Israel Under Fire for Its Treatment of Palestinian Children

Israel Under Fire for Its Treatment of Palestinian Children

Saturday, October 12 2002 @ 03:56 PM GMT

By Catherine Cook
For Palestine Chronicle

On 2 October, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reviewed the State of Israel's report on measures taken in compliance with the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history.

At the same time, Amnesty International, one of the world's most respected human rights organizations, released a report addressing the killing of Palestinian and Israeli children. The report has received considerable attention in the media, much of it focused on the repeated killing of Palestinian children and the impunity with which Israeli military action is treated.

The Israeli army has bent over backward to deny these charges, arguing that “all IDF operations adhere to international humanitarian law, in strict compliance with the highest moral and legal standards.” In the official response of the Israeli army to the Amnesty report, its spokesperson allowed that “some civilians, including children, have been injured,” but asserted that “[i]n no case were these injuries intentional. Those hurt were either individuals involved in Palestinian terrorist activity, or civilians who were unintentionally hurt when they entered a live-fire zone.”

However, the Amnesty International report paints a very different picture. Of 21 case studies presented highlighting the circumstances of Palestinian children's deaths, at least 17 occurred in situations where absolutely no confrontation existed, resulting in the deaths of 34 Palestinian children. These findings confirm those of Palestinian child rights organizations.

Of the 125 Palestinian children killed by Israeli military forces in the first 8 ½ months of 2002, and whose cases were documented by Defence for Children International/Palestine Section, 88% were killed in situations where there was no confrontation occurring at the time of death. Over 50% were killed when the Israeli army indiscriminately opened fire or shelled civilian neighborhoods in Palestinian towns and villages.

In denying charges of impunity for child deaths, the Israeli army spokesperson and the Israeli delegation to the UN proceedings both allege that investigations have been opened into cases of Palestinian child death and injury; however, neither have released the results of those investigations, nor mentioned if punitive action was taken against soldiers.

Supporting the allegations of impunity, however, is the fact that Israel has attempted to absolve itself of any responsibility for its practices towards Palestinian children in the occupied territories, by arguing that it is not bound to apply the CRC there.

Consequently, in its report to the Committee, a report that was seven years overdue, the State of Israel failed to include any information on the status of children in the occupied territories, an issue with which the Committee expressed concern.

For over two years, the Israeli government has implemented policies that violate international human rights and humanitarian law. These policies have had a devastating impact on Palestinian civilians, an impact which has been well-documented by such renowned institutions as the World Bank, the UN Commission on Human Rights, and the US State Department.

At the same time, the Israeli government has yet to alter any of these practices, choosing instead to intensify them. No government can implement policies such as these for over two years - policies that result in the deaths of hundreds of children -- and then protest that the results are unintended and that it bears no responsibility. Thus, while the Israeli government iinsists that it does not target Palestinian children, its daily practices in the occupied territories indicate otherwise.

In its concluding recommendations, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child not only affirmed Israel's responsibility to apply the CRC in the Palestinian territories illegally occupied by Israel, it stressed that Israel should not be afforded special treatment vis-à-vis its obligations under international law. It is time that the international community took concrete action to support this conclusion. Until it does so, it shares responsibility for the continued deterioration of the situation on the ground.


Catherine Cook is International Advocacy Coordinator for Defence for Children International/Palestine Section.



Nine-year-old Abdel Salam Sumerin was killed 9-20-02 when Israel Defense Forces troops used live fire to disperse a crowd of school children challenging the army's attempt to impose a curfew on the El Amari refugee camp, in El Bireh.
Friday, September 20, 2002 Tishrei 14, 5763