Palestine Children are not like Other Children in the world.
The Palestinian child lives in isolation from the international community and suffers from all types of deprivation of the simplest human rights that all children in the world enjoy.
Childhood is a world of innocence and boundless imagination, it is a time of growth and discovery.
Children have a great ability to find joy in the simplest of things, like playing with friends and exploring the outdoors. And the memories of childhood often stay with us for a lifetime.
Children detention
Can you imagine that the occupation arrests children under the age of 18?
More than 160 children are detained in Israeli occupation prisons. Palestinian children are minors who have been arrested, detained, or imprisoned by Israeli authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
According to human rights organizations, these children are often subjected to physical and psychological abuse, torture, and ill-treatment during their detention as what happened with Ahmed Manasra. He was charged with attempted murder by Israeli authorities at the age of 13. He was accused of “carrying out a stabbing attack against two Israeli settlers” as they claimed.
Ahmed was severely beaten by Israeli police officers during his arrest and interrogation, they would put him in solitary confinement, which is a dark room with a dimension of one meter, it has no windows, no bathroom, and no light.
He is now 23 and is still held in Israeli occupation prisons. His childhood was lost from an early age. He did not live his childhood like other children, without playing or enjoying it.
They are frequently held in detention centers without charge or trial and are denied access to legal representation or medical care.
Many children are also subjected to harsh interrogation techniques, including being blindfolded, handcuffed, and subjected to physical violence. The detention of Palestinian children by Israeli authorities has been widely criticized by the international community, including the United Nations, and has been the subject of many reports and investigations by human rights organizations. As it is a stark violation of international law, Art 16, that states ” There shall be no arbitrary or unlawful interference with the child’s privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor any unlawful attack on his honor or reputation.” It also states that “the child has the right to be protected by law from such attack or attack.”
House Arrest
House arrest is a form of detention where a person is confined to his home or a specific location, often with certain restrictions on their movement and activities by placing electronic restrictions in their hands or legs and through which their steps are followed by GPS.
For Palestinian children, house arrest is a common form of punishment used by Israeli occupation. Children who are accused of throwing stones other protests acts against the Israeli occupation almost placed under house arrest, often for weeks or even months at a time, 600 children were subjected to house arrest in 2022.
During this time, these children are not allowed to leave their homes or interact with others outside which can leave a profound impact on children’s mental health, as they are cut off from the outside world with no opportunity to socialize and learn.
Therefore, such an experience is difficult and painful for children as well as their families.
International human rights laws provide ample space to ensure children’s freedom, protection, security, and dignity, as they ensure freedom from exposure and safeguard their rights, which were enacted by the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, and the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977.
Palestine children in the Diaspora
The Right of Return
born outside Palestine or forced to leave their homes due to the Israeli occupation, Palestinian children in the diaspora face many challenges, including ethnic discrimination, cultural alienation, and lack of access to their homeland.
However, they have a strong sense of identity and connection to their Palestinian heritage and homeland, where they preserve their culture and traditions through community organizations and activism.
Palestinian children face challenges and obstacles present in the lives of many other children around the world. Yet, they grow up with great love for their homeland which makes them preserve their heritage and adhere to hope, resilience, and determination in the face of difficulties.
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