Israel is weaponising Palestinian children’s rights
Al JazeeraInstead of simply disregarding child rights and international law, Israel is increasingly using them to perfect and justify its violence. For example, the Israeli military’s strategy document emphasises the importance of “carrying out effective public diplomacy, perception-shaping, and legal efforts before, during, and after combat” in order to “generate legitimacy for military operation.” Israel’s use of the law to launder its violence is far from new. Although Tamimi’s lawyer requested to allow media presence in the courtroom, the military judges – citing the legal principle of “the child’s best interests” – closed the hearings and ejected the journalists. The following year, an amendment to Israeli law gave military judges a new power: to order evaluations of Palestinian children’s rehabilitation chances, supposedly to assist the court in considering alternatives to remand. For example, the British Foreign Office, when asked on the matter, mentioned these reforms as examples, supposedly, of “some improvements/progress by Israel.” Similarly, the US State Department has cited Israel’s claim that recent “reforms … improved the treatment of Palestinian minors.” To the unsuspecting eye, separation from adults, rehabilitation evaluations, and closed hearings all appear to follow international child rights norms.
History of this topic
Granderson: Killing Yahya Sinwar in Gaza does not end the war
LA Times
UN accuses Israel of ‘massive’ violation of child rights treaty in Gaza
Al Jazeera
How international law is used to cover up Israeli settler-colonialism
Al Jazeera
International law is clear on need to protect children who are victims of conflicts: Nobel winner Kailash Satyarthi on Israel-Hamas war
The Hindu
The myth of Israel’s ‘most moral army’
Al Jazeera
Is Israel violating the laws of war meant to protect children?
Al Jazeera
Children in Palestine & Israel Continue To Suffer With International Law Ignored
The Quint
Palestinian children abused in Israeli detention: NGO
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