Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Is This Another Sign the Tide Is Turning on Palestinian Human Rights?
________________________________________
Is This Another Sign the Tide Is Turning on Palestinian Human Rights?
By Sarah Lazare [1] / AlterNet [2]
June 20, 2016
In what might be another indication that consensus on the US-Israeli special
relationship is cracking, 20 members of Congress released an open letter [3]
to President Barack Obama on Monday calling for the appointment of a
"special envoy" to address the dire conditions Palestinian children are
forced to endure growing up under military occupation.
Initiated by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), the letter states, "a reality
that must be acknowledged is that 46 percent of the 4.68 million
Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are under 18
years of age. These children deserve to grow up with dignity, human rights,
and a future free of repression."
The congressional letter continues:
We must raise our profound concern regarding a longstanding policy of
detaining, interrogating, and imprisoning Palestinian children as young as
12 and 13 for up to a year, sometimes longer, without a trial and in
violation of international standards. Recently, the Associated Press
reported that a 12-year-old Palestinian girl was imprisoned by Israel's
military justice system. UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, B'Tselem, and other
international NGOs have documented these human rights abuses against
Palestinian youth. A report released in April by Defense for Children
International-Palestine, based on the testimony of 429 Palestinian children
detained by the Israeli military or police, found that three-quarters
endured some form of physical violence following arrest. Israeli
interrogators used position abuse, threats, and even solitary confinement to
coerce confessions from some of these children.
Signatories of the letter include Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Keith
Ellison (D-Minn.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) who were recently appointed to
the platform drafting committee of the Democratic National Committee,
alongside Cornel West, a supporter [4] of the Palestinian call for boycott,
divestment and sanctions against Israel.
The missive urges the president to "appoint a 'Special Envoy for Palestinian
Youth' to travel to the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel to hear
directly from Palestinian youth, human rights and legal experts, NGOs,
Palestinian and Israeli officials, including police and military leaders."
Brad Parker, attorney and international advocacy officer at Defense for
Children International-Palestine, commented in a press release,
"Representative McCollum and her colleagues recognize that younger Americans
increasingly sympathize with Palestinians and responded by calling for
justice and equality for Palestinian children. By doing so, the lawmakers
are challenging the decades-long U.S.-led 'peace process' that has
consistently demanded peace without justice."
A Pew Research Center survey released [5] in May found that since Israel's
brutal military assault on Gaza in the summer of 2014, there has been "a
modest rise in the share of the public saying they sympathize more with the
Palestinians, from 14 percent then to 19 percent today." This shift is
particularly pronounced among young people, noted Pew researchers, with the
share of millennials who sympathize with Palestinians climbing from "9
percent in 2006 to 20 percent in July 2014 to 27 percent today."
A separate Pew Research Poll conducted [6] in the midst of the 2014 war
found that African-Americans and Latinos were far more likely to hold Israel
responsible for the violence than white Americans.
Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton continues to
hinge her candidacy on her "unbreakable bond [7]" with right-wing Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And 73 percent of Senate
Democrats-including progressive champion Elizabeth Warren-joined [8] 94
percent of Senate Republicans in April in signing an open letter [8] to
President Barack Obama calling for an increase in the already exorbitant
levels of unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel.
But Raed Jarrar, government relations manager at the American Friends
Service Committee, told AlterNet that today's letter is "another sign that
the U.S.-Israeli relationship is changing and there are voices calling for
more accountability and an end to the U.S. blank check."
Sarah Lazare is a staff writer for AlterNet. A former staff writer for
Common Dreams, she coedited the book About Face: Military Resisters Turn
Against War. Follow her on Twitter at @sarahlazare [9].
Share on Facebook Share
Share on Twitter Tweet
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [10]
[11]
________________________________________
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/another-sign-tide-turning-palestini
an-human-rights
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/sarah-lazare-0
[2] http://alternet.org
[3]
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/dcipalestine/pages/1550/attachments/or
iginal/1466371097/16.0620_Obama_Special_Envoy_for_Palestinian_Youth.pdf?1466
371097
[4]
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/dr-cornel-west-en
dorses-bds-supports-ethnic-studies-university-arizona
[5]
http://www.people-press.org/2016/05/05/public-uncertain-divided-over-america
s-place-in-the-world/
[6]
http://www.people-press.org/files/2014/07/7-28-14-Israel-Hamas-Release.pdf
[7]
http://forward.com/opinion/national/324013/how-i-would-rebuild-ties-to-israe
l-and-benjamin-neta/
[8]
https://www.coons.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senators-coons-graham-l
ead-bipartisan-letter-to-urge-administration-to-quickly-renew-strengthen-sec
urity-mou-with-israel
[9] https://twitter.com/sarahlazare
[10] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Is This Another Sign
the Tide Is Turning on Palestinian Human Rights?
