioned above were guilty of what they were accused of. What is clear however is that this dual judicial system, which differentiates between two peoples living in one land on the basis of race, systematically discriminates against Palestinians. -- See also: +972: Visualizing Occupation: Children under Israel's legal regime and Palestinian Detainees: no security in injustice more.. e-mail Report: “Soldiers Kidnapped 292 Palestinians In October” IMEMC - The Ahrar Center for Detainees’ Studies and Human Rights reported that Israeli soldiers kidnapped in October 292 Palestinians in different parts of the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, adding that among the kidnapped are 26 children. ... IDF embraces its bar and bat mitzva-aged orphans Jerusalem Post 29 Oct 2012 - Many Israeli children grow up with only one parent because the other was killed in the line of duty. Children learn democracy via Rabin’s assassination Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2012 - Six-grade classmates learn about Yitzak Rabin at school and extract some important lessons from his story. Natzrat Ilit: “There is no need for our children to be educated with Arabs” Uruknet Parents in Nazareth Illit: ‘There is no need for our children to be educated with Arabs Mondoweiss - Lilach kindergarten in Nazareth Illit. (Photo: Eran Gilvarg/Walla News) Only few days ago Haaretz published disturbing, though not surprising, survey that was conducted among Jewish Israelis, where most Israeli supported Apartheid regime in Israel. Among many disturbing data in the survey, 42% of the questionnaires said... VIDEO: A school for Syrian refugees in Turkey BBC 27 Oct 2012 - More than 300 children who were forced to flee the violence in Syria are now being educated at an unlicensed school set up by their parents and volunteer teachers in Turkey. USA Embrace Israel’s Gaza No-University Education Policy Sabbah report 18 Oct 2012 - Losing Hearts, Minds and Credibility Palestinian school children do their homework on candle light during a power cut in Gaza City on March 27, 2012. [Mohammed Abed / AFP / GettyImages] Why is the “peace process,” which so many American Presidents have invested time in, dead? Answers to... The Need to Defuse the Gaza Time-Bomb Patrick Seale, Agence Global 10/18/2012 One of the most urgent tasks for the international community in 2013 must surely be to lift Israel’s cruel siege of Gaza -- now entering its sixth year -- and end the misguided boycott of its Hamas government. There is hardly a more flagrant example of injustice in the world today than the situation of the 1.6 million inhabitants of this hugely over-crowded Strip -- many of them refugees driven out of Palestine by the new Israeli state in 1947-48. They must be allowed to live a normal life -- to travel, to manufacture, to trade, to educate their children -- free from the constant danger of Israeli air strikes. French scholar Jean-Pierre Filiu, a professor at the prestigious Institute of Political Science in Paris, has published an important 400-page history of Gaza, from ancient times to the disturbed present. His Histoire de Gaza (Editions Fayard, Paris, 2012) is the most comprehensive ever written and should be required reading for all those concerned with the long agony of the Palestinians in their struggle for statehood. It is impossible in a short article to do justice to Filiu’s sweeping narrative, meticulous research and detailed findings, but it is perhaps worth pointing out that he lays blame for the as yet unresolved and indeed worsening crisis on three main actors: first and foremost on Israel, concerned only with its own security and brutally indifferent to Palestinian life; secondly, on Fatah and Hamas, those old rivals, still locked in a fratricidal struggle as if unaware that their national cause is slipping away before their eyes; and thirdly, on the humanitarian aid provided by the international community which has kept Gaza’s population alive but has also, paradoxically, prevented Gaza’s economic development and its efforts at self-sufficiency. Statistics about Gaza make grim reading. In the five years, June 2007 to June 2012, nearly 2,300 Palestinians were killed and 7,700 injured by Israeli forces, two thirds of them during the murderous ‘Cast Lead’ offensive of winter 2008-9. Over a quarter of Palestinian fatalities were women and children.... more.. e-mail Palestinian-Dutch 'Disarming Design' project inspired by artwork in captivity Adri Nieuwhof, Electronic Intifada 10/12/2012 Jewelry is intimately connected to resistance in Palestine. On a recent trip to the West Bank, the designer Annelys de Vet learned of how prisoners smuggle little gifts out of jail. The most prized possessions among Palestinians include beautifully hand-decorated jewels that prisoners make for their children. De Vet is a curator of the Disarming Design project, which aims to bring to market collections of Palestinian design products for the bedroom, kitchen, living room, garden and even a collection of toys. Prototypes of the products have been developed at a workshop hosted by the International Academy of Arts Palestine in Ramallah. Disarming Design is supported by UNESCO, the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the Dutch anti-poverty organization ICCO. De Vet is head of the design department of the Amsterdam-based Sandberg Institute and runs a design studio in Brussels. The project’s coordinator, Majd Abdel Hamid, studied art in Ramallah, as well as in Malmö in Sweden. Hamid and de Vet spoke to The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof