Stop Jailing Palestinian Minors for Throwing Stones
- by: Care2.com
- recipient: Michael Oren, Ambassador of Israel to the United States, Embassy of Israel for the United States
According to documentation from Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, in the past six years there have been 834 Palestinian children incarcerated for throwing stones.
Of B'Tselem's documentated cases, two hundred and eighty-nine of these young Palestinian rebels were between the ages of 12 and 15. These children were often arrested in the middle of the night, not allowed access to lawyers or their families, subjected to torture and interrogation, and jailed for a maximum of 20 years. Although Israelis become legal adults at 18, for Palestinians the age is 16, and it is quite common to prosecute children as young as 12. The Defence for Children International (DCI) calls the poor treatment and torture of Palestinian children "widespread, systematic, and institutionalized."
Sign this petition to help us pressure Israel to give Palestinian children the same rights that Israelis enjoy, and to prohibit child arrest in the middle of the night.
I am writing out of deep concern for the Palestinian children being arrested and jailed for throwing stones at Israeli soldiers and civilians. Their basic rights are being severely violated through their subjection to documented poor treatment, interrogation, and torture.
Even though many would argue that this is a justified response to violence, brashly disregarding the rights of minors in fact further inflames Palestinian resentment. Children everywhere, even those who have had the disadvantage of being socialized in a culture of violence, deserve special protection and rights afford by the law. Give Palestinian minors the same rights that Israeli youth enjoy, and stop the policy of child arrest in the middle of the night.
Sincerely,
[your name here]
