Targeting Childhood: Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank

Sep 09, 2024 

Ramallah, September 9, 2024—20 percent of the Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 2000 have been killed after October 7, 2023 at a rate of one child every two days, Defense for Children International - Palestine said in a report released today.

The report, “Targeting Childhood: Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank,” details and analyzes Palestinian child fatalities in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between October 7, 2023, and July 31, 2024. Israeli forces routinely targeted Palestinian children with live ammunition and aerial attacks, prevented ambulances and paramedics from reaching wounded children, and confiscated children’s bodies in violation of international law.

“Israeli forces are killing Palestinian children with calculated brutality and cruelty all throughout the occupied Palestinian territory,” said Khaled Quzmar, general director at DCIP. “The international community must act urgently to enact an arms embargo and sanctions to protect Palestinian children’s lives.”

In this report, evidence and documentation collected by DCIP indicate that Israeli forces are deliberately targeting Palestinian children with the intent to unleash cruel and degrading treatment up until the moment of the child’s death.... READ MORE  https://www.dci-palestine.org/targeting_childhood_palestinian_children_killed_by_israeli_forces_and_settlers_in_the_occupied_west_bank

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The full report can be read and downloaded here.

Key findings

1. 20 percent of the Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 2000 have been killed after October 7, 2023 at a rate of one child every two days.

2. Israeli forces deliberately target and shoot unarmed children with live ammunition and trained snipers. Israeli forces and settlers shot and killed 116 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between October 7, 2023 and July 31, 2024.

3. Israeli forces have killed 25 Palestinian children in aerial attacks in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between October 7, 2023 and July 31, 2024. Some children were directly targeted while others were collateral damage as Israeli forces deployed aerial attacks in densely populated civilian areas.

4. Israeli forces and authorities systematically deny Palestinian children their right to medical care when preventing ambulances, paramedics, or bystanders from providing medical care to a child shot with live ammunition or struck in an Israeli airstrike. In 43 percent of cases in this report, Israeli forces deliberately prevented injured Palestinian children from receiving medical care by detaining and firing live ammunition toward ambulances, paramedics, and civilians attempting to provide aid.

5. Israeli authorities and forces systematically, deliberately, and specifically embolden Israeli settler violence towards Palestinian children. Israeli forces present during armed Israeli settler attacks fail to prevent the aggression, fail to help the Palestinian victims, and often collaborate with the settlers in inflicting lethal harm. In two cases, Israeli forces and settlers fired toward Palestinian children simultaneously, and DCIP was unable to determine which perpetrator fired the fatal bullet.

6. Israeli forces killed at least 49 Palestinian children during the intensified large-scale and deadly incursions into Palestinian refugee camps in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between October 7, 2023 and July 31, 2024. 

7. The fatal shootings of child protesters in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and the use of expanding bullets during the crackdowns constitute war crimes prosecutable at the ICC. In October 2023, Israeli forces shot and killed four Palestinian children with expanding bullets designed to increase in size upon impact, inflicting fatal internal injuries.

8. Israeli authorities’ practice of confiscating and withholding Palestinian bodies is a violation of international humanitarian law and international criminal law, which include absolute prohibitions on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Israeli authorities have confiscated 18 Palestinian children’s bodies in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between October 7, 2023 and July 31, 2024.

9. Israeli authorities work to ensure Israeli forces continue enjoying impunity and face no consequence for the extrajudicial killing of Palestinian children. There are no known accounts of accountability during this reporting period.

Are restrictions on pro-Palestine speech ‘the new McCarthyism?’

VIDEO INTERVIEW 24 MINUTES LONG- CLICK HERE https://www.aljazeera.com/program/the-bottom-line/2024/9/8/are-restrictions-on-pro-palestine-speech-the-new-mccarthyism

Is there an attempt to chill debate on Palestine and Israel on both sides of the Atlantic?

The United States, and the West in general, are in a “dire period” of repression of speech on Palestinian freedom or criticism of Israel, argues Dima Khalidi, founder of Palestine Legal.

Khalidi tells host Steve Clemons that despite strong constitutional protections for free expression, “there seems to be this exception when it comes to Palestine”, as witnessed by the wave of censorship, intimidation, firings and restrictions on activism in the wake of Israel’s war on Gaza.

The situation is similar across Europe, says British journalist Richard Medhurst, who’s been covering Gaza closely and was arrested for “speech crimes” upon arrival in London recently.

He argued that it was OK to combine the Star of David and swastika symbols because, he said, the star is used not only as a religious symbol, but a political symbol. It is found on the Israeli Air Force insignia.