about the project. Adri Nieuwhof: How did the project Disarming Design come about and does the name express the meaning of the project? Annelys de Vet: Mieke Zagt from ICCO approached me with the question if I could think of strategies to make Palestinian products more attractive for a contemporary international market.... more.. e-mail New moms learn to reduce risk of heart disease in children Ha'aretz - 9 Oct 2012 Children Evicted From Five Gaza Schools Due To Israeli Bombardment IMEMC - The Palestinian Ministry of Education in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, evicted Monday dozens of schoolchildren from five schools, east of Khan Younis, due to heavy Israeli bombardments targeting the area. ... Egypt court releases Coptic boys BBC 5 Oct 2012 - A court in Egypt orders the release pending investigation of two Coptic Christian children detained on Tuesday for blasphemy against Islam. The Qalandiya Routine the Media Will Not Report Palestine Chronicle: 1 Oct 2012 - By Tamar Fleishman A long and sad line of woman, children and babies was passing through the checkpoint at the end of a day of prison visitations. From one stretcher to another stretcher, from one ambulance to another ambulance, in the back-to-back procedure, a young man was being transferred after surgery back to his home in Ramallah. Twenty five men, who were caught by the Border Police hunters at Zur Hadasa in the early morning hours, had been detained for the entire day. They had been taken five at a time to Qalandiya checkpoint ("they don't have a vehicle large enough to contain them all, they said…") and from there they were sent off to Palestinian territories. Among them were people whose homes are in Hebron and Bethlehem. Stones were thrown at the pillbox, grenades shot at the stone throwers and a lot of stifling tear gas was in the...more Child hit by car in Hebron 9/28/2012 - HEBRON (Ma'an) -- A five-year-old child was seriously injured Friday after he was hit by a car in Hebron, police said. The boy was taken to intensive care in al-Ahli Hospital and the driver was detained, police said in a statement. [END] UN bid to educate thousands of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon The National 26 Sep 2012 - An estimated 15,000 school-age Syrians are registered with the UN in Lebanon, but activists fear many who aren't will miss out on education. Children targeted again in Beit Ommar, 15 year old arrested for second time this year Mondoweiss - link to palestinesolidarityproject.org link to palestinesolidarityproject.org link to palestinesolidarityproject.org '--> Child from Beit Ommar Imprisoned for the Second Time this Year During the night raid Monday 24th of September the Israeli occupation forces also raided the house of the Ramzy Al Alamy family in Beit Ommar.... Child from Beit Ommar Imprisoned for the Second Time this Year Palestine Solidarity Project 25 Sep 2012 - During the night raid Monday 24th of September the Israeli occupation forces also raided the house of the Ramzy Al Alamy family in Beit Ommar. Their 15 year old son, Hossein Ramzy Al Alamy, was arrested on March 31st 2012 when he was attending a peaceful... Villaggio Mall, scene of deadly nursery fire, reopens in Doha after thre The National 21 Sep 2012 - Victims' families express their anger that they were not consulted about reopening, saying they were shocked that Villaggio had not invited them to "grieve for our children in private at the location they died". ’Nothing will happen. Maybe some more terrorists will be killed’ Noam Sheizaf, +972 Magazine 9/22/2012 Declassified documents from meetings held before and during the Sabra and Shatila massacre in 1982 reveal Ariel Sharon’s contempt for Palestinian lives. Published last week by the New York Times, the documents demonstrate the arrogance of Sharon and a young Benjamin Netanyahu in their dealing with American diplomats and officials, who expressed justified concerns over the fate of Palestinians in areas conquered by Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Minister Ariel Sharon (photo: Saar Yaacov, Government Press Office / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) The Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana) also marked the 30th anniversary of the massacre in the Sabra and Shatilla Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. At least 800 people, including many women and children, were killed by the Phalange militia, which was armed by Israel and at times operated by it. The massacre wasn’t planned or executed by Israel, but the Phalange, whose leader Bashir Gemayel had been assassinated a couple of days earlier, were ordered by Israel into the camps. Furthermore, soldiers stationed around the camp witnessed the executions of women and children and reported them to their commanding officers. By the second day of the massacre, news had reached higher ranks in the army and several cabinet ministers, including then Defense Minister Ariel Sharon – but that same night, the IDF fired flares into the sky to help the Phalange in their “fight.” Only on the third day did the IDF order the Phalange out, and the massacre ended. Last weekend, The New York Times published three recently declassified top secret documents (see the bottom of this text) detailing meetings between Israeli and American officials at the beginning of the massacre, during it, and right after it. Three of the Israeli names in those documents later became prime ministers.... more.. e-mail Israeli War against Palestinian Children Dr. Elias Akleh, Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN) 9/17/2012 The Israelis were not satisfied with the mere occupation of Palestine, the evictions of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of their country, the annihilation of Gaza Palestinians through a choking economic siege and frequent aerial bombardments, and the continuous confiscations of Palestinian land and the demolitions of their homes in the West Bank, so they had developed a very oppressive anti-Palestinian children policies, that are aimed at intimidating, terrorizing and traumatizing Palestinian children, whose families dared to stay in the country. These policies, that seem to be part and parcel of the racist expansionist ideology of the state of Israel and of its army, aim primarily at driving Palestinian families out of the country for the sake of their children’s future, and secondary to traumatize and terrorize Palestinian children while very young so that they would not dare grow up into revolting young men. Palestinian children, as young as 8 years old, have become the primary target for the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli occupying forces impose severe oppressive measures against Palestinian communities. These include barriers and check points between towns impeding access to schools, universities and markets. The army routinely demolishes homes, confiscates property, and forcefully evicts Palestinians out of their homes to give them to extremist settlers. When Palestinian young men demonstrate in the streets against such practices Israeli snipers target children in the head and upper body with live ammunition causing many fatalities. When using rubber coated bullets the Israeli soldiers break the casing of the bullet making it more fatal. When chasing children the soldiers use batons hitting heads and extremities to inflict permanent crippling damages, whose treatment pose severe financial burden on already impoverished families. Adopting the Zionist expansionist scheme extremist Zionist Israelis are pushed to forcefully occupy Palestinian farm land and establish caravan settlements on top of hills overlooking Palestinian villages.... more.. e-mail 4-year-old child in critical condition after being hit by car 9/11/2012 - QALQILIYA (Ma'an) -- A four-year-old child was seriously injured in Qalqiliya on Tuesday after being hit by a car, police said. The child was knocked down in the village of Jayyus and immediately taken to hospital. Police said the child is in a critical condition. The driver of the vehicle was detained.... New books: Googly-eyed fish and impish magicians Jerusalem Post 9 Sep 2012 - A new series of engaging Jewish children's books aim to educate kids about the High Holidays. Palestinian bedouins return to threatened school The National 4 Sep 2012 - Classrooms made of mud and tyres offer only hope of education for many Palestinian children. Palestinian Child Sentenced To 4 Months Imprisonment IMEMC - The Israeli Military Court at the Salem military base, north of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, sentenced, Thursday, a 16-year-old Palestinian child, from Ya’bod village, near Jenin, to 4 months imprisonment and NIS 3000 ($800) fine. ... Upgrading schools Jerusalem Post 27 Aug 2012 - Some 2 million Israeli children returned to 4,500 schools and almost 63,000 classrooms on Monday, the largest number of pupils the country has educated in its 64-year history. 2 million Israeli children begin new school year Jerusalem Post 27 Aug 2012 - Number of pupils reaches record high as free education for three-to-four year olds implemented. ISA head: Teens know little about Neil Armstrong Jerusalem Post 26 Aug 2012 - Israeli children generally do not learn a lot about space exploration, even though it is relevant to their lives. Video: Israeli soldiers attack children in Nabi Saleh and forcibly separate them from their detained mother Uruknet Profiles of Child Arrests in Beit Ommar Palestine Solidarity Project 23 Aug 2012 - In 2011, 370 children from the village of Beit Ommar were arrested and imprisoned by Israeli forces. According to figures from the Palestinian ministry, this made up approximately half of all child arrests in the West bank for that period. These children, all under the age... Palestinian and Israeli Children Grow More Violent, New Study Shows Palestine News Network Peres: J'lem lynch is a grave failure for all of us YNet News, 22 Aug 2012 - Addressing education conference, president says Israel's children should be taught to be generous, not only courageous .... From the children of Gaza: Samouni Street 8/21/2012 - International Solidarity Movement - 20 August 2012, Besieged Gaza, occupied Palestine - From the children of Gaza comes this adorable animation depicting the story of 4 kids of the extended Samouni family in Gaza. By animated drawings they express what happened to them and their family during operation ‘Cast Lead'. Updated on August 20, 2012.... Related: YouTube video Incarcerated inside Israel Dissident Voice: 18 Aug 2012 - Detention without trial, the presumption of guilt, denial of family visits, solitary confinement, torture, violent interrogation, and denial of access to appropriate health care. Such is the Israeli judicial system and prison confinement experienced by Palestinian men, women and, indeed, children. Currently there are, according to B’Tselem “4,484 Palestinians – security detainees, confined in Israeli prisons.” Family contact is virtually impossible for prisoners, most of whom are held inside Israel. This contravenes international law in the form of the universally trumpeted Fourth Geneva Convention (Articles 49 & 76), consistently violated and disregarded by Israel. International laws, legally binding upon Israel, which is not above the rule of law, must be respected and enforced. Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories , in the UN news 2/5/12 called “on the international community to ensure that Israel complies with international human rights laws and norms in its treatment of Palestinian...more Report: “4550 Palestinians, Including 220 Children, Imprisoned By Israel” Uruknet Report: “4550 Palestinians, Including 220 Children, Imprisoned By Israel” IMEMC - Palestinian researcher and former political prisoners, Abdul-Nasser Farawna, reported that Israel is currently holding captive 4550 Palestinians, held in 17 prisons, detention and interrogation centers, and added that 220 Palestinian children are still imprisoned by Israel. ... Disabled children to attend kindergarten with peers Jerusalem Post 15 Aug 2012 - Education Ministry funds aides; move comes after years of parental, rights group pressure. Detainee Sentenced To 27 Life Terms, Fathers A Child IMEMC - Palestinian detainee Ammar az-Zaben, 27, who has been imprisoned by Israel for 15 years and sentenced to 37 life terms, managed to father a child after being able to “smuggle” his sperm that was carefully carried by his visiting wife to a local fertility center in Nablus. ... Palestinian children 'abused' in Israeli jail AlJazeera 13 Aug 2012 - Recent studies allege a system of abuse targeting children detained by Israel's military court system. Incarcerated inside Israel: Palestinians tortured and isolated Graham Peebles, Redress 8/12/2012 Detention without trial, the presumption of guilt, denial of family visits, solitary confinement, torture, violent interrogation and denial of access to appropriate health care – such is the Israeli judicial system and prison confinement experienced by Palestinian men, women and indeed children. Currently there are, according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, “4,484 Palestinians – security detainees, confined in Israeli prisons”. Family contact is virtually impossible for prisoners, most of whom are held inside Israel. This contravenes international law, specifically the universally-trumpeted Fourth Geneva Convention (Articles 49 and 76), which is consistently violated and disregarded by Israel. Contempt for international law International law – legally binding upon Israel, which is not above the rule of law, must be respected and enforced. Richard Falk UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, has called on the international community “to ensure that Israel complies with international human rights laws and norms in its treatment of Palestinian prisoners”. Also, in a report entitled “Question of Palestine Administrative Detention” (UNQAP), the UN makes its feelings clear when it says Israel “has historically ratified international agreements regarding human rights protection, whilst at the same time refusing to apply the agreements within the occupied Palestinian territory, attempting to create legal justifications for its illegal actions”. A comprehensive list of international legally binding agreements dutifully signed, ratified and consequently disregarded by various Israeli governments are cited by the UN, which sits hands tied, impotent it seems in the face of Israel’s illegal and violent occupation (a fact that cannot be stated often or loudly enough), submissive to the imperialist godfather. America. more.. e-mail Algeria to increase support for Syrian refugees Al-Akhbar News 11 Aug 2012 - Algeria is to allocate specific education divisions for children of Syrian refugees, after a meeting between representatives of the ministries of interior, solidarity and education agreed the deal. Al-Khabar newspaper quoted Farouk Ksentini, president of the National Advisory Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Human... Incarcerated inside Israel: Palestinians Tortured, Isolated Palestine Chronicle: 11 Aug 2012 - By Graham Peebles Detention without trial, the presumption of guilt, denial of family visits, solitary confinement, torture, violent interrogation, and denial of access to appropriate health care, such is the Israeli judicial system and prison confinement experienced by Palestinian men, women and indeed children. Currently there are, according to B’T selem “4,484 Palestinians – security detainees, confined in Israeli prisons.” Family contact is virtually impossible for prisoners, most of who are held inside Israel. This contravenes international law in the form of the universally trumpeted Fourth Geneva Convention (Article’s 49 & 76), consistently violated and disregarded by Israel. International laws – legally binding upon Israel, who are not above the rule of law, must be respected and enforced. Richard Falk UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, in the UN news 2/5/12 called “on the international community to ensure that Israel complies with international human rights laws and norms...more Israel to Detain Migrant Children in Prison IMEMC - African children, whose parents bring them to Israel illegally will now be held in Givon Prison in Ramle, rather than a special facility for migrant youth, in violation of international law concerning the treatment of children and a 2011 Israeli High Court ruling. ... Children are in the Front Line of Israel's Blockade of Gaza Palestine Chronicle: 9 Aug 2012 - By Stephen McCloskey The Gaza Strip is inching toward a humanitarian crisis as Israel’s five year blockade of the territory has been exacerbated by