Report from the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation conference on the rights of Palestinian children

This was a powerful and emotionally challenging event. The organisers had taken a trauma-informed approach to the whole conference: speakers, especially those giving testimony of direct lived experience in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), were encouraged to pause, or even leave the stage and return later, whenever they felt they had to; boxes of tissues were passed freely around the audience, who were all asked not to call out or engage in chants or slogans; questions and comments were submitted via Mentimeter and selected for the panel discussion.

Delegates were mindful of the requests and the event was calm and nurturing in the face of some harrowing testimony. Speakers described the deliberate targeting of children. “Gaza is the most dangerous place in the world for children. What is the world doing about that?” we were challenged. “The bombardment of Gaza has been an assault on the very future of Palestine.” 17,000 children have been reported killed since October 2023, which is more than 1000 per month. 90% of the population are now internally displaced.

Some 700,000 students now cannot attend school. The suffering inside Gaza is unthinkable, with no food, no clean water, no health care. Children are hungry, suffering huge psychological traumas, and with many now missing limbs or otherwise disabled.

The suffering inside Gaza is unthinkable, with no food, no clean water, no health care.

There were calls to install buildings that are still standing with educational equipment and for support with e-learning, but lack of electricity and internet make this very difficult. Palestinian children have lost over a year of their education and rebuilding will mean more than reconstructing infrastructure – psychological health must be a priority, so there is a need to train teachers to support children with trauma, but also for basic physical disability supports. There must be full humanitarian access to Palestine by international agencies and NGOs.

The full extent of the denial of Palestinian children’s rights was delivered in a powerful presentation by a Palestinian psychotherapist who spoke about his own experiences of being held at gunpoint. He then focused on data preceding October 2023 in order to highlight the decades-old attacks on children’s rights and the fact that the ‘normal’ to be returned to after the ceasefire in Gaza is still horrifying.

He referred to several reports whose key information is covered in the following few paragraphs.
Since the beginning of the second Palestinian Intifada in 2000, Defence for Children International – Palestine (DCIP) has documented the killing of children by the Israeli military and settlers in the OPTs. Up to July 2024, the number of Palestinian child fatalities was 2427 – this number does not include the fatalities in the Gaza strip since October 2023.

In 2023, the UN Secretary General included Israel’s armed forces and security forces on an annual global list for violations against children in conflict zones. The report cited 5698 violations attributed to Israeli forces, including the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, leading to child casualties.

In the same year, the UN verified 32,990 grave violations against 22,557 children in 26 zones, including Israel and the OPTs. This represents a 35% increase in child casualties compared to previous years.
According to Human Rights Watch, Israeli military actions have exacerbated the vulnerabilities of Palestinian children with disabilities. For instance, restrictions on water and destruction of infrastructure have left the population without sufficient access to safe water or sanitation, disproportionately affecting children with disabilities.

restrictions on water and destruction of infrastructure have left the population without sufficient access to safe water or sanitation, disproportionately affecting children with disabilities.

Amnesty International’s reports highlight how Israeli-imposed blockades and movement restrictions in the OPTs have adversely affected children’s access to essential services, including education and healthcare, thereby impeding their overall development and wellbeing.

According to Save The Children, nearly 400 children in Gaza were denied access to critical healthcare in the West Bank in the first half of 2023, leaving them without access to life-saving surgery or urgent medication. In 2022, three children died while their application for Gaza exit-permits were either denied or remained under review, including a 19-month old child with a congenital heart defect and a 16-year old child with leukaemia.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, DCIP and UN Fact-Finding in Gaza have all reported, over the last two decades, several cases of Israeli soldiers forcing Palestinian children to act as human shields during house raids in the West Bank and Gaza.

This involved children being forced at gunpoint to enter potentially dangerous buildings ahead of soldiers, checking bags for explosives, walking in front of military vehicles to deter attacks, or being tied to an Israeli military vehicle to prevent attacks by Palestinian fighters.

Israel prosecutes Palestinian children in military courts in the occupied West Bank, making it the only country in the world to routinely prosecute children in this manner. According to DCIP 500-700 children are prosecuted annually in Israeli military courts. Charges often include stone-throwing, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years under military law.

These military courts lack basic protections such as presumption of innocence and access to legal counsel. Children are often subjected to night arrests, physical and psychological abuse, and coerced confessions in Hebrew, a language many do not understand. Conviction rates exceed 99% in these courts.

Another powerful presentation was delivered via video link by Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the OPTs, much of it based on her report from 24 October 2023 which depicts the infringement of Palestinian children’s rights as a form of ‘un-childing’.

She decried the “epic failure of the international community over decades” to act to protect Palestinian children and she made reference to the 18 September 2024 UN General Assembly resolution giving Israel one year to leave the OPTs, including all settlements.

The most moving speeches were made in the morning by Palestinian young people

She said that the conflict is sustained by anti-Palestinian racism, has denied Palestinian children their right to a safe upbringing and is increasingly shrinking their access to education. She used the terms ‘Educide’, ‘Scholasticide’ and ‘Ecocide’ to describe the oppressive system in which children are growing up. She described how children now write farewell letters to their families and carry them with them wherever they go, so fearful are they that they will be killed at any time.

The most moving speeches were made in the morning by Palestinian young people, including a young boy who read a poem about personal and cultural loss, and a brave but still traumatised mother, now living in Ireland with her surviving daughter, who described the day her husband and eldest daughter were shot dead in front of her.

These were harrowing testimonies to listen to, but it was vitally important for the audience to hear them. We want to thank the EIS Executive Committee for giving us the opportunity to attend the conference, to meet these brave, inspiring people and to reflect on potential future actions.

-EIS President Allan Crosbie and Ex-President Paula McEwan