He argued that it was OK to combine the Star of David and swastika symbols because, he said, the star is used not only as a religious symbol, but a political symbol. It is found on the Israeli Air Force insignia.

"The swastika, to me, is equivalent to the Star of David," Atta said.

Atta also disagreed with the concept that Jewish residents could feel threatened by the mural. He said he thought Jewish people "should be able to relate" to how painful a genocide is for a population."

2024:  The mural is posted on a building at North Holton and East Locust streets owned by Ihsan Atta, a Palestinian-American landlord who is the registered agent for the property management company.

The mural replaced one on Breonna Taylor that was well-known to those in the area. Taylor, a Black woman, was shot and killed in her home in 2020 by Louisville police during a botched raid. The police killings of Taylor and George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests about police violence. Another prominent mural of Floyd on a building also owned by Atta remains at the corner of East North Avenue and North Holton Street. Milwaukee

Jewish American filmmaker, Sarah Friedland, calls out Israel's 'genocide in Gaza' at Venice Film Festival while accepting her Lion of the Future award

METROPOLITAN CITY OF VENICE  Film Festival

Sarah Friedland won Best Debut Film at the Venice Film Festival, accepting the Lion of the Future award in the Italian city at the weekend. 

Familiar Touch won won three prizes at the festival’s 81st edition—one for best debut feature, another for Chalfant as best actress in the Orizzonti section (which the performer accepted in Italian), and a third for Friedland as best director.

Imagine the size of the deep hole with dozens of tents above it that have disappeared and no signs of them remain, including those [the people] inside them.

Imagine the size of the deep hole with dozens of tents above it that have disappeared and no signs of them remain, including those inside them.

Mike Hanini Odetalla

Aid not reaching Gaza, say relief groups as ‘more than a million go without food’... "Aid trucks’ ability to enter Gaza “is at the arbitrary discretion of Israeli forces” "

A queue of of aid lorries wait at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Photograph: Amr Nabil/AP

 “We estimate that over a million Gazans will go without food in September”

@UNRWA  Sam Rose to   @guardian   [on twitter/x]

 

Medicines, chlorine for water purification & hygiene products are running low in #Gaza. "So little aid is getting in that we can’t meet basic needs."

Aid not reaching Gaza, say relief groups as ‘more than a million go without food’

Medical supplies, toothbrushes and shampoo also remain stuck in backlog of lorries unable to enter from Egypt

Relief groups have said more than 1 million people in Gaza will not have enough food this month, while trucks loaded with fresh vegetables or meat spoil waiting to cross Israeli checkpoints, and thousands of aid packages of food, medical supplies and even toothbrushes and shampoo remain stuck in a backlog of lorries unable to enter from Egypt.

“We estimate that over a million Gazans will go without food in September,” said Sam Rose, a senior deputy director of UN’s relief agency for Palestinians (Unrwa), in Gaza. “Over half the medicines in our health centres are running low, as is chlorine for water purification and other basic supplies.” ... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/12/gaza-aid-food-medical-supplies-backlog

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"We order you to leave, in a week the entire area will become a military zone; No supply will enter" Former Israeli General Giora Eiland has launched a campaign called 'The General’s Plan,' demanding that the Israeli army "empty" northern Gaza by starving the remaining residents.

Giora Eiland, a reserve major general in the Zionist army*, calls for ethnic cleansing of the entire northern Gaza and for the Palestinians who remain in their homes to be left to starve.

"We order you to leave, in a week the entire area will become a military zone; No supply will enter" 

Israel's "Netzarim Corridor"* aims to separate Gaza City from the rest of the strip. No movement is allowed between the enclaves. Israel wants to make "the world's largest prison" into two smaller ones.

Senior IDF officials are increasingly on board with a plan conceived by Major General Giora Eiland which would see the northern Gaza Strip turned into a closed military area with the civilian population required to leave. 

According to the plan, the entire area north of the Netzarim Corridor, including Gaza City, would become a closed military area in which approximately 250,000 people [Palestinian men, women, & children], would be required to leave immediately. 

After a week in which the population will be given the opportunity to evacuate, a full military siege would be imposed on the area.

*Zionist army refers to Israel's "IDF" Israel Defense Forces also known as "IOF"  Israel Occupation Forces"

*The "Netzarim Corridor"cuts Gaza in two halves: Israel's IDF/IOF expanded its width from 2km to 4km & demolished every single building & infrastructure in that area & on both sides of it.