a dispute over fuel supplies. Gaza’s young people are on the front line of this crisis as failing utilities like water and electricity and an inadequate diet have seen rampant rates of anaemia and diarrhoea. Meanwhile, the main provider of food, healthcare and education in Gaza, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), has come under political attack in Israel and the United States, threatening the main institution that fills the gap between poverty and utter destitution. Hady Mattar is a five year old boy playing among hundreds of young people in Gaza’s YMCA. He is easily distinguished from his peers by his bandaged hands covering severe burns sustained at home from a domestic electricity generator. Hady, like most of Gaza’s children, is paying the...more Israeli military killed four Palestinians, detained 290 (including 42 children) during the month of July Mondoweiss - link to www.palestine-info.co.uk link to www.imemc.org link to 972mag.com link to www.palestine-info.co.uk link to english.wafa.ps link to palsolidarity.org link to english.pnn.ps link to www.middleeastmonitor.com link to english.pnn.ps link to www.palestine-info.co.uk link to www.palestine-info.co.uk link to www.haaretz.com link to mondoweiss.net link to www.maannews.net link to silwanic.net link... Israeli Authorities Detain 6-Year-Old Mentally Disabled Child IMEMC - A six-year-old mentally disabled girl who was born in Israel to parents who migrated from Sierra Leone was detained Thursday morning by Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority. ... Prosor: Syrian regime capable of using chemical weapons Jerusalem Post 3 Aug 2012 - Ambassador to UN tells GA, “We shouldn't pretend a regime that cuts throats of children today will not be prepared to gas them tomorrow”; UNGA approves non-binding resolution expressing "grave concern" at Syria escalation. Reports: IOF killed four Palestinians, detained 42 children in July PIC - Israeli occupation forces killed four Palestinians and detained 290 others including 42 children in July, the Palestinian Center for Prisoners’ Studies and the Tadamun Foundation said. Father of blind children still jailed after 5 months 8/1/2012 - GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Ihab Abu al-Jedyan is one of dozens of Palestinians from Gaza detained during interviews with Israeli security forces to secure a permit to visit the West Bank. Abu Al-Jedyan, 35, is the father to two blind children who study at al-Shuroq school for the visually impaired in the West Bank.... Israel Detains 17 Across West Bank IMEMC - Israeli Military Forces Detained 17 Palestinians across the West Bank Saturday morning including 3 teenagers and 6 children, including one 12-year-old, Ma’an News reported. ... Gaza children still banned from visiting detained relatives 7/25/2012 - GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israel is preventing children in Gaza visiting their relatives in Israeli prisons, Fatah official Nashat al-Wahidi said Wednesday. Israel agreed in May to allow residents of Gaza to visit their relatives in Israeli jails as part of a deal to end a mass hunger strike. On Monday 33 people were.... London Olympics security firm G4S helps Israel abuse Palestinian children in solitary confinement Adri Nieuwhof, Electronic Intifada 7/22/2012 G4S, the firm at the center of the debacle over security for the London 2012 Olympics, is helping Israel secure facilities where Palestinian children are imprisoned and severly abused. Defence for Children-Palestine (DCI-Palestine) has released an urgent appeal to end the practice of holding Palestinian children from the West Bank in solitary confinement in facilities in Israel. The organization has documented 53 such cases since 2008. The children have been held in solitary confinement mainly in Al Jalame and Petah Tikva interrogation centers. The security systems for Al Jalame detention facilities were provided by G4S Israel, according to a March 2011 report on the firm by Who Profits. G4S Israel is a subsidiary of British-Danish security firm G4S and it is deeply involved in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, as well as in Israeli prisons and detention centers. Meanwhile, G4S has lost its credibility because its incapacity to deliver on the contract to secure the London Olympics. The UK government stepped in and mobilized 3,500 military personnel to fill in the gap. Nick Bukcles, G4S’s CEO, was interrogated by members of parliament about the failure of his company. Buckles admitted that G4S’s reputation is in tatters. DCI-Palestine documents the cases of 19 boys held solitary confinement in its urgent appeal, DCI-Palestine has documented the cases of 19 boys who were held in solitary confinement by Israel. The boys were aged between 15 and 17 years. DCI-Palestine writes: In most cases the children are arrested from their homes in the occupied West Bank by Israeli soldiers in the middle of the night.... -- See also: DCI-Palestine Urgent Appeal (PDF) more.. e-mail UK Foreign Office agrees that imprisoning Palestinian children inside Israel violates international law – but what are they going to do? Uruknet UN envoy slams 'appalling' abuse of child prisoners 7/21/2012 - BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories on Friday condemned Israel's use of solitary confinement against Palestinian children. Richard Falk urged the Israeli government to treat child detainees in accordance with international human rights laws." Israel's use of solitary.... Study: Nearly one-third of preschoolers ultra-Orthodox YNet News, 17 Jul 2012 - Taub