Stand Up for Palestinian Children’s Rights – What Can Canadians Do?

Arrest, detention and interrogation of Palestinian teenagers living in the West Bank

A special webinar organized by “Stand Up for Palestinian Children’s Rights”, a broad based cross-Canada planning committee, in collaboration with the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP).

Imagine heavily armed soldiers breaking into your home at 2 am, dragging your teenager out of bed and taking him off to be interrogated!
Hundreds of Palestinian children are arrested in this way every year by the Israeli military.  Many on “suspicion” of stone throwing which can bring a sentence of up to 10 years in jail. Their parents can also be arrested.  In custody the children may be subjected to physical and/or psychological torture to reveal the names of their friends.  The conviction rate of the children is 99%.

Canadians Kathy Bergen and Dorcas Gordon will interview two on the spot observers – one Palestinian and one Israeli – from Jerusalem about this horrifying situation. Salwa Dubais from Military Court Watch will tell us about the impact on Palestinian families and the difficulties teens face after their imprisonment. Dani Shenhar from HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual (an Israeli human rights organization assisting Palestinians of the occupied territories whose rights are violated due to Israel’s policies) will explain the difference in laws governing Palestinian and Israeli youth.

What can Canadians do?
In 2020 the Canadian government admitted it is aware of what is happening.  Yet no obvious action has been taken. Might the appointment of a Canadian special envoy help to change this?

To learn more and join the conversation, you are invited to a Zoom webinar. 

Register in advance for this webinar

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

If you can’t attend at the specified time, you can watch it later