White House Statement from Vice President Kamala Harris on Aysenur Eygi "Aysenur was peacefully protesting in the West Bank—standing up against the expansion of settlements—when her young life was senselessly cut short. No one should be killed for participating in a peaceful protest. The shooting that led to her death is unacceptable and raises legitimate questions about the conduct of IDF personnel in the West Bank."

Statement from Vice President Kamala Harris on Aysenur Eygi

2. Briefing Room
3. Statements and Releases

The killing of Aysenur Eygi is a horrific tragedy that never should have happened. Doug and I are keeping her family and loved ones in our prayers. Aysenur was peacefully protesting in the West Bank—standing up against the expansion of settlements—when her young life was senselessly cut short. No one should be killed for participating in a peaceful protest. The shooting that led to her death is unacceptable and raises legitimate questions about the conduct of IDF personnel in the West Bank.  Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again.
 
Israel’s preliminary investigation indicated it was the result of a tragic error for which the IDF is responsible. We will continue to press the government of Israel for answers and for continued access to the findings of the investigation so we can have confidence in the results. There must be full accountability.
 
The United States will continue to hold accountable anyone in the West Bank – Israelis and Palestinians – who stokes violence and undermines peace and stability.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/09/11/statement-from-vice-president-kamala-harris-on-aysenur-eygi/

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Two young American women—Rachel & Aysenur. Both from Washington State with hearts of gold... both were murdered

 

Huwaida Arraf

Two young American women—Rachel & Aysenur. Both from Washington State with hearts of gold. They traveled to PAL [Palestine] to witness and to stand with the oppressed; to make a difference. Both were murdered. By America’s great ally. With U.S. supplied weapons. With U.S. assured impunity. #RIP

Dear America- Don't let Israel drive a wedge between you and the truth.

@UNHumanRights chief @volker_turk urges Governments to put human rights at the core of policy & action to achieve a more peaceful, just & sustainable world. https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2024/09/human-rights-are-our-mainstay-against-unbridled-power  Human Rights are our mainstay against unbridled power

Dear America- letter sent to my Elected Leaders,

Time will tell who gets elected next. 

Meanwhile time has already told that American leadership does not care about the very real plight and suffering of the native non-Jewish people of historic Palestine. You should.

Israel, heavily armed with American weaponry, freely bombs humanitarian safe zones in Gaza, obliterating refugee tents, leaving huge craters in the sand. 

I remember 9-11 here- and the horror of what happened, and I remember Israeli leadership on our TV authoritatively telling America what to think, exasperating racism and hate on every "side." 

23 years later American puppets and pawns are busy legislating that protest against Israel is "antisemitism".  It isn't. 

Protest and awareness are crucial tools against dangerous Zionist lies and racist cruelty.

Today's modern man made Israel is a dangerous entity with tentacles everywhere as it grows & grows & grows: The Israel Empire ignores borders, international law, human rights, and basic logic.

Please don't let America and all we have achieved be totally corrupted and destroyed:  Arabs and Muslims (and Jews and Christians) are human beings, just like us, and just like us they can be good and bad and everything in between. Don't let Israel drive a wedge between you and the truth.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

NOTES  https://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Notes

Palestine is the most well-documented genocide in history, yet the most denied by American leadership & mainstream news.... September 2024

American killed in West Bank was longtime activist ‘bearing witness to oppression’, friends say

“Depth of Kinship”: Zeina Azzam’s Some Things Never Leave You BOOK REVIEW by Deema K. Shehabi

Escalations ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

‘If I would speak, I would start crying’: Our reporters grapple with loss in Gaza war

Omar Badder on America's mainstream media coverage of #Israel VS #Palestine "As you reflect on why only one of these stories is dominating the headlines, there are 5 more things to keep in mind..."

Palestinian journalist Hind Al-Khoudary on her nomination for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.

"My grandfather kept the key to his house in Yaffa in 1948. He thought they would return in a few days. His name was Hasan. The house was destroyed. Others built a new one in its place. Hasan died in Gaza in 1986. The key has rusted but still exists somewhere, longing for the old wooden door." Mosab Abu Toha ... From Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear

"Gaza has taught me that a lot of people who claim to be human rights activists are only active when it applies to people of a specific background or ethnicity." Mohamad Safa

Israel is committing genocide and Western media is helping hide the bodies

Ending Discrimination #fightracism #StandUp4HumanRights #NoToHate #UNGA #UnitedNations #HumanRights #HumanBeings #Compassion #GoldenRuleThinking #Kindness

Nelson Mandela grandson Zwelivelile comes out in support of South Africa coal embargo on Israel

The Government of Israel has been running a smear campaign against Palestinians & UNWRA by buying ads on Google

More Than 65 Palestinian Filmmakers, Including Hany Abu Assad, Elia Suleiman and Farah Nabulsi, Sign Letter Accusing Hollywood of ‘Dehumanizing’ Palestinians

August 28 2024: Since last night, the Israeli army has conducted a large-scale military operation in various parts of the West Bank, particularly in the northern regions.

