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International

Defending children

NUT General Secretary Christine Blower reports on the treatment of Palestinian children prisoners.

Last year, both Education International (EI) and NUT conference addressed the issue of the imprisonment of children in Palestine. NUT delegates called on the Union to pursue this.

Both organisations focused on the Israeli designation of 16-year-old Palestinians as adults, while Israelis are regarded as children until they are 18. The UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child sets 18 as the age of adulthood.

Campaigning by Defence for Children International (DCI) Palestine and pressure from EI and others has led the Israeli Government to change its policy. It has accepted the age of majority as 18. It released 55 child detainees before Christmas 2011. Unicef welcomed this, but reported that a total of 161 Palