June 4 is officially observed as the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

 "The purpose of this day is to remember, acknowledge and address the violence committed against children worldwide through war, terrorism, abduction, sexual abuse, killing, assault on schools and denial of humanitarian aids

June 4 is officially observed as the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, each year by the United Nations (UN). The purpose of this day is to remember, acknowledge and address the violence committed against children worldwide through war, terrorism, abduction, sexual abuse, killing, assault on schools and denial of humanitarian aids. Below, we take a look at the history and significance of the event. 

History

On June 6, 1982, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) invaded southern Lebanon and initiated the Lebanon War against the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Syrians and Muslim forces in the region. Many Palestinian and Lebanese children were killed or injured in the war.

On August 19 of that year, the UN General Assembly held an emergency meeting and criticised the Israeli government for such acts of violence against Palestinians, which it termed “massacre.” The Assembly decided to henceforth observe June 4 as the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, on an annual basis. " https://www.news18.com/news/lifestyle/international-day-of-innocent-children-victims-of-aggression-2021-history-and-significance-3808295.html

 

 

UNITED NATIONS:

Stop attacks on children

It is a sad reality that in situations where armed conflict breaks out, it is the most vulnerable members of societies – namely children, who are most affected by the consequences of war. The six most common violations are recruitment and use of children in war, killing, sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access.

On 19 August 1982, at its emergency special session on the question of Palestine, the General Assembly, “appalled at the great number of innocent Palestinian and Lebanese children victims of Israel’s acts of aggression”, decided to commemorate 4 June of each year as the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression.

The purpose of the day is to acknowledge the pain suffered by children throughout the world who are the victims of physical, mental and emotional abuse. This day affirms the UN's commitment to protect the rights of children. Its work is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most rapidly and widely ratified international human rights treaty in history." https://www.un.org/en/observances/child-victim-day

 

Israel: Violence, hate speech, discrimination against Palestinian minority must stop – UN expert

Israel: Violence, hate speech, discrimination against Palestinian minority must stop – UN expert

GENEVA (1 June 2021) – A UN human rights expert condemned attacks on Israel's Palestinian minority by extreme right-wing and vigilante groups, including settlers – at times with the reported backing of security forces - and urged Israel to fully and equally protect all of its citizens without discrimination.

Palestinians citizens of Israel, including the Bedouin, constitute an Arab minority representing about 1.5 million people or 20 percent of the population of Israel and face discrimination in many areas.

"Reports of extreme right-wing violence and disproportional use of force by law enforcement officials during protests in recent weeks, including in Sheikh Jarrah, Damascus Gate and the Al-Aqsa mosque, have led to some of the worst cases of violence against Palestinian citizens of Israel," said Fernand de Varennes, the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues.

"These attacks have been shared on social media and such platforms appear to have been used by extreme right wing groups to advocate hatred that constitutes incitement to violence with impunity to gather people to bring their weapons and attack Palestinians."

The UN expert said the decades-long exclusion and discrimination, including of segregation between Arab and Jewish citizens and lack of equal treatment in terms of rights and privileges, has taken a heavy toll on the Palestinian minority. The absence of protection and bomb shelters in the Bedouin villages in the Naqab has also increased insecurity of the Bedouin minority, he added.

"Given the urgency of the situation, I call on the Government of Israel to firmly condemn all acts of violence, hatred and discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel," said de Varennes.

"The authorities must ensure its citizens immediately stop these attacks and that everyone is fully and equally protected without any form of discrimination. Police accused of failing to protect all residents and citizens of Israel without discrimination must be investigated."

The expert's call has been endorsed by: Mr. Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the right to peaceful assembly and associationand Mr. S. Michael Lynk , Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967.

ENDS

* Mr. Fernand de Varennes was appointed as UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues by the Human Rights Council in June 2017. He is tasked by the UN Human Rights Council, to promote the implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, among other things. He is Extraordinary Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Pretoria in South Africa; Cheng Yu Tung Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong; and Visiting Professor at the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland-Galway. He is one of the world's leading experts on minority rights in international law, with more than 200 publications in some 30 languages.

Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures' experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

For inquiries and media requests , please contact: Marina Narvaez (+41-22 917 9286 / mnarvaez@ohchr.org) or Hee-Kyong Yoo (+41- 22 917 9723/ hyoo@ohchr.org)

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact Jeremy Laurence (+ 41 22 917 9445 / jlaurence@ohchr.org)

Follow news related to the UN's independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts.

Concerned about the world we live in?
Then STAND UP for someone's rights today.
#Standup4humanrights
and visit the web page at http://www.standup4humanrights.org

 

Palestinian supporters march in Harrisburg: ‘We’ve been begging to be heard’ May 2021

                                     Harrisburg native and Palestinian activist Elisa Thabateh speaks to the crowd at the Free Palestine rally                                                 at Riverfront Park on May 16, 2021. Photo by Becky Metrick

"... Elisa Thabateh, who was raised in Harrisburg but spends two months in Palestine every year visiting family, said she is thankful for those who are voicing their criticism of Israel.

