Palestinian children live behind walls
Last week, Israel passed new legislation targeting children. Under the new law, children under the age of 14 can now be imprisoned if they are convicted of perpetrating crimes or acts of resistance against Israel’s military rule.
To date, the international response to this law has been muted, with few international organisations or members of the international community speaking out against it. Why? Don’t societies attempt to create better lives for children so that they do not need to live through the ravages of war, poverty and violence? Apparently not when it comes to Palestinian children.
For Israel, attacking Palestinian children is one of the cornerstones of its measures to ensure that generations of Palestinians — whether old or young — perpetually suffer from Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine or its continued denial of freedom. Whether in the realms of education, health or social services, Israel goes out of its way to make childhood a miserable experience for young Palestinians.