Memorandum submitted by Save the Children
UK
1. SUMMARY
1.1 Palestinian children are being deprived
of their rights as enshrined in international law. The wall[244],
settlements and settler roads, roadblocks and checkpoints restrict
movement, separate families and undermine livelihoods. Children
are witnessing violence in all aspects of their lives.
1.2 Save the Children believes that application
of international law is vital to the protection of children's
rights to adequate food, housing, health care, education and life,
security and protection, all of which have been violated in the
current conflict[245]
1.3 The Wall is building additional barriers
to realising children's basic human rights. Access to basic services
will be further restricted, many families will be divided and
children will be brought face to face with military checkpoints
and patrols.
1.4 Urgent concerted action towards universal
protection of rights is vital. Palestinian children are stateless
and cannot as a matter of course claim their rights. A Palestinian
Authority capable of protecting and fulfilling their rights is
therefore essential. Until such time, the State of Israel is tasked
with protecting the rights of Palestinian children. The situation
of statelessness, violation of rights and failure to uphold international
law has shaped generations of Palestinian children. For the current
crisis not to further diminish the prospects of Palestinian children
and Palestinian development, urgent intervention for the protection
of their rights is required by the international community.
2. THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF AID:
FOCUSING ON
CHILDREN'S
RIGHTS (POINT
1)
2.1 Children under 15 are given special
protection in international humanitarian law. Children further
enjoy the rights enshrined in the Convention of the Rights of
the Child endorsed by the Palestinian Authority in 1995 and ratified
by Israel in 1994. Israel argues that it has transferred all responsibility
for the Convention of the Rights of the Child to the Palestinian
Authority since 1994, while the UN Committee on the Rights of
the Child, which monitors compliance with the Convention, considers
Israel responsible for Palestinian children's rights under the
CRC.
2.2 Save the Children believes that application
of international law is vital to the protection of children's
rights to adequate food, housing, health care, education and life,
security and protection, all of which have been violated in the
current conflict.[246]
2.3 A focus on children is essential to
all targeting of aid. In childhood the most important life skills
are learned and children build their physical and mental capabilities.
Childhood is a unique time and opportunity, while at the same
time, childhood experiences go a long way in shaping the outlook
on life and interaction with society and authorities in adulthood.
In the Palestinian context this is particularly important: over
50% of the Palestinian population is under 18; in Gaza, 18% of
the population is under the age of five.
2.4 A child-focus in aid strategies is capable
of transforming not only children's lives, but also spurs overall
development. Investment in those who care for children strengthens
Palestinian society's capacity. A focus on children's rights adds
significantly to the capacity of institutions, both governmental
and private, that support children; builds effective and quality
basic services; and leads to the participation of children and
wider stakeholders in civil society and local government leading
to greater transparency and accountability.
2.5 The Palestinian Authority, in consultation
with civil society, is working towards implementing a National
Plan of Action for Palestinian Children (NPA) and is enacting
a national children's law that covers all aspects of the CRC.
Save the Children has worked with the Secretariat of the NPA and
local NGO partners to help shape the legal framework and implementation
encompassing the wide range of children's rights. Targeted assistance
to such bodies has helped preserve their independence, create
capacity, retain expertise and contribute to an awareness of children's
rights influence programmes for their protection touching on all
aspects of children's lives. In the process, wider discussion
on the direction of Palestinian society's development has taken
place. A failure to target children can have serious consequences
for the successful implementation of the NPA and undermine the
important progress made.
3. THE WALL:
BUILDING BARRIERS
TO CHILDREN'S
RIGHTS (POINT
3)
3.1 It is estimated that 210,000 Palestinians
in 67 villages, towns and cities will be directly affected by
the western section of the wall alone. Some will be trapped between
the Wall and the Green Line, some will encircled and isolated
by the Wall, and for others their communities will be separated
from their farmlands[247].
In this short analysis, Save the Children UK use the examples
of three communities in the West Bank: Azun Atna, Ras Atiya and
Barqa is-Sharkiyyeh to highlight the impact of the Wall on the
lives of children from the perspective of access to basic services
and protection[248].