Thabateh spoke during Sunday’s rally, calling on others to educate themselves and try to educate others. She, along with other advocates and community leaders prayed together and marched while chanting “Free Palestine” as they marched from the Capitol down State Street toward the river.

“For years and years, we’ve been begging to be heard and finally [there are] protests all over the country- No one has ever talked about Palestine this much,” Thabateh said.

She said it is a relief to see a different kind of acknowledgment of what is happening in her family’s country.

“Because this genocide, this ethnic cleansing, it’s been going on for so long,” she said. The violence is not something that has been going on for just weeks but is a continuation of decades of conflict.

Thabateh blames the American education system and worldwide media for not telling the truth about the situation in Israel...."

"...Another speaker at the event, Omar Mussa, said while he was working on his masters in Palestine he saw the violence first-hand. He also sees the greatest misconception from the states as the fight being “equal.”

“We don’t understand that the Israeli government, which is one of the most sophisticated armies in the world, that’s funded by the largest imperial army in the world, is fighting against civilians,” Mussa said.

So what can Americans do? Some have considered boycotting international companies that support Israel, but Mussa says it’s more important to persuade the U.S. government to withdraw funding from Israel.

Mussa said he believes it is time to vote people into office who will stand up and align themselves with the justice that he and advocates like him are standing up for.

“This is one of the worst atrocities that has happened in the history of humanity,” Mussa said. “You don’t have to be a Muslim, you don’t have to be a Christian, you don’t have to be Hindu or any other religion to know that this is a human issue.”...." 

"...“We have the privilege of being able to actually speak,” Thabateh said. “They’ve been silenced. They’ve been silenced for 73 years.”..."

Palestinian supporters march in Harrisburg: ‘We’ve been begging to be heard’

   https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/05/central-pa-palestinians-march-at-the-capitol-weve-been-begging-to-be-heard.html

As Always PLEASE go to the original link to read the article in full- and help support your local newspaper

BRAVE & BEAUTIFUL letter in my local newspaper: "Palestinians are being terrorized in their ancestral homeland" by Nabila Taha

 Dear Patriot News.

Thank you so much for publishing the brave letter by Nabila Taha "Palestinians terrorized in their ancestral homeland" (Thursday, May 27th 2021)...  For American readers who bother to read foreign newspapers, and those for who have lived in the Arab world, and those who are well informed and compassionate, this is not new news, but for many Americans it is new and quite shocking. So much so that some of your readers might find it easier to deny or angrily dismiss this perspective. But thank heavens you published it as people need to know, even if it hurts to know, even if it breaks our hearts to find out the truth behind this tragic situation. 

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

 https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2021/05/palestinians-are-being-terrorized-in-their-ancestral-homeland-pennlive-letters.html

Palestinians are being terrorized in their ancestral homeland | PennLive letters

May 2021 Patriot News

 

I am an American Palestinian whose family traces their origin in Palestine to at least two thousand years. My family were terrorized out of their farm which was confiscated including their home and everything else on that farm in 1948. More than 420 Palestinian villages and towns were wiped off to be replaced by Jewish only villages and towns. My parents are not allowed to visit their ancestral home while any Jewish person can be granted full Israeli citizenship on arrival.

 

1. This is not a conflict; it is a brutal occupation that has been ongoing for over 73 years by the Israelis over a defenseless Palestinian population.
2. This recent vicious bombing by the Israelis of Gaza is not as “retaliation” for Hamas’s rocket attacks, rather the rocket attacks are retaliation for the Israeli soldiers’ and settlers’ trampling of Al Aqsa mosque since the beginning of Ramadan (more than a month ago) and of the far-right settlers terrorizing Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and taking over their homes. Whether Hamas is a terror group or national liberation movement is immaterial. They did not start it.
3. The terror Palestinians experience at the hands of the settlers is not a “land dispute.” A far-right Israeli settler, with help from Israeli police confiscating your ancestral home is state sponsored terrorism.

What would you do if someone came to your home/ farm/factory with machine guns and forced you off? Would you RESIST with all means available to you?

Nabila Taha

Pennsylvania

 https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2021/05/palestinians-are-being-terrorized-in-their-ancestral-homeland-pennlive-letters.html 

 

As Always PLEASE go to the original link to read it in full, thoughtfully.

“Does Israel have a "right to exist"?

           “Does Israel have a "right to exist"?

 

The question is meaningless as posed -- deliberately so. It's meant to provoke feelings, not thoughts.

 

Does Israel have a "right to preserve a state with Jewish supremacy through suppressing the human rights of non-Jews"?

 

Now that's an interesting question.”  Pamela Olson 2021