By Barbara Bibbo
...United Nations officials (click here) condemned the continued arbitrary detention of Palestinian children by Israel saying the practice has become "systematic and widely spread".
A series of UN reports presented at the Human Rights Council shows how the living conditions of Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza have dramatically worsened over the past year, and how children are bearing the brunt of the Israeli occupation, said Kate Gilmore, the UN deputy high commissioner for human rights.
"The past year saw hundreds of Palestinian children detained by Israel, some without charge under administrative detention," Gilmore said, addressing the council in Geneva on Tuesday.
"The impact of the conflict on the lives of children is entirely unacceptable. In this year alone, six children have been shot and killed in the context of protests."...
President Abbas needs to take some solace in knowing reporting agencies do care and try to bring about change for the Palestinian people and their children.
Perhaps, the people of Palestine will be recognized as people and not simply people carrying knives. There are arrangements that can be made to bring humanitarian supplies to Gaza and the West Bank, the question is when will the Palestinians see relief? Never? Starvation is a human rights abuse in case some in the Middle East forgot that fact.
19 March 2018
...Introducing his second report, (click here) Mr. Lynk said it focused on the right to health. He regretted that the Government of Israel continued to refuse cooperation with the Special Rapporteur. His report addressed two themes, of which the first was the deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. He was deeply disturbed by the plight of the Palestinian children. Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the deprivation of the liberty of a child had to be used as the last resort. Yet the deprivation of liberty of Palestinian children by Israel was institutionalized, systematic and widely spread. His second concern was Gaza, which was moving to a situation of calamity as a result of the comprehensive blockade imposed by Israel since 2007 on land, sea and air, which amounted to collective punishment. Turning to the right to health, Mr. Lynk said Israel made many of the critical decisions affecting the disfiguring state of health in Gaza, which was on the verge of collapse. An occupying power had the duty under international law to ensure that the right to health was fulfilled during the period of occupation, making Israel in profound breach of the right to health....
President Abbas needs to take some solace in knowing reporting agencies do care and try to bring about change for the Palestinian people and their children.
Perhaps, the people of Palestine will be recognized as people and not simply people carrying knives. There are arrangements that can be made to bring humanitarian supplies to Gaza and the West Bank, the question is when will the Palestinians see relief? Never? Starvation is a human rights abuse in case some in the Middle East forgot that fact.
19 March 2018
...Introducing his second report, (click here) Mr. Lynk said it focused on the right to health. He regretted that the Government of Israel continued to refuse cooperation with the Special Rapporteur. His report addressed two themes, of which the first was the deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. He was deeply disturbed by the plight of the Palestinian children. Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the deprivation of the liberty of a child had to be used as the last resort. Yet the deprivation of liberty of Palestinian children by Israel was institutionalized, systematic and widely spread. His second concern was Gaza, which was moving to a situation of calamity as a result of the comprehensive blockade imposed by Israel since 2007 on land, sea and air, which amounted to collective punishment. Turning to the right to health, Mr. Lynk said Israel made many of the critical decisions affecting the disfiguring state of health in Gaza, which was on the verge of collapse. An occupying power had the duty under international law to ensure that the right to health was fulfilled during the period of occupation, making Israel in profound breach of the right to health....
