UN Report Shows Israelis Responsible for Most Violence Against Children in Israel-Palestine Conflict

By Interventions Watch
Global Research, July 03, 2014
Interventions Watch 2 July 2014
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The report purports to give an overview of all the ways in which children were adversely affected – to put it mildly – in various conflict zones around the world in 2013.

The section on Israel/Occupied Palestine Territories makes for interesting reading, especially given the current furore around, and widespread condemnation of, the recent kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers in the Occupied West Bank.

From the report we learn that:

  • In 2013, eight Palestinian children were killed by Israelis, and no Israeli children were killed by Palestinians – p.17/50

  • In 2013, 1265 Palestinian children were injured by Israelis, and eight Israeli children were injured by Palestinians – p.17/50

  • 1004 Palestinian children were arrested by Israeli security forces, with 107 of them (including five children under the age of 12) reporting ‘cruel and degrading ill-treatment by the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli police, including painful restraint, blindfolding, strip-searching, verbal and physical abuse, solitary confinement and threats of violence’ – p.18/50

  • There were 58 education related incidents affecting over 11’000 Palestinian children, with 41 of them involving ‘Israeli security forces operations near or inside schools, forced entry without forewarning, the firing of tear gas canisters and sound bombs into school yards and, in some cases, structural damage to schools. In 15 of the incidents, Israeli security forces fired tear gas canisters into schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), some during class hours, without forewarning – p.19/50

As should be utterly uncontroversial, then – at least to anybody who reads mainstream human rights reports –  the vast majority of violence against children within the context of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands is perpetrated by Israeli security forces and settlers against Palestinian children.

While there were also instances of Palestinian armed groups or protesters targeting Israeli children, these instances are – while still inexcusable – negligible in comparison.

But as the media analysts at Media Lens have suggested in their most recent Media Alert, you’d be forgiven for thinking things were actually the other way around, because of the way Establishment media widely reports Israeli deaths and injuries, while all but ignoring the far greater number of Palestinian ones.
Articles by: Interventions Watch

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