Scholasticide: As the new school year begins, Palestinian students in Gaza cannot access education due to Israel’s systemic attacks on the education system

Dear America, Please Help Stop Institutionalized Bigotry & Injustice

Accusing peaceful pro-Palestine protesters of being "antisemitic" pleases Israel but it does not make any Jews any safer anywhere.

A Guardian report reveals that there are 60,000 Americans living in illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank, as well as some 23,400 Americans serving in the Israeli army.

Send an honorable message far and wide- we believe in freedom of and from religion... and we believe in real justice, peace, and security for ALL !

 

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world..."   https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

 

Palestine is the most well-documented genocide in history, yet the most denied by American leadership & mainstream news.... September 2024

Mohamad Safa

@mhdksafa

This photo needs to be the front page of every news paper in the world. 20 tents full of displaced families buried alive in Gaza.

Maha Hussaini

@MahaGaza

In an overcrowded camp where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are scattered in makeshift tents, even the smallest bomb can cause immense damage and numerous casualties. Now, imagine the devastation when the Israeli occupation army uses 3 U.S.-made MK-84 bombs on them.

Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt

@FranceskAlbs

Apartheid Israel is accelerating the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, and committing acts of genocide on the way. How long will it take to UN Member states to impose sanctions on this serial violator of int'l law?

Dr. Omar Suleiman

@omarsuleiman

The tent massacre of Mawasi. 20 tents full of families buried alive by American bombs that have left literal craters in the earth. This was a humanitarian safe zone. Another site of a war crime that the world can’t stop because of Israel’s effective international immunity.

 

 

Susan Muaddi Darraj 

@SusanDarraj

I am forever changed by this year, by the evil we are witnessing, by the silence of so many, by the acceptance of such horror as normal.

 

António Guterres

@antonioguterres

I strongly condemn Israel’s air strikes on an Israeli-designated zone for displaced people in Gaza. Palestinians had moved to this area in search for shelter & safety, after being repeatedly instructed to do so by the Israeli authorities. I repeat my call for an immediate ceasefire & the immediate & unconditional release of all hostages still held in Gaza.

 

 Palestine is the most well-documented genocide in history, yet the most denied.

 

Aysenur Eygi- American murdered by Israeli troops 

 

Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old American activist killed while protesting in the occupied West Bank, was remembered by friends and former professors as a dedicated organizer who felt a strong moral obligation to bring attention to the plight of Palestinians.

"Eygi, who is also a Turkish citizen and leaves behind her husband, graduated from UW [Seattle Washington] earlier this year with a major in psychology and minor in Middle Eastern languages and culture, Fani said. She walked the stage with a large “Free Palestine” flag during the ceremony, Fani said."

American killed in West Bank was longtime activist ‘bearing witness to oppression’, friends say

 

Mosab Abu Toha

@MosabAbuToha

 

Please amplify: So the killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was accidental, unintentional, etc.? 

 

Question for Israel: 

1-Why open fire in the first place? 

 

Two questions for the US: 

1-What about the settlements she was protesting? Are they accidental? 

 

2-What about the killing of children and their families Aysenur was standing in solidarity with?

“Depth of Kinship”: Zeina Azzam’s Some Things Never Leave You BOOK REVIEW by Deema K. Shehabi

 

Photo of the author by Jeff Norman / ZeinaAzzam.com

Book Review

September 10, 2024

by  Deema K. Shehabi  -Deema K. Shehabi is a poet and editor. Her first book, Thirteen Departures from the Moon

In Zeina Azzam’s mesmerizing collection of poems Some Things Never Leave You (Tiger Bark Press, 2023), tenderness means gazing directly at what both cuts and fills you. A universal factor of human existence is the need to enter an expressive space, which distills moments from one’s life into essences. Whether it’s standing at a parent’s deathbed wondering when the next reunion with a dying beloved will be or rejoicing at a child’s ability to enunciate Arabic letters despite truncation from the foundational homeland (Palestine), Azzam deftly parses the threshold of joys and losses and renders them in a breathless lyricism.

In one of the seminal poems in the collection, “You Could Tell Yourself,” Azzam invites the reader into ... READ MORE  https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/book-reviews/depth-kinship-zeina-azzams-some-things-never-leave-you-deema-k-shehabi

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]