De Israelische Terreur 1035

Green light to more settler attacks on children?

In the April 2009 edition of this e-Bulletin, DCI-Palestine

reported an alarming rise in settler attacks against children

during that month, citing three incidents in which children

were shot and one incident in which 20 settlers threw stones

at two detained children, while Israeli soldiers looked on.

Sadly, since April, DCI-Palestine has documented another 10

cases of settler assaults on Palestinian children, bringing the

number of cases documented by DCI alone so far this year to

14. Of these 14 cases, six took place in Hebron, five in Nablus,

two in Jerusalem and one in Bethlehem.

These ongoing attacks constitute an alarming trend. In

response, DCI-Palestine is preparing a short documentary on

settler attacks against children (for release in 2010) as well as an update of its November

2008 report: Under Attack: Settler Violence against Palestinian Children in the OPT. The

updated report will include over 25 case studies that document incidents of settler

violence against more than 30 children, and is due to be released in December.

Meanwhile, in recent days, the Israeli government approved plans to expand a

settlement in Jerusalem, just days after the US Secretary of State Hillary

Clinton essentially

encouraged Palestinians to

accept negotiations without

requesting the precondition

of a settlement freeze by

Israel, marking a worrying

change in official US

settlement policy. It remains

unclear whether the US

Administration, which claims to be

an ‘honest broker’ in the Middle East

Peace Process, will be able to stop Israel

from building settlements.

However, what is clear is that as long as

West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements

continue to exist and expand, there will be

no serious prospect for a viable, contiguous

Palestinian state, no real hope for peace,

and no security for Palestinian children. In

the words of a 9-year-old boy from Safa

village, Hebron, which was attacked a few

months ago by a group of about 200

settlers, with the protection of six Israeli

soldiers, “there will be no security as long

12-13 November: DCI to

participate in international

conference on CRC litigation

19-21 November: DCI 7th

National Children's

Conference

20 November: 20th anniversary

Issue 20, Oct 2009

Advocacy news

1 October – DCI and partners send letter to

UNGA urging endorsement of Goldstone Report.

3 October – DCI and partners issue statement

condemning PA decision to postpone Goldstone

vote at HRC.

6 October – DCI presents its alternative report on

child recruitment to the UN Committee on the

Rights of the Child.

15 October – DCI report cited in child detainees’

article in US magazine The Nation.

15 October – DCI and partners give oral

statement at and send written statement to HRC

Goldstone special session.

16 October – DCI briefs UNICEF Goodwill

Ambassador Mia Farrow on child detention

during her visit to the OPT.

24 October – DCI, member of OPGAI, organises

International Advocacy Conference 2009.

“...many Israelis worry that their

government’s continuing

construction of homes for Jews in

the occupied West Bank may also

embolden the militant Jewish

settlers who are increasingly

turning to violence against not just

Palestinians, but fellow Israelis...”

– Matt McAllester, Global Post,

19 November 2009

Shuhada Street, once the thriving

commercial centre of Hebron, has been

reduced to a ghost town. Photo: DCI

as such settlements exist near our houses.”

Rights of the Child

31 October – DCI releases Mohammed’s story –

video about an ex-child detainee’s experience

and announces UK speaking tour.

The e-Bulletin is a monthly publication produced by the advocacy team of Defence for Children International-Palestine Section.

To subscribe, go to e-Bulletin@dci-pal.org