H.E. RADHIKA COOMARSASWAMY
Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
Your Excellency,
Between 13 January and 11 June 2011, DCI-Palestine has documented 17 cases of children affected by Israeli colonial settler violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including one fatality.
Yousif Ekhlayel (Fatality) - On 28 January 2011, a 15-year-old boy is shot and killed by a settler, when a group of 70 armed settlers enter Beit Ummar village, near Hebron.
Each of the cases occurred near Palestinian neighbourhoods, villages or roads located close to illegal Israeli colonies.
The nature of the violence reported by the children includes being shot at, beaten, pelted with stones and the inhalation of gas. According to the Israeli organisation, Yesh Din, ‘acts of violence are being committed by Israeli civilians in the West Bank on a daily basis, manifesting in many forms of attacks against people and destruction of their property. These acts of violence are not isolated incidents, nor are they simply acts of hate or anger. Rather this brand of violence is part of a sophisticated, wider strategy designed to assert territorial domination over Palestinians in the West Bank.’
There are now approximately 500,000 Israeli colonial settlers living in 200 colonies in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The presence of the colonists and their militias in occupied territory is a constant source of friction which sometimes leads to violence.
These colonies are permanent civilian communities established in occupied territory and are illegal under international law.
The illegality of the colonies has also been confirmed on a number of occasions by the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice. According to the Israeli organisation, B’Tselem, these colonies now control 42 percent of the land area of the West Bank, on the site of a future Palestinian state.
As you are aware, under the law of occupation, Israel does not acquire sovereignty over the territory it occupies and there is a presumption that the occupation is temporary. Further, the law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, aims to ensure that Israel, as the occupying power, protects Palestinian civilians living in the occupied territories from violence.
In spite of this legal obligation to provide protection, there was a 70 percent increase in colonial settler violence against Palestinians and their property in 2010. Please note that the cases presented in this Urgent Appeal do not represent an exhaustive list of all cases involving colonial settler violence against Palestinian children in 2011.
I strongly urge you to demand that the government of Israel immediately ensures that;
1. The Israeli army, police and security forces in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, provide appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population against attacks by settlers; and
2. All incidents of colonial settler violence against Palestinians, including the killing of Yousif Ekhlayel, be promptly, diligently and independently investigated in accordance with international standards, and all perpetrators be brought promptly to justice.
Finally, I call upon the international community;
1. To take immediate effective measures to secure the cessation of violence by the Israeli occupying Power and to put an end to the ongoing violations of human rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories
2. To implement sanctions, including economic and diplomatic, which would ensure Israel's respect of its obligations under the Convention.
3 .To fully support the Palestinian initiative to secure membership for the State of Palestine in the United Nations in September 2011.
Sincerely