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December 9th, 2020 
Awake Goy 
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is a reminder that the rights of children should be paramount in our minds. It was passed by the United Nations in 1977, occurring annually on November 29.
As of September 2020, there are 157 Palestinian children detained as security detainees by Israeli authorities, of whom 95 have not been sentenced and two more held in administrative detention or arrest without charge.
“Each year approximately 500-700 Palestinian children, some as young as 12 years old, are detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system,” reports Defense for Children International – Palestine. “The most common charge is stone throwing.” The organization estimates over the last 20 years around 10,000 Palestinian children from the West Bank have been detained by Israeli forces. Based on interviews with hundreds of children, DCI – Palestine found 73 percent said they “experienced physical violence following arrest,” 95 percent said their hands were tied, and 86 percent said they were blindfolded.
Separately, through the Israeli criminal legal system, as of 2015 Palestinians from East Jerusalem and those who are Israeli citizens can be sentenced to up to 20 years for throwing stones at moving vehicles.
International human rights treaties, as well as international humanitarian law, are applicable in the occupied Palestinian territory, as Israel is exercising control as the occupying power, however, Israel objects to this characterization. The application of these treaties has been affirmed by the UN General Assembly, by the UN Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Court of Justice and by human rights treaty bodies. Even though Palestine has joined numerous human rights treaties, that does not mean Israel is not obligated to fulfill its rights as an occupying power.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted in 1989 and defines children as persons under the age of 18, unless the age of adulthood in the country that is applicable to the child is younger. Israeli is a signatory to this convention.
In 2019 the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the minimum age of criminal responsibility should be raised to 14 years in all countries. The committee has also recommended that children under 16 should not be sent to prison. Despite this, Israeli military law in the West Bank permits the detention of children from the age of 12.
According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, children should be informed of the reasons for their arrest when they are arrested and of any charges promptly and this convention also affirms the right to a fair trial.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child outlines that in all situations the best interests of the child should be the primary consideration and must be ensured. Further that a child must be treated in a manner consistent with maintaining the child’s sense of dignity and worth.
There must also be no discrimination in the treatment of the child irrespective of the child’s race, religion, ethnic or other identification.
Further, no child should be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. No child should be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. When children are imprisoned it should be as a last resort and even in that situation, it should be for the shortest period of time.
Imprisoned children should be treated with dignity and respect and should be separated from adult detainees. A child should have access to legal resources and should be given the opportunity to challenge the reasons for his or her detention and there should be a prompt decision on the action to be taken.
Despite these requirements under international law, human rights organizations report children are poorly treated by the Israeli military justice system, including the use of solitary confinement for minors. Israeli security forces have used unnecessary force to arrest or detain children of eleven years of age. UNICEF has said Palestinian children report they have been beaten in custody, threatened and routinely interrogated without lawyers.
This is unacceptable and is one of the key issues we should be focusing on, in holding Israel to account for its human rights violations against the Palestinian people.
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