以巴的百年之爭Children in Palestine and Israel continue to suffer as international law is routinely ignored
刊出日期 2023.11.02
A 1977 addition to the Geneva conventions (article 77) states that: “Children shall be the object of special respect and shall be protected against any form of indecent assault.”
It goes on to say that the opposing sides should provide children with “the care and aid they require”. But there is scant evidence of this care being shown by either Hamas or Israel.
The indiscriminate launch of rockets into Israel has exposed children there to trauma, injury and death. In the recent attack, Hamas militants killed the young alongside their parents.
Meanwhile, countless Palestinian children die in bombardments of the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the killing of Palestinian children is a frequent occurrence that goes unpunished.
We also see a complete disregard for international law in the abduction of children by enemy forces. Following the recent Hamas attack on Israel, shocking reports have emerged of Israeli children taken hostage by Hamas and transported into the Gaza Strip alone or with their parents.
Also shocking is the longstanding and routine abduction of Palestinian children, some as young as 12. Arrest by Israeli forces typically takes place in the middle of the night. Children are transferred to prisons, often within Israel where are they are commonly assaulted by guards, and denied access to legal representation and family.
Administrative detention often lasts for months, with release offered only after signing a confession, typically for throwing stones. But those confessions are obtained under threat of continued imprisonment.
Such violations continue with impunity. The mainstream media rarely report on violations of Palestinian children’s basic rights, while political leaders look the other way.
Humanitarian workers on the ground, many of whom I have interviewed in the occupied territories, generally feel unable to speak out. Although keenly aware of the violence visited upon Palestinian children, they are constrained by governmental donors eager not to alienate Israel’s political and business elites. Even when there is a major outbreak of violence, humanitarian organisations have little power to demand adherence to international law.
That said, Save the Children has condemned the current violence, saying the scale of the attacks in Israel and Gaza is causing damage that will endure long after the immediate crisis.
The sort of damage they are referring to was the subject of a recent study in which my colleagues and I explored the protection of refugee children in the Gaza Strip and Jordan. We looked at the threats they were exposed to, and how those threats could be reduced.
Constant fear
We found the situation in the two places to be markedly different. In Jordan, daily life was tough, but somehow families managed to maintain a bare existence. In the Gaza Strip, children were routinely exposed to mortal danger which rained down from the skies at any time. The helplessness of Palestinian parents was regularly laid bare.
As one mother in Gaza told us: “Honestly, […] I never feel safe, and I am always terrified that something bad might happen and hurt my children. They never feel safe or comfortable. They are not mentally or physically healthy.”
That interview was conducted a few months after a major outbreak of military violence in 2021 in which 66 Palestinian children were killed. Two years later even greater hostilities are occurring.
Compounding the threat to children’s existence, Israel has announced that the 16 year blockade of Gaza will become even more punitive with the withholding of food, water, electricity and fuel. Meanwhile, major donors to the Palestinians, including the European Commission and the governments of Germany and Austria, are considering the suspension of aid.
The ability of Palestinian parents to protect their children is being comprehensively undermined as never before. And international law seems to count for nothing.
＊This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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作者
社會人類學出身，目前任教於巴斯大學，同時在日內瓦大學的兒童權利研究中心擔任客座講師。他的研究圍繞著兒童權利、建立和平、家庭、軍事化和庇護等議題，主要關注的地區為中東，特別是以色列、巴勒斯坦被占領區和約旦。 Jason Hart is a social anthropologist by training (BA, MA, Ph.D University of London). He joined the University of Bath in September 2009 after seven years as a researcher and lecturer at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford. He is also Visiting Lecturer at the Centre for Children’s Rights Studies, University of Geneva. Much of Jason’s work has explored the experience of and institutional response to young people on the margins of society and the global economy. Themes such as protection, child rights, peacebuilding, home, militarisation and asylum have been central to this research. Much of his research has been undertaken in situations of political violence and displacement. Jason has worked in South Asia (Sri Lanka, Nepal, India and Bhutan) and, increasingly, in the UK. However, his principal area of interest is the Middle East, particularly Israel / occupied Palestinian territories and Jordan. Jason has been employed as a consultant author, researcher, evaluator and trainer by various UN, governmental and non-governmental organisations. These include UNICEF, Save the Children, PLAN, Care International, and the Canadian International Development Agency. He has also served as an advisor to the UN in the formulation of studies, guidelines and policies.