3.2 According to the latest plans, Azun
Atna village will be completely surrounded by the separation barrier.
With a population of 1,500, the village's livelihood is mainly
agriculture. Previously a centre for several surrounding villages,
it will now be cut off from them as well as from nine village
families whose houses are outside the wall and will have to use
one of two proposed gates to enter the village. The village well—its
only water supply—is outside of the wall. Of the total village
land (8,000 dunums) 3,000 will be either confiscated for the wall
itself or fall outside of the wall. Villagers understand that
they will require permits to pass through gates to access their
land.
3.3 There are two schools in the village:
an elementary school and a boy's secondary school. From the 10th
grade girls travel to a school in a nearby village and will have
to pass through the gate. From the total of 34 teachers only four
live in the village (ie within the wall). Children from the neighbouring
village of Beit Amin also attend the schools, but will be cut
off by the wall. It is currently unclear whether or how they will
be able to reach the school.
3.4 The 3,000 residents of Ras Atiya village
will be in an enclave created by the wall as it winds eastwards
around the settlement of Alfe Menashe. The villagers' main economic
activity is agriculture, however their route to the market in
Qalqilya will involve a detour of 50 km passing through two wall
gates. Previously the journey took approximately 15 minutes.
3.5 The co-ed school serves two other villages
both of which will be cut off by the wall which passes within
a few metres of the school. Sixty students in grades 7-10 will
be on the other side. Of the 25 teachers only five are from Ras
Atiya, ie 80% of the teachers will have to pass through the wall
on a daily basis assuming they are issued with permits to do so.
If teachers are able to reach the school, their already difficult
journeys are likely to be longer with the risk of being turned
back at the wall gates.
3.6 The village of Barqa is-Sharqiyyeh will
be caught between the wall to the east and an additional fence
being constructed close to the Green Line. The village has four
schools. Twenty per cent of the students currently attend from
villages on the other side of the wall, while 70% of the teachers
are from outside. When asked, the Mayor was unsure how the teachers
would reach the school. He said there were different rumours about
who would be entitled to permits, and he was fearful that permits
would only be issued to people registered as residents of Barqa
is-Sharqiyyeh as is already the case for Barta, a village a few
kilometres to the north.
3.7 The Mayor anticipated that the villagers'
problems would intensify over the next few weeks when the two
gates allowing residents to pass would be completed. He described
how four days before Save the Children's visit in July, an ambulance
had been delayed in the middle of the night while taking a pregnant
woman to hospital. The ambulance was blocked at the southern gate
(the route to Tulkarm) which was locked with no soldiers in the
area. They then took an alternative route where a second gate
has yet to be installed causing a delay of two hours. Once this
gate is constructed, the Mayor was fearful that it would become
impossible for ambulances to pass outside of the gate's scheduled
opening hours.
3.8 While the Israeli authorities portray
the wall as a "security fence", a potential impact of
the wall will be to put children in direct contact with the military.
In all of the above villages, children will pass through military
checkpoints on a daily basis. Some of their schools will be overlooked
by the wall, by military checkpoints or military control towers.
School play grounds, currently considered by many children as
their only safe places to play[249],
will be adjacent to the wall and the military patrols that will
pass by on a regular basis. In Ras Atiya, during the initial land
confiscation, soldiers with weapons sat at the gate of the school.
The school principal attempted to negotiate with the Israeli authorities
when the route of the wall was being surveyed asking for it to
be moved 100 metres.
4. LOCKED IN
BY SETTLEMENTS:
A REGIME OF
CLOSURE DENIES
CHILDREN THEIR
CHILDHOOD
4.1 The network of settlements and settler
roads in the occupied Palestinian Territories have many repercussions
on the lives of Palestinians. For example, access to resources
is denied through the continuing land confiscation for the construction
of new settlements and roads and the expansion of the existing
ones or the prevention of access to wells, and springs. Palestinian
movement for both people and goods is restricted preventing people
from participating in economic activity or accessing basic services.
4.2 In the boys secondary school in Azun
Atme conditions are bad. The school is overlooked by the neighbouring
settlement. The settlement rubbish dump abuts the school boundary
and sewage flows through an open channel at the edge of the school
yard. The school has begun constructing a new (outside) toilet
block within the school boundary but it has been issued with a
demolition order by the Israeli authorities (the village as a
whole has been issued with 20 demolition orders this year). They
have also been prevented from expanding the classroom block. Classrooms
have been divided into two to accommodate extra classes and a
store room has been converted into a classroom.
4.3 "Yellow Zones" are fenced-in
areas adjacent to settlements in the Gaza Strip and under the
control of the Israeli authorities. During a field visit to a
Ministry of Health clinic in Beit Lahiya in Gaza, Save the Children
UK met with a mother of four who lives in a yellow zone. To reach
the clinic and other services, shops etc she has to pass through
a gate which is scheduled to open between 6 am and 8 am and 2
pm and 4 pm.
4.4 She explained that on many occasions,
the gate has not been opened for what the Israeli authorities
term security reasons. She was often unable to bring her children
to the clinic to meet appointments for vaccinations and other
essential services. One of her children, a two year old girl,
suffers from asthma and has suffered from severe attacks which
require medical attention. On one occasion, she needed urgent
medical treatment and the soldiers refused to let them pass. Fortunately,
the daughter survived but the mother expressed her fear that in
the future they may face a much worse situation.
4.5 While the network of settlements is
having similar impacts throughout the oPT this cannot be separated
from the overall restrictions imposed by closure and curfews.
Here, SCUK look at the testimony of Palestinian children and their
parents to illustrate how the closures and curfews impact on their
lives.
4.6 Children are losing their childhood
and their rights are at risk. Children characterise their daily
lives in terms of daily facing violence, fear and hopelessness[250].
In the words of one Palestinian girl: "I am living in a state
of maximum fear. I ask the girls and boys of the world: are you
living in a fear like this? Of course not . . . what a bad situation
it is. Death is better." A child in Beit Hanoun, Gaza dreams
of the chance to visit places outside of Gaza "I wish to
have good health and to have trips outside of Gaza and all the
children in Palestine to be happy as well as all the children
in the world."
4.7 Parents face increasingly difficult
challenges in providing psychological and moral support to their
children and express concern at the loss of their childhood. "Our
lives are full of fear and despair, our children behave like grown
ups" described a parent in Gaza. Another said: "My child
is beginning to feel that we parents cannot protect him."
And a parent from Askar refugee camp described how "One day
I took my son to the market in Askar camp. We passed a funeral
of a martyr, and there were pictures of martyrs on the wall. The
child said with a sigh: `I don't want you to make a birthday party
for me because however many birthdays we have we will die in the
end.'"
4.8 Getting to school can be a major problem
with children having to face permanently closed roads and long
detours as well as military checkpoints and patrols. A kindergarten
teacher and mother described how "a few days ago soldiers
attacked a kindergarten bus: I was in it with children. They made
us get out, including the children. They searched the bus while
we stayed in the rain and cold for a long while till they allowed
us to get back in the bus and leave."
4.9 Children described their route to school
in the following ways: "the road goes up, then down, and
there is a tank. They take my bag and throw the books on the street
and my books get wet. I said to the soldier, `why did you do that?'
He said `Shut up'. Then he put my books back in the bag and said,
`Get lost to your school'." "It is true that my house
is close to the school, but there is lots of trouble. Sometimes
I pass a tank, sometimes they tell me to go back, sometimes not."
"We are very scared. We are scared for our teachers who come
to teach us".
4.10 Teachers sometimes stay overnight at
the school to ensure they will be there to teach the next day.
In the words of one teacher: "I arrive at school already
tired, sweaty in the summer and muddy in the winter. I keep thinking
about the road back and how it will be".
4.11 Movement restrictions are also preventing
children from accessing other basic services such as health care
facilities. Describing why they have not been following up on
secondary and tertiary health care for their young children mothers
from Rafah told us "We are frightened to cross the checkpoints.
We might not get across the checkpoint and have to wait in the
queue for a long time. There is no food or drink for the children
there." And "If we go to Gaza it is not always possible
to return in the same day and we need to stay overnight there".
4.12 The movement restrictions are also
impacting on the economic situation. In the words of one child:
"I shall save and give all the money to my family because
there is a war. We don't earn much and people cannot afford to
pay money. There is curfew and we cannot go out of the house and
buy food. Poor people are dying of hunger because there is no
food." A mother described how "my daughter attended
kindergarten for two months and is now sitting at home because
my husband cannot afford the fees."
5. FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
NEEDS: INVESTING
IN CHILDREN
IS INVESTING
IN THE
FUTURE
5.1 Save the Children's findings are born
out by the World Bank report Twenty Seven months of the intifada
(May 2003). They found that: "the crisis has affected
different social groups differently. Adolescents are particularly
vulnerable. Of an age to understand the economic hardships that
their families face, but generally too young and inexperienced
to be able to help much, they are particularly susceptible to
trauma and to feelings of powerlessness and rage. Teachers are
reporting an increase in violent behavior at school; many adolescents
see no sense in continuing their education, and drop-out rates
in this age group have risen markedly during the intifada—although
teenagers have a very limited chance of finding employment in
the formal labor market. Many of these adolescents may find themselves
locked into a life-long poverty trap, with poor prospects of escaping
it when the economy recovers. International research shows how
devastating protracted unemployment can be in patriarchal societies,
and how this can translate into domestic violence. A range of
social and human rights organizations working at the household
level in the West Bank and Gaza have noted an increase in violence
against women and children as the crisis has lengthened."[251]
They conclude that "More than the loss of income and capital
stock per se, the damage to the psychosocial environment in which
Palestinian children are growing up will take years to reverse."[252]
5.2 Urgent concerted action towards universal
protection of rights is vital. Palestinian children are stateless
and cannot claim their rights. A Palestinian Authority capable
of protecting and fulfilling their rights is essential. Until
such time, the State of Israel is tasked with protecting the rights
of Palestinian children. The situation of statelessness, violation
of rights and failure to uphold international law has shaped the
environment for generations of Palestinian children. For the current
crisis not blacken the prospects of Palestinian children and Palestinian
development, urgent intervention for the protection of their rights
is required by the international community.
6. RECOMMENDATIONS:
6.1 Address the situation of Palestinian
children as a matter of urgency. Ensure children are protected
from exposure to violence, have secure homes and safe play areas.
6.2 Help restore conditions of normal life
for Palestinian children, including freedom of movement, and functioning
education and health systems.
6.3 Invest in Palestinian national capacity
to deliver quality services to children.
6.4 Foster an atmosphere of accountability
and transparency and consider formal human rights monitors for
this purpose.
September 2003
244 Throughout, we refer to the fence, wall and trenches
being built within the West Bank by the Israelis as the wall. Back
245
See: Save the Children UK, Growing Up under Curfew:
Safeguarding the Basic Rights of Palestinian Children, March
2002, chapters 2, 3 and 4. Back
246
See: Save the Children UK, Growing Up under Curfew:
Safeguarding the Basic Rights of Palestinian Children, March
2002, chapters 2, 3 and 4. Back
247
B'Tselem April 2003, Behind the Barrier: Human Rights Violations
as a Result of the Israeli Separation Barrier. Back
248
Information used in this section was collected from discussions
with Municipalities, head teachers, teachers and children during
research carried out in March and July 2003. Back
249
See children's views on safe play areas in Growing up
under Curfew, Save the Children UK and Save the Children Sweden,
2003. Back
250
For a detailed analysis see Growing up under Curfew: Safeguarding
the basic rights of Palestinian children Save the Children
UK and Save the Children Sweden, May 2003. Back
251
World Bank, Twenty-Seven Months . . . , p 15. Back
252
World Bank, Twenty-Seven Months . . . , p 29. Back
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