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FACT SHEET: THE STATE OF PALESTINE’S CHILDREN UNDER OCCUPATION

15 October 2015 by

FACT SHEET: THE STATE OF PALESTINE’S CHILDREN UNDER OCCUPATION

“I urge Israel to take concrete and immediate steps, including by reviewing existing policies and practices, to protect children, to prevent the killing and maiming of children, and to respect the special protections afforded to schools and hospitals. An essential measure in that regard is ensuring accountability for perpetrators of alleged violations.”

-Report of the Secretary-General, 5 June 2015

Current Reality

  • One Palestinian child was killed by the IOF every 3 days between 2000 and 2013.[i]
  • 1 October – 13 October: 8 children killed by the IOF across the OPT. This includes Amjad Al-Jundi (17), Abdel-Rahman Obeidallah (11), IshaqBadran (16), Ahmad Sharaka (13), Hasan Khaled Manasra (15), Mohammad Al-Raqab (15), Hesham Barbakh (13), Khalil Othman (15), and Rahaf Hassan (2).[ii]
  • Since 1967, 95,000 Palestinian children have been detained by the IOF, 62% of whom have likely been subjected to some form of physical violence.[iii]
  • Each year, approximately 700 Palestinian children are arrested, interrogated, and detained by the IOF. Children consistently experience strip-searches, physical and psychological abuse, and other forms of harassment and intimidation during forced interrogations and while imprisoned. [iv]
  • 15 – 28 September: 40 children arrested by the IOF in the Jerusalem governorate.[v]
  • 29 September – 5 October: At least 14 children arrested by the IOF in Jerusalem.[vi]
  • Children are severely affected by the current deteriorating situation in the OPT. Since 15 September, the IOF has injured 119 children, detained 75, and temporarily detained 30 at checkpoints and in residential areas.[vii]
  • 15 – 28 September: 43 children injured during clashes with the IOF in the Gaza Strip.[viii]
  • 15 – 28 September: 37 children injured during IOF search and arrest operations in 6 West Bank cities and villages.[ix]

[Read more…]

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Statement by Ms. Reem Mansour, Legal Adviser, before the Third Committee, agenda item 68: Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Children, 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, 15 October 2015:

15 October 2015 by

Mr. Chair,

Every child deserves to live in a harmonious atmosphere of happiness, love, and understanding. This is recognized in the Convention on the Rights of the Child for all children and it is the desire of the State of Palestine for our children. Regrettably, for over 48 years, Israel’s military occupation has denied Palestinian children this harmonious atmosphere, denied their most basic human rights. The vulnerability of our children is deepening as they continue to bear the brunt of increasingly oppressive, violent and illegal Israeli policies and practices and settler terrorism being systematically waged against them. Tragically, we know all too well that their suffering will not end if Israel continues with its illegal occupation of Palestinian land and continues to remain immune from consequences for its human rights violations and crimes.

The daily reality faced by Palestinian children is of life threatening danger from Israeli occupying forces. The Palestinian children do not live normal childhoods; they exist in a world where human suffering is the norm, their fundamental human rights are grossly violated and they are suffocated by oppressive policies and measures by an occupying Power whose aim is to control every aspect of Palestinian life through collective punishment, intimidation and dehumanizing tactics. Recently, the Israeli Government even legislated this lack of respect for Palestinian life in new laws relaxing the rules of engagement for occupying forces encouraging the shooting and killing of Palestinians, including children, with de facto impunity. [Read more…]

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FACT SHEET: THE STATE OF PALESTINE’S WOMEN UNDER OCCUPATION

13 October 2015 by

FACT SHEET: THE STATE OF PALESTINE’S WOMEN UNDER OCCUPATION

“Restrictions on movement and access, increased settlement expansion and settler violence, demolitions of Palestinian infrastructure and displacement, the fragmentation of the territory and the closure of the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly the Gaza Strip, continue to have a negative gender differentiated impact on the lives of Palestinian women and their families.” [Read more…]

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Statement by Mrs. Somaia Barghouti, Senior Adviser, before the Third Committee on Agenda item 29: Advancement of women, 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, 13 October 2015:

13 October 2015 by

Mr. Chair,

Allow me at the outset to extend to you, in the name of the State of Palestine, our warm congratulations on your election to the chairmanship of the work of this important Committee. We are confident that the Committee will successfully conclude its important work under your able stewardship and wide expertise. Let me also extend my congratulations to the members of the Bureau of the Committee.
Mr. Chair,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is with great concern that I speak to you today on the political, economic and social conditions of Palestinian people, including Palestinian women, which are deteriorating to an increasing extent.   The continuation of the Israeli military occupation and its illegal, repressive, and racist practices and policies over more than 48 years has led to exacerbating those tragic conditions and increased the state of tension and violence. [Read more…]

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Statement by H.E. Mr. Mahmoud Abbas President of the State of Palestine at the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly at its 70th Session, New York 30 September 2015

30 September 2015 by

In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful

 