Center research on state of pre-primary education in Israel says that in 2010, ultra-Orthodox children comprised 31% of Israeli preschoolers aged 3-5 .... Akram Rikhawi and the Saga of Palestinian Hunger Strikes Richard Falk, International Solidarity Movement 7/17/2012 The persistence of Palestinian hunger strikes shocks me for two reasons: that these extreme expressions of moral freedom alert all who choose to expose their consciousness to such realities of the severely abusive arrest, detention, and interrogation procedures that many Palestinians living under Israeli occupation must endure; that the world’s media, foreign governments, the UN, the Arab League barely acknowledge such events, which if they occurred in other countries would generate outpourings of outrage and sympathy, and depending on the geopolitical calculus, hypocritical calls for the application of the ‘responsibility to protect’ norm. I post below a joint press release by respected NGOs of Palestine and Israel that summarize the desperate medical condition of Akram Rikhawi, who has continued his hunger strike for more than 85 days, an extraordinary display of discipline and resolve, the exemplary Palestinian virtue of samud (steadfastness). Mr. Rikhawi, whose home is in Gaza, has been held in prison since 2004 after being convicted to a nine-year term by an Israeli military court. He has been denied mercy by the Israeli authorities despite a present political atmosphere in which the Palestinian resistance has not been posing violent challenges to Israeli security behind the green line, and his condition would in any event make political activism an impossibility. As a result of the ‘Shalit Law,’ a vindictive violation of international humanitarian law that retaliates against Palestinian prisoners because of the capture of Gilad Shalit an Israeli soldier who was released a year ago, Rikhawi has been denied family visits since 2006 despite being the father of eight children plus the five young children of his recently deceased brother. Yasmine, daughter of his brother, summed up Akram Rikhawi’s tragic situation: “My uncle made a decision and we support him because we live life once; we either live it with dignity or we die fighting for it.” No human being should be forced to face such a dilemma, and those that do deserve our compassion and support.... -- See also: Source more.. e-mail Israeli social protests: from protest to despair Michael Warschawski, Alternative Information Center 7/16/2012 A year ago, hundreds of thousands occupied the streets of Israeli cities and demanded social justice. According to UN reports, Israel is the industrialized country with the highest gap between rich and poor, worse even than the United States. While 15% of Israelis are openly demonstrating against their outrageous standard of living, the majority of Israelis are unable to finish the month and are condemned to live with their parents. Moreover: according to official Israeli data, more than 40% [sic] of Israeli children are living under the poverty line. The "protest movement" of summer 2011 raised big hopes, and even the fundamentalist-neo-liberal government of Benjamin Netanyahu had to react. It established a state committee led by Professor Trachtenberg with a mandate to propose social and economic reform. The very moderate Trachtenberg Committee's recommendations were immediately rejected by the same government that appointed the committee. July 14, exactly one year after Daphni Leef started the protest on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, Moshe Silman, a 57 year old entrepreneur from Haifa, set himself on fire at the end of a demonstration in Tel Aviv, and doctors say his chances of survival are slim. Moshe Silman is not what statistics put under the category of "poor": until recently he had his own company, a good income and an honourable standard of living. Like many thousands in Israel, Silman was the victim of neo-liberal economics and the banking system that gradually pushed him to be without hope and without a home. The hope generated by the protest movement a year ago has become despair, and the (relatively small) demonstrations which aimed to commemorate last year mobilizations expressed more impotence and anger than hope. If Daphni Leef was the emblematic figure of the successful protest movement of last year, Moshe Silman is the tragic, emblematic figure of the 2012 failure. more.. e-mail Israel treats every Palestinian child as 'potential terrorist': government-backed UK study 7/4/2012 - International Solidarity Movement - By Asa Winstanley, 28 June 2012, Electronic Intifada - London - A new report funded and supported by the UK government that accuses Israel of violating international law with its treatment of Palestinian child detainees was launched in London by a high-profile group of human rights lawyers on Tuesday. The report says Israel is in violation of.... Related: Source and UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Israel treats every Palestinian child as 'potential terrorist': government-backed UK study Asa Winstanley, Electronic Intifada 6/28/2012 A new report funded and supported by the UK government that accuses Israel of violating international law with its treatment of Palestinian child detainees was launched in London by a high-profile group of human rights lawyers on Tuesday. The report says Israel is in violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) on at least six counts and of the Fourth Geneva Convention on at least two counts. It lays bare the system of legal apartheid Israel maintains in