On the occasion of the Palestinian Child Day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates affirmed the continuation of the State of Palestine on its way to protect its children from the brutality of the Israeli occupation, its practices against them and the attempts to intimidate them, stifle their future, their ambitions to achieve freedom and justice, and their basic rights to independence and the embodiment of their independent state, and the return of the refugees to their homes that they abandoned with their children. The Ministry stressed the right of the Palestinian people and children to live in safety and peace, just like the children of the world, in addition to their right to enjoy the necessary legal protection from the systematic and widespread violations of their rights that are being perpetrated by the Israeli colonial occupation. This goal can only be achieved through ending the long-running Israeli occupation and invoking accountability and responsibility of war criminals for their illegal racist actions, crimes and practices against the Palestinian people.
The Ministry indicated that the Palestinian child was not isolated from the violations committed by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people. Rather, the child was at the forefront of those who deliberately targeted them. The Foreign Ministry added that children are among the most affected groups of the Palestinian people who suffered from the policies and crimes of the Israeli occupation and its racist practices. These include denying access to public services such as education, work, health, etc., forcible transfer, persecution, the application of discriminatory policies and legislation in East Jerusalem, the dispersal of Palestinian families in various ways, in addition to daily terror from the side of settlers. This is despite the provisions of international law that stipulates the duty of States to provide protection for children.
The Ministry added that the Israeli occupation authorities lack the minimum standards of humanity and respect for international law, and do not take into account the rights of the child in its continuous violation of the rights of Palestinian children, given the execution of more than 781 Palestinian children by the Israeli occupation forces and settlers. Moreover, as the statistics and reports issued by human rights organizations indicated, the large-scale arrests of children were performed without regard for their legal rights and best interests stipulated in international conventions, foremost of which is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
