Adri Nieuwhof

On March 28, Rifat Odeh Kassis wrote here that a different political body must be build to represent the Palestinian people everywhere. “A body, which will reorganise the Paletinian struggle to achieve its aims. A body which will represent and use all political parties, civil society structures, NGOs, trade unions and individuals and organize their efforts internally and externally.” Bangani Ngeleza and Adri Nieuwhof write about the history of the struggle for freedom and democracy of the South African National Congress (ANC) in order to inspire Palestinians to explore new strategies.

The weekly reports of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights tell the frightening story of the Israeli occupation In its latest report of the week from 16 till 22 February 2006 it is mentioned that Balata refugee camp was invaded. Israeli troops “willfully killed two Palestinian children in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus.” Most of the over thirty incursions took pace in Nablus and the neighbouring Balata refugee camp, killing three Palestinians, wounding thirty six civilians and arresting at least thirteen people. A number of houses were transformed into military sites. Adri Nieuwhof and Walid Abdelhadi researched the story behind the figures of the weekly report on the ground.

There is a risk that Palestinian children who grow up under violence will perceive their parents and adults as being unable to protect them. This psychological reaction is a direct threat to the relationship between a child and their parents. The impact of violence caused by the occupation on children can be life long. It can distort their outlook on life, which will not only influence their lives, but also those of future generations. For how long will the international community continue protecting Israel? What will it take before it finally shifts its attention to protecting Palestinian children? For those not intimately connected with the events in Palestine, it is almost impossible to imagine how the world has been able to turn a blind eye for so long to their pain and suffering.

The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, dispossession of Palestinian land and properties and discriminatory policies in Israel have hit Palestinian children hard. Recent research of the Palestinian Counselling Centre (PCC) has conclusively established that the wall has had a profound negative impact on the mental health of Palestinian children1 and created a major obstacle to them obtaining an education.2 In this article, Adri Nieuwhof and Jeff Handmaker examine certain violations of children’s rights caused by the formation of the State of Israel and following Israel’s occupation since 1967 and further explore their social and psychological impacts on children.

The Israeli military is using dogs as a reconnaissance tool in its actions against Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. The dogs’ actions are controlled remotely through sophisticated technology; commands are issued by way of a radio transmitter. This evokes much fear and deepens the alienation of Palestinians. The way Israel is using dogs is yet another dehumanising step, taking place under the “cover” of war. The dogs follow the orders of their military masters. In no way should the international community permit the Israeli government to escape its responsibility for these barbaric practices in enforcing its brutal occupation of the Palestinian territories.

More and more, comparisons are being made between the living conditions of Palestinian Bedouins and those in the townships and informal settlements of apartheid South Africa. Human rights advocates Adri Nieuwhof and Bangani Ngeleza visited unrecognised villages in the Nakab (Negev). They travelled from Haifa in the North to the villages in the South of Israel. Near Tulkarem they noted how the Wall looked quite friendly from the Israeli side. There is a slope of earth planted with shrubs and flowers from the roadside up to the Wall. It covers the ugly high concrete Wall from the eyes of travellers on the Israeli highway.

Eighty thousand Palestinian Bedouin Israelis live in unrecognised villages in the Negev desert in the south of Israel. The villages are deprived of basic services like housing, water, electricity, education and health care. With the adoption of the Israeli Planning and Construction Law in 1965, 45 villages in the Negev were not declared as existing. Recently, Bangani Ngeleza and Adri Nieuwhof visited the region. They write about the serious consequences this has had for villagers in these “unrecognised villages”. Bangani Ngeleza and Adri Nieuwhof say that pressure must be put on Israel to abandon its apartheid policies, including its refusal to recognize the existence of villages composed of its own citizens living within its national borders.

Israel has a long history of detaining people without trial, quite often for long periods, based on an administrative instead of judicial order based on secret evidence. Israel’s policy on administrative detention is not only grossly immoral, but it also leads to the violation of numerous principles and binding obligations of international law. In recent weeks, there have been several confirmed reports that hundreds of people have been administratively detained, though it is virtually impossible to determine the exact number. Jeff Handmaker and Adri Nieuwhof believe that human rights advocates should raise their voices anew against the injustices caused by the use of administrative detention.

Israel has a long history of detaining people without trial, quite often for long periods, based on an administrative instead of judicial order based on secret evidence. Israel’s policy on administrative detention is not only grossly immoral, but it also leads to the violation of numerous principles and binding obligations of international law. In recent weeks, there have been several confirmed reports that hundreds of people have been administratively detained, though it is virtually impossible to determine the exact number. Jeff Handmaker and Adri Nieuwhof believe that human rights advocates should raise their voices anew against the injustices caused by the use of administrative detention.

The United Nations Human Rights Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, John Dugard, wrote in a report in August this year, with respect to human rights in the Palestinian territories, that “the quality of education has deteriorated because schools have been obliged to shorten teaching hours as a result of wall gate-opening times. Furthermore, children are forced to drop out of school either to help supplement diminishing family incomes or because their parents can no longer afford to send them to school.” The wall blocks free access to schools on both sides of the wall. Traversing checkpoints on the way to school or university is a burden to both students and teachers.