Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace | Page 41

Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace

detention after being taken from their homes at night, and about half of those detained are
taken to prisons in Israel rather than the West Bank, in violation of the Geneva
Conventions. Under Israeli military law, Palestinian children do not have the right to
have a parent present when questioned by police, whereas Israeli children have this right.
Israeli children cannot be given a sentence that results in mandatory custody until age 14,
whereas Palestinian children receive such sentences at age 12.c Educational opportunities
are constrained by the lack of resources, the inability to move freely in the West Bank,
and the limits of UNRWA to fund adequate education for Palestinian children.
The PC(USA) has a long history of working to alleviate the suffering of children
at home and around the world. In the Holy Lands, working to alleviate the suffering of
children could take at least three forms. First, the denomination should advocate for an
end to the illegal military detention of Palestinian children in Israel and the unequal
treatment of Palestinian and Israeli children. Its governing body and Office of Public
Witness should lobby elected representatives in this regard and its members should,
likewise, contact their individual representatives in this regard. It can partner with
programs like Military Court Watch that monitor, report on, pursue more just strategies
for dealing with detained children, and advocate for adherence to international law in this
regard. The PC(USA) can endorse their recommendations to shield children from abuses:
-no night raids to arrest minors;
-every child to be told their legal rights in a language he understands;
-every child granted access to attorney before interrogation;
-every child’s parents present during interrogation; and
-every interrogation is A/V recorded.
Second, the denomination should support educational programs that bring Israeli
and Palestinian children into contact with each other, such as Hand-in-Hand and Face-toFace/Faith-to-Faith. Although such programs alone may not suffice to overcome the
antagonisms, misunderstandings, and moral blindness that pervade the Israeli-Palestinian
conflicts, they surely help. Third, as peacemaking is the believer's calling, the
denomination should work with organizations like Children of Peace to dismantle the
culture of militarization that drives Palestinian youth to throw stones and attack settlers
and that drives young Israelis, especially young settlers, to exacerbate the occupation as
members of the IDF and sometimes to make deadly attacks on Palestinians.
Reflecting on the plight of the children and Jesus’ admonition to “let them come
unto me” (Matthew 19:14) reminds us to focus our attention and advocacy on the most
vulnerable and oppressed. Jesus met with the rich and powerful—tax collectors,
Pharisees, centurions—and his message to them was to ca