Palestine. But there is pessimism in some quarters that the report’s recommendations will be implemented. The document has been criticized as “toothless” by a prominent Palestinian human rights activist. “Children in Military Custody” was funded and backed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and written by an ad hoc group including a former attorney general, a former court of appeal judge and several prominent attorneys known as QCs. The delegation visited Palestine in September and met with Palestinian, Israeli and international nongovernmental organizations, British diplomats and a wide range of Israeli government and military officials. The report details the military law Israel applies to all Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including children, and how it differs from the civilian law applied to Israeli settlers who live in the same territory. It states there it was “uncontested [by Israel] that there are major differentials between the law governing the treatment of Palestinian children and the law governing treatment of Israeli children.” Unequal treatment of children At the heart of the report are three core recommendations to the Israeli government: start applying international law to the West Bank (which Israel refuses to do), the best interests of the child should come first and, crucially, that Israel “should deal with Palestinian children on an equal footing with Israeli children." -- See also: Fourth Geneva Convention and UN Convention on the Rights of the Child more.. e-mail Israel treats every Palestinian child as "potential terrorist": government-backed UK study Electronic Intifada: 28 Jun 2012 - Asa Winstanley London 28 June 2012 A new report funded and supported by the UK government that accuses Israel of violating international law with its treatment of Palestinian child detainees was launched in London this week.more ICHR demands release of prisoners in PA jails 6/28/2012 - BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Independent Commission for Human Rights says it is concerned about the lives of prisoners who are on hunger strike in a detention center of the general intelligence in Bethlehem. The commission visited the center this week to check up on the detainees after several announced a hunger strike as they.... Related: UK lawyers say Israeli child detention practices illegal Why did Palestinian leadership neglect hunger striking athlete? Mosab Qashoo, +972 Magazine 6/23/2012 The Palestinian leadership’s silence regarding the plight of national footballer Mahmoud Sarsak and other Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike derives from the fear that the more empowered Palestinians become in their opposition to Israeli occupation, the more likely they are to overthrow the Palestinian Authority. Anyone following the Palestinian struggle will have heard about Mahmoud Sarsak, the imprisoned Palestinian footballer who this week ended a hunger strike of over three months. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) have been publicizing their upcoming meeting with the head of the Israeli Kadima party, Shaul Mofaz, leaving a striking absence of any official comment on Sarsak’s situation. It seems very bizarre that the PA and PLO ignored one of their national heroes, a rising star in the society’s most popular sport, who was on the brink of death. He was the easiest person to defend. He has never been involved in politics, is not a member of a political party, and had all the necessary Israel-issued permits. He was one of the youngest people to make the Palestinian national soccer team. Above all, he has not been charged or convicted by Israel of any wrongdoing, although Israel held him for three years. Even considering the PA and the PLO more cynically, any politician could have seen a man in such a situation as a gift from the political gods. Imagine the affirmation they would have received if they negotiated his release. Imagine the photo-ops of officials visiting the soccer team Sarsak was supposed to join when he was seized by Israel. They could have even organized children’s soccer games in his honor. Yet these authorities didn’t not take advantage of this opportunity, neither for selfless nor for self-serving gains. more.. e-mail Police: Girl hit by car near Hebron, seriously injured 6/20/2012 - HEBRON (Ma'an) -- A seven-year-old girl suffered serious injuries after she was hit by a car in a southern Hebron town on Wednesday, police said. The child was crossing the street in al-Samu when she was hit by a car, a police statement said. The driver of the car was detained pending further investigation.... Anniversary of Gaza Blockade: A State of Siege, and Normalcy Ramzy Baroud, Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN) 6/20/2012 On June 14, fifty international organizations marked the fifth anniversary of the Israeli siege on Gaza by calling on Israel to end its blockade of the small, impoverished strip. “For over five years in Gaza, more than 1.6 million people have been under blockade in violation of international law. More than half of these people are children. We the undersigned say with one voice: 'end the blockade now,’” read the joint statement. The signatories included such reputable organizations as Save the Children, Oxfam, the World Health Organization, Amnesty International and Médecins du Monde. The wording of the statement mirrored that of a plethora of recent appeals. The only notable difference is that during the siege the Gaza population has grown from 1.5 to over 1.6 million. The statement followed a strong censure