The international community has long ignored the Palestinian weaponization of children in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Ahed Tamimi, a Palestinian teen whose family scripts physical confrontations with Israeli soldiers and then widely disseminates the resulting videos on social media to demonize Israel and glorify “resistance,” is a representative example.
On February 13, 2018, Human Rights Watch (HRW), along with Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Amnesty International, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I), issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s procedures for granting access for Gaza residents to Israel for medical treatment. The groups cite a December 2017 World Health Organization (WHO) document that claims that 54 Gazans died while awaiting approval to travel to seek medical attention in Israel or in the West Bank. The WHO paper does not provide a source for this figure.
Palestinian minors are unfortunately involved in a wide range of offences including murder, attempted murder, and illegal possession of weapons. Key contributing factors are incitement by the Palestinian Authority and recognized terror groups, recruiting of children from the earliest of ages to engage in conflict, glorification of violence and “marytrs”, and large monthly payments (that increase based on the severity of the crime) by the Palestinian Authority to prisoners and their families.
UNICEF plays a central role in a campaign to have Israel included on a UN blacklist of “grave” violators of children’s rights. The list appears as an annex to the UN Secretary-General’s annual report on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC). This political agenda is a primary facet of UNICEF’s activities relating to Israel, completely inconsistent with its mandate of “child protection” and from its guidelines for neutrality and impartiality.
The UN Human Rights Council’s annual report for 2017 presents a full list of resolutions passed by the Council throughout the year. The disproportionate number of resolutions against Israel reflects the nearly 100 NGOs that are receiving millions of dollars from governments around the world to push anti-Israel agendas at the UN.
On November 14, 2017, US Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN) proposed legislation “to prevent United States tax dollars from supporting the Israeli military’s ongoing detention and mistreatment of Palestinian children” – Bill van Esveld of Human Rights Watch (HRW) published an article on HuffPost in support of the bill. The opinion piece was only one example of HRW staffers promoting McCollum’s legislation.
The Amuta for NGO Responsibility submitted a written statement to the Human Rights Council, demonstrating how the OHCHR and rapporteurs operating under special procedures mandates have failed to ensure adherence to the definition of a human rights defender, abusing the term and giving the impression of a UN imprimatur on individuals that promote incitement, violence, discrimination, and virulent antisemitism.
NGO Monitor will confront the UNHRC and its NGO allies, exposing their double standards towards Israel in preparing a blacklist of companies allegedly engaging in business activities in the West Bank, while completely ignoring areas with more far-reaching activitiesof companies allegedly engage
NGO Monitor commends the UNHRC for its expected postponement of a discriminatory blacklist, but condemns the concerted efforts to single-out Israel among all the countries of the world.
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