H.E. Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, President of the General Assembly,

H.E Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations,

Excellencies, Heads of Delegations

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I come before you today from Palestine, compelled to sound the alarm about the grave dangers of what is happening in Jerusalem, where extremist Israeli groups are committing repeated, systematic incursions upon Al-Aqsa Mosque, aimed at imposing a new reality and dividing Al-Haram Al-Sharif temporally, allowing extremists, under the protection of Israeli occupying forces and accompanying ministers and Knesset members, to enter the Mosque at certain times, while preventing Muslim worshipers from accessing and entering the Mosque at those times and freely exercising their religious rights. [Read more…]

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Statement by Ambassador Dr. Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, at the United Nations General Assembly Vote on the Draft Resolution (A/69/L.87/Rev.1) on the Raising of Flags of Non-Member Observer States (Item 120: Strengthening of the United Nations System), 10 September 2015:

10 September 2015 by

Mr. President,

On behalf of the State of Palestine, I am honored to address the General Assembly following its historic vote and adoption of the resolution on the raising of flags of non-member Observer States at the United Nations, namely the flags of the State of Palestine and the Holy See.

We are grateful to all of the Member States that supported this resolution and convey the deepest appreciation of the Palestinian people and their leadership for the honorable position they have taken on this most meaningful issue for our people. We also express special thanks to the cosponsors of the resolution for their consummate support for this initiative, consistent with their abiding support for the just cause of Palestine. The positive votes of Member States today constitute a reaffirmation of the longstanding, principled position of the international community in support of a just, lasting, comprehensive and peaceful solution to the question of Palestine and in support of the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including to self-determination and independence.  [Read more…]

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Statement by Ambassador Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, before the United Nations Security Council, Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine Question, 23 July 2015:

24 July 2015 by

Mr. President,

I congratulate New Zealand on its Presidency of the Security Council and thank you, Honorable Minister for Foreign Affairs Murray McCully, for presiding over this important debate, a reflection of your country’s responsible, principled position vis-à-vis this issue and the commitment to uphold your Security Council mandate and contribute to international peace and security.

We also reiterate our deep appreciation to the delegation of Malaysia for its skilled leadership of the Council in June, including the critical debate on children and armed conflict, and express appreciation for Malaysia’s efforts as Chair of the Security Council’s Working Group on this matter.

I also thank UN Special Coordinator and Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Nikolay Mladenov, for his briefing and his initial efforts in this important post. We reaffirm our support for his mandate and readiness to continue cooperation towards fulfillment of our common objectives, foremost among them securing a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace settlement. [Read more…]

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Statement by Ambassador Feda Abdelhady-Nasser, Deputy, before the UN ECOSOC, 2015 Coordination and Management Meeting, Agenda item 16: “Economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan”, 20 July 2015:

24 July 2015 by

Mr. President,

On behalf of the delegation of the State of Palestine, I thank you for your skilled leadership of the ECOSOC. I also thank Mr. Tarik Alami for his presentation of the report on the “Economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan” (A/70/82-E/2015/13) on behalf of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). We express appreciation for ESCWA’s invaluable efforts in this regard and its extensive work regarding the economic and social dimensions of the ongoing plight of the Palestinian people. [Read more…]

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Statement by H.E. Ambassador Dr. Riyad Mansour at Security Council Debate on “Children and Armed Conflict”, 18 June 2015:

19 June 2015 by

I thank H.E. Dato Sri Anifah Aman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia and President of the Security Council, for convening this timely debate on children and armed conflict.  This matter is of highest priority and urgency for the State of Palestine, whose children’s lives are gravely endangered by the Israeli occupation.

I also thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Ms. Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Ms. Yoka Brandt, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, and Ms. Eunice Apio, Director of Facilitation for Peace and Development, for their important briefings.

Mr. President,

We come before the Security Council anguished by the Secretary-General’s decision to exclude Israel from the list of parties committing grave violations against children in his annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict (S/2015/409).

Israel, the occupying Power, is without doubt a flagrant violator of child rights. Israel systematically commits crimes against Palestinian children, its actions contravening its obligations under human rights law, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and international humanitarian law, which obligates the occupying Power to ensure the well-being and safety of the civilian population under its occupation. [Read more…]

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Statement by H.E. Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Special Representative of H.E. Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, and Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, before UNRWA 65th Anniversary High-Level Conference: Sustaining Human Development and Protecting Rights of Palestine Refugees, 2 June 2015, New York

03 June 2015 by

I am honored to represent H.E. President Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, at this High-Level Conference.  I thank H.E. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his keynote statement and firm support of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East – UNRWA.  We also express our thanks to the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Mr. Pierre Krähenbühl, for his statement and for chairing this important Conference.

I also express appreciation to H.E. Mr. Christos Stylianides, European Union Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, and H.E. Mr. Hans Dahlgren, State Secretary for Foreign and EU Affairs to the Prime Minister of Sweden for their presences on this occasion, and to all delegations joining us here today. [Read more…]

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