of the siege by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos. Amos has decried what she described as “collective punishment of all those living in Gaza and...a denial of basic human rights in contravention of international law.” She demanded that the “blockade be lifted immediately, so that essential services and infrastructure can be maintained.” Condemning Israeli rights violations in Palestine by leading human rights and humanitarian organizations is nothing new. Unfortunately, such calls are rarely followed by any organized political campaigns. Western governments are least concerned by the ongoing drama. Historically they have employed a selective policy of outrage whenever human rights are violated. Worse, in many cases Western powers have taken an active role in allowing continued Israeli subjugation of Palestinians. more.. e-mail Anniversary of Gaza Blockade: A State of Siege and Normalcy Dissident Voice: 20 Jun 2012 - On June 14, fifty international organizations marked the fifth anniversary of the Israeli siege on Gaza by calling on Israel to end its blockade of the small, impoverished strip. For over five years in Gaza, more than 1.6 million people have been under blockade in violation of international law. More than half of these people are children. We the undersigned say with one voice: ‘end the blockade now,’” read the joint statement. The signatories included such reputable organizations as Save the Children, Oxfam, the World Health Organization, Amnesty International and Médecins du Monde. The wording of the statement mirrored that of a plethora of recent appeals. The only notable difference is that during the siege the Gaza population has grown from 1.5 to over 1.6 million. The statement followed a strong censure of the siege by the UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos. Amos has decried what she...more For impoverished adolescents in East Jerusalem, a safe place to play and learn Relief Web 19 Jun 2012 - Source: UN Children's Fund Country: occupied Palestinian territory By Catherine Weibel EAST JERUSALEM, Occupied Palestinian Territory, 18 June 2012 – Few of the tourists who visit Jerusalem’s walled Old City know that meters from its iconic holy places, past a... Education in Lebanon: Overlooked Children’s Limbo Al-Akhbar News 18 Jun 2012 - Syrian refugee children, who fled the violence in Syria, stand on a road at the northern Lebanese border village of al-Mouqaibleh, near the Lebanese-Syrian border, 19 July 2011. (Photo: Reuters - Omar Ibrahim) Syrian refugee children, who fled the violence in Syria, stand on a road... 20 Palestinian detained children started a hunger strike in Hasharon prison 6/16/2012 - International Solidarity Movement - 13 June 2012, Palestinian Information Center, Gaza - Twenty Palestinian children, detained in Hasharon prison, launched on Tuesday June 12, an open hunger strike protesting the harsh prison conditions and the prison administration's neglect of their demands. A 17-years-old child Ahmed Lafi, who was one of the strikers, told the Ministry of the.... On racism, Foreign Ministry worried about image, not reality Yossi Gurvitz, +972 Magazine 6/13/2012 Diplomats warn that reports of Israeli attitudes and acts towards refugees may harm Israel’s image, ignoring the acts themselves. Our Foreign Ministry finds itself in a quandary. Israel brutally expels refugees from South Sudan, and runs a vicious and racist campaign against refugees from Sudan. Ministers and MKs are competing to see who can lead a more beastly campaign of hatred. The current winner is Madam MK and former IDF Spokeswomen Miri “I did not intend to compare the refugees to human beings” Regev, but the race is far from over. This, reports activist Rotem Ilan (Hebrew), is how the Oz Unit (refugee headhunting unit, dregs of Israeli society so low they couldn’t even get in to the police) sounds in action: “Do you want me to fuck you in the ass? You like it, it shows” (Oz officer to an activist); “The father said he does not love you anymore, and you can fly for all he cares” (Oz officer to a mother and daughter held in custody, asking to say their goodbyes to the child’s father); “If you need to go to the bathroom, just piss in your dress” (Oz officer to a priest in traditional African garb, who actually had a residency permit); “What am I, a bell boy? Do I have to carry your luggage? You don’t want to [carry it], see if I care” (Oz officer during an arrest of a family with three children, yesterday). Veteran journalist Yael Gvirtz described (Hebrew) some of the deportees: “A girl with hideous burns (whose mother and brother are already detained), [to be deported] to a country with no medical infrastructure… A person seriously ill with diabetes, who knows deportation consigns him to death, because there is no insulin to be gotten there. Just two of the stories, because this night is so difficult as it is. And what would the next picture be? The disaster area (and then the Israeli government will surely send an IDF flying hospital, to show the world how humane we are…)” more.. e-mail [uruknet.info] Afghanistan: More than 6.5m forced into child labour Uruknet June 5, 2012 - Deputy Labour Minister Wasil Noor Mohmand said more than eight million children had access to education in the country and over 6.5 million were deprived of the right. He voiced concern that most of children were forced into hard works and subjected to sexual and physical abuse, early marriages and smuggling. "Nearly... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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