PALESTINIAN CHILDREN TARGETED BY ISRAELI MILITARY SIEGE: DCI/PS CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION
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For immediate release
1 April 2002
ref: 003/02
PALESTINIAN CHILDREN TARGETED BY ISRAELI MILITARY SIEGE: DCI/PS CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION
DCI/PS urges the international community to immediately intervene to
protect Palestinian children currently under siege by the Israeli military.
Thousands of Palestinian civilians are currently facing a dire humanitarian
crisis. The Israeli army has severed electricity and water lines to entire
Palestinian cities. Ambulances and medical personnel are repeatedly being
denied access to injured Palestinians. Families are prisoners in their
own homes, many faced with the threat of being shot by Israeli soldiers
and snipers should they venture outdoors. Many are either running low on
food or have exhausted their food supply. Palestinian males, including
boys as young as 14, are being rounded up and detained. Israeli soldiers
have taken over numerous private homes, destroying personal property, physically
abusing residents and traumatizing children.
The Israeli government and its army repeatedly assert
that the purpose of the ongoing invasions into Palestinian cities, villages,
and refugee camps is to arrest “terrorists.” Over and over again, Israeli
officials have stressed that civilians are not the target of the operations
and that no harm is intended towards them. Similarly, throughout the 18
months of the current Intifada, the Israeli government has repeatedly denied
that its military policies in the occupied territories target Palestinian
children, who constitute 53% of the Palestinian population of the West
Bank and Gaza Strip.
Given the frequent absence of critical examination
of Israeli military actions, DCI/PS would like to stress the obvious:
-It is impossible that children are not being targeted when the Israeli army is repeatedly attacking civilian areas and forbidding the population to leave their homes, particularly when children constitute 53% of the population.
-It is impossible that children are not being be targeted when schools and houses are being hit with heavy artillery.
-It is particularly impossible that children are not being targeted when they are being rounded up and detained.
Israel’s policies of collective punishment do not discriminate on the
basis of age, sex or location. If the practical results of Israel’s occupation
policies are examined, then it becomes clear that every Palestinian is
a legitimate target according to Israeli practice.
The fact sheet included below highlights the range
of child rights violations which have occurred in the last 18 months alone
as a direct result of the Israeli occupation.
As a child rights organization active for nearly
a decade, Defence for Children International/ Palestine Section is astonished
by the impunity with which Israel has treated Palestinian children over
the last decade and the lack of political will on behalf of the international
community to tackle Israel’s gross and persistent violations of international
humanitarian and human rights law.
After years of consistent, state-sponsored child
rights violations, there is no excuse for inaction.
DCI/PS calls on the international community to intervene
and demand an immediate halt to Israel's siege on the occupied territories
and an end to the Israeli occupation. Please address letters of protest
to the following individuals:
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mrs. Mary Robinson
OHCHR
Tel. ++41 22 917 9000
Fax. ++41 22 917 9012/9006/9005
E-mail webadmin.hchr@unog.ch
Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon
Office of the Prime Minister
Tel: ++972 2 6705555
Fax: ++972 2 566 4838
Email: pm@gov.il
President, European Commission
(Romano Prodi)
European Commission
200 rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200
B-1049 Brussels
Belgium
E-mail: Presidentsregister@cec.eu.int
US President
George Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Phone: ++1-202 456 1414
Fax: ++1-202 456 2461
Email: president@whitehouse.gov
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