Action Alert: Release all Palestinian Children from Israeli Prisons

Posted By: Zahi Damuni

To: Members in Palestinian Refugees Right to Return - Al-Awda

Action Alert: Release all Palestinian Children from Israeli Prisons Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition calls on all its members,supporters and people of conscience to demand that the US administration direct the state of Israel to stop the targeted arrests and immediately release all Palestinian children detained in its prisons and detention centers. The US is bound by its laws and international conventions to cut off all aid to Israel until it ends the institutionalized and systematic abuse of Palestinian children and all of its violations of Palestinian human rights and basic freedoms in a verifiable manner. BACKGROUND Recent reports have shown that there has been an escalation of night raids and systematic arrests of Palestinian children in the Silwan neighborhood in Jerusalem. These reports indicate that at least twenty one children in this Palestinian neighborhood have been arrested and subjected to physical abuse in the period from October 8, 2010 to November 3, 2010 alone. Children as young as 10 years old are deliberately targeted, arrested, and taken to al-Mascobiyya center (The Russian Compound), a notorious detention and interrogation center. According to Defense for Children International (DCI), a Geneva-based non-governmental agency, 700 Palestinian children in the West Bank alone are detained and imprisoned by Israel every year. Furthermore, based on a survey in 2009 of 100 of these children, lawyers found that 69% were beaten and kicked, 49% were threatened, 14% were held in solitary confinement, 12% were threatened with sexual assault, including rape, and 32% were forced to sign confessions written in Hebrew, a language they do not understand. Such institutionalized and systematic mistreatment is considered torture by the United Nations under international law and specifically contravenes the Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Israel is a signatory. Of the estimated 11 million Palestinians in the world today, 7.2 million, including children, live in forced exile or are internally displaced; they have been denied their right to return to their homes and lands of origin by the state of Israel. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 43.6% of Palestinian children living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are refugees. While refugee children experience special hardships, they also endure the hardships that all Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are exposed to by the state of Israel. They are systematically and often denied their right to education, to medical and psychological care, and to freedom of movement and expression. ACTION Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition calls on all its members, supporters and people of conscience to write to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to demand that they direct the state of Israel to immediately cease the targeted arrests of Palestinian children in Jerusalem, and to release all Palestinian children from its prisons. The US administration must demand an immediate end to all forms of institutionalized and systematic abuse of Palestinian children by the state of Israel. SAMPLE LETTER Dear President Obama, I am shocked and disturbed to learn about the recent night raids and systematic arrests of Palestinian children in the Silwan neighborhood in Jerusalem. Twenty one of these children have been arrested and subjected to physical abuse in the period from October 8, 2010 to November 3, 2010 alone. Children as young as 10 years old are deliberately targeted, arrested, and taken to al-Mascobiyya center (The Russian Compound), a notorious detention and interrogation center. Furthermore, 700 Palestinian children in the West Bank alone are imprisoned by Israel every year. Based on sworn affidavits of 100 of these children, lawyers found that 69% were beaten and kicked, 49% were threatened, 14% were held in solitary confinement, 12% were threatened with sexual assault, including rape, and 32% were forced to sign confessions written in Hebrew, a language they do not understand. Such institutionalized and systematic mistreatment by the state of Israel against Palestinian children is considered torture by the United Nations under international law and specifically contravenes the Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Israel is a signatory. Therefore, I call on you to direct Israel to 1. Stop the night raids and arrests in the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem forthwith. 2. Immediately release all Palestinian children detained in its prisons and detention centers. 3. End all forms of systematic and institutionalized abuse against all Palestinian children. 4. Implement the full restoration of Palestinian children's rights in accordance with international law including, but not limited to, their right to return to their homes of origin, to education, to medical and psychological care, and to freedom of movement and expression. The US government, which supports Israel to the tune of billions of taxpayer dollars a year while most ordinary Americans are suffering in a very bad economy, is bound by its laws and international conventions to cut off all aid to Israel until it ends all of its violations of human rights and basic freedoms in a verifiable manner. Sincerely, Your Name Address Phone Number To contact the White House, please use http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ Alternatively, write to: President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Call: 202-456-1414 Fax: 202-456-2461 To contact the Secretary of State: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 Main Switchboard: 202-647-4000 Secretary Hillary Clinton Office: 202-647-5291 Fax: 202-261-8577 Letters in the US may be faxed online for free via: http://www.tpc.int/sendfax.html Please send copies of your correspondence to child.rights@al-awda.org Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition PO Box 131352 Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA Tel: 760-918-9441 Fax: 760-918-9442 E-mail: info@al-awda.org WWW: http://al-awda.org Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition (PRRC) is a not for profit tax-exempt educational and charitable 501(c)(3) organization as defined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States of America. Under IRS guidelines, your donations to PRRC are tax-deductible. To donate, please go to http://www.al-awda.org/donate.htmland follow the instructions. To become a member, go to http://al-awda.org/membership.html