Palestinian children

Earlier this week, an interfaith group met informally at Al-Hidaya Center in Latham to begin planning a strategy to support passage of a bill in Congress “to promote justice, equality and human rights for Palestinian children and families by prohibiting Israeli authorities from using U.S. taxpayer funds to detain and torture Palestinian children, demolish and seize Palestinian homes, and further annex Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.”

Known as HR 2590, the bill is endorsed by a wide range of national organizations that include the American Friends Service Committee, Church World Service, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, National Council of Churches USA, Oxfam America, Pax Christi USA, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, The Episcopal Church, The United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society, and the United Church of Christ.


Supporters of the bill say that “Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world that automatically and systematically prosecutes children in military courts that lack fundamental fair trial rights and protections. Israel prosecutes between 500 and 700 Palestinian children in military courts each year.” 

According to a handout from the gathering, “Israeli military law provides no right to legal counsel during interrogation, and Israeli military court judges seldom exclude confessions obtained by coercion or torture.”

Opposition to the legislation comes from such entities as NGO Monitor, variously described as either an independent research institution or a pro-Israel lobby group. According to them, the bill contains “fundamental false claims, misstatements and distortions.” You can read more here.
#HR2590

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