Rep. Schakowsky: Take Meaningful Action for Palestinian Children

On November 19, 2014, around 4 p.m., eight Israeli soldiers arrested Mohammad Karajat, 16, in his West Bank village of Halhoul in occupied Palestine. Heavily armed soldiers punched and kicked the teen boy, then bound his hands with a plastic cord and blindfolded him. After further abuse, he was driven to an Israeli settlement and left lying on the floorof a military vehicle. After 9 hours in the car, he was strip-searched and transferred to Ofer Military Prison.

Mohammad’s experience, detailed in a 2016 report from Defense of Children International-Palestine, is but one example of the estimated 10,000 Palestinian children in the Occupied West Bank between the ages of 12 and 17 who have been systematically abused in Israeli military detention since 2000.

Palestinian kids are routinely subjected to beatings, solitary confinement, and stress positions; denied access to parents and lawyers; and coerced into signing confessions in Hebrew, a language most of them cannot understand. They are funneled into a segregated Israeli military court system with an over 99% conviction rate, where most plead guilty in order to receive sentences lower than 12 months.

According to a UNICEF report, the majority of teens arrested were accused of throwing stones...often at armored vehicles. Children as young as 12 or 13 have been sentenced to 6 months in military jail for this. Others have been arrested for slapping, spitting at, or otherwise “insulting or offending a soldier’s honor”. Many protest they did not do what they were accused of. Whatever the charge, teenage kids should not be taken away in the middle of the night, blindfolded, beaten, kicked, and exposed to the elements for hours at a time, and then sent away to prison for months with no access to their parents.

The No Way To Treat a Child Campaign was formed to address these abuses, and now includes many human rights organizations including the American Friends Service Committee, Amnesty International, Defense for Children International, Americans for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Churches for Middle East Peace.
Thirty courageous members of Congress, led by Minnesota’s Rep. Betty McCollum, have cosponsored a bill that would shine a light on these practices.

H.R. 4391, the "Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act,”
would require the Secretary of State to certify that none of the U.S. aid to Israel in the previous year has been used to support abuses against Palestinian children in Israeli military detention. If such a certification cannot be made, the Secretary of State must report the amount of funds Israel uses in violation of human rights, and each activity supported by such funds.

As a constituent and admirer of Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, and as a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, I am deeply disappointed that she has not yet signed on to this bill.

In her responses to constituents, Rep. Schakowsky states her “[deep] concern about the treatment of Palestinian minors who are detained by Israeli police or military,” rightfully stating that “such treatment is
inexcusable.”

However, she then worries that a “possible outcome” of H.R. 4391 would be that “necessary security aid to Israel could be cut.” To be clear, the legislation does not, and would not make any cuts to U.S. aid to Israel. Instead, it brings accountability and transparency to the many ways U.S. aid supports the detention, prosecution and abuse of Palestinian children. We should not accept that “security” requires the abuse of these kids.

Rep. Schakowsky is prioritizing her discomfort with transparency about US military aid to Israel over the needs of mistreated Palestinian teenagers. This contrasts starkly with her progressive leadership for justice in so many other instances, including the ongoing horrific treatment of children separated from their families on the U.S.-Mexico border.

I’m further frustrated that, rather than signing on to H.R. 4391, she is leading a Dear Colleague letter undermining it, titled "Support Necessary Security Aid to Israel and Stop Palestinian Child Detention by
Israeli Military." It restricts itself to asking Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - who openly supports torture and expresses hostility towards Muslims - to recognize these abuses, but calls for no meaningful action.

Failing to demand that Israel comply with international law works to enable abuse and perpetuate injustice against Palestinian children. By refusing to support H.R. 4391 and leading a separate initiative,
Representative Schakowsky risks harming the efforts of the 30 progressive legislators courageous enough to demand unequivocally that U.S. taxpayers be informed about their funding of systematic
mistreatment of Palestinian children.

Representative Schakowsky needs to hear from us. If you believe, as I do, that the US government should respect international law, and common humanity by not supporting the torture and abuse of Palestinian kids,
please contact Representative Schakowsky. Urge her to support H.R. 4391.