© Reuters/Ammar Awad
Reports have come out that the UN was considering adding Israel to the list of "grave violations against children in armed conflict." As detailed below, Israeli army and Israel's state policies are systematically violent against Palestinian children.
A recent
Independent article noted that [Special Envoy for Children and Armed Conflict Leila] "Zerrougui's draft report cited IDF attacks on schools and hospitals during the 2014 war in the Gaza Strip..."
Even though the UN has historically not taken strong action against any of Israel's war crimes over the decades, let alone those specifically against Palestinian children, Israel has reportedly exerted pressure to be de-listed from the draft list, with seeming success.
The
Independent wrote, "UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, however, is said to be leaning towards not including Israel in the list, amid what several diplomatic sources anonymously said was intense lobbying from Israel."
Apparently, Israel thinks such call for its joining the list is "a heinous and hypocritical attempt to besmirch the image of Israel and it is doomed to fail," Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon reportedly said.
In fact, the UN should have listed Israel from at least 2009 when, as the UN website
notes, "the Security Council decided to also list armed forces and groups who kill and maim children, commit sexual violence against children, and attack schools and hospitals."
Does Israel violate the six
areas detailed? Five out of six, most definitely:
Comment: Will the Islamic State set the whole Middle East on fire?