[11] http://www.alternet.org/
[12] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Is This Another Sign the Tide Is Turning on Palestinian Human Rights?
Is This Another Sign the Tide Is Turning on Palestinian Human Rights?
By Sarah Lazare [1] / AlterNet [2]
June 20, 2016
AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to Google+More
AddThis Share optionsShare to Email
In what might be another indication that consensus on the US-Israeli special
relationship is cracking, 20 members of Congress released an open letter [3]
to President Barack Obama on Monday calling for the appointment of a
"special envoy" to address the dire conditions Palestinian children are
forced to endure growing up under military occupation.
Initiated by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), the letter states, "a reality
that must be acknowledged is that 46 percent of the 4.68 million
Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are under 18
years of age. These children deserve to grow up with dignity, human rights,
and a future free of repression."
The congressional letter continues:
We must raise our profound concern regarding a longstanding policy of
detaining, interrogating, and imprisoning Palestinian children as young as
12 and 13 for up to a year, sometimes longer, without a trial and in
violation of international standards. Recently, the Associated Press
reported that a 12-year-old Palestinian girl was imprisoned by Israel's
military justice system. UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, B'Tselem, and other
international NGOs have documented these human rights abuses against
Palestinian youth. A report released in April by Defense for Children
International-Palestine, based on the testimony of 429 Palestinian children
detained by the Israeli military or police, found that three-quarters
endured some form of physical violence following arrest. Israeli
interrogators used position abuse, threats, and even solitary confinement to
coerce confessions from some of these children.
Signatories of the letter include Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Keith
Ellison (D-Minn.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) who were recently appointed to
the platform drafting committee of the Democratic National Committee,
alongside Cornel West, a supporter [4] of the Palestinian call for boycott,
divestment and sanctions against Israel.
The missive urges the president to "appoint a 'Special Envoy for Palestinian
Youth' to travel to the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel to hear
directly from Palestinian youth, human rights and legal experts, NGOs,
Palestinian and Israeli officials, including police and military leaders."
Brad Parker, attorney and international advocacy officer at Defense for
Children International-Palestine, commented in a press release,
"Representative McCollum and her colleagues recognize that younger Americans
increasingly sympathize with Palestinians and responded by calling for
justice and equality for Palestinian children. By doing so, the lawmakers
are challenging the decades-long U.S.-led 'peace process' that has
consistently demanded peace without justice."
A Pew Research Center survey released [5] in May found that since Israel's
brutal military assault on Gaza in the summer of 2014, there has been "a
modest rise in the share of the public saying they sympathize more with the
Palestinians, from 14 percent then to 19 percent today." This shift is
particularly pronounced among young people, noted Pew researchers, with the
share of millennials who sympathize with Palestinians climbing from "9
percent in 2006 to 20 percent in July 2014 to 27 percent today."
A separate Pew Research Poll conducted [6] in the midst of the 2014 war
found that African-Americans and Latinos were far more likely to hold Israel
responsible for the violence than white Americans.
Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton continues to
hinge her candidacy on her "unbreakable bond [7]" with right-wing Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And 73 percent of Senate
Democrats-including progressive champion Elizabeth Warren-joined [8] 94
percent of Senate Republicans in April in signing an open letter [8] to
President Barack Obama calling for an increase in the already exorbitant
levels of unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel.
But Raed Jarrar, government relations manager at the American Friends
Service Committee, told AlterNet that today's letter is "another sign that
the U.S.-Israeli relationship is changing and there are voices calling for
more accountability and an end to the U.S. blank check."
Sarah Lazare is a staff writer for AlterNet. A former staff writer for
Common Dreams, she coedited the book About Face: Military Resisters Turn
Against War. Follow her on Twitter at @sarahlazare [9].
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [10]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[11]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/another-sign-tide-turning-palestini
an-human-rights
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/sarah-lazare-0
[2] http://alternet.org
[3]
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/dcipalestine/pages/1550/attachments/or
iginal/1466371097/16.0620_Obama_Special_Envoy_for_Palestinian_Youth.pdf?1466
371097
[4]
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/dr-cornel-west-en
dorses-bds-supports-ethnic-studies-university-arizona
[5]
http://www.people-press.org/2016/05/05/public-uncertain-divided-over-america
s-place-in-the-world/
[6]
http://www.people-press.org/files/2014/07/7-28-14-Israel-Hamas-Release.pdf
[7]
http://forward.com/opinion/national/324013/how-i-would-rebuild-ties-to-israe
l-and-benjamin-neta/
[8]
https://www.coons.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senators-coons-graham-l
ead-bipartisan-letter-to-urge-administration-to-quickly-renew-strengthen-sec
urity-mou-with-israel
[9] https://twitter.com/sarahlazare
[10] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Is This Another Sign
the Tide Is Turning on Palestinian Human Rights?
[11] http://www.alternet.org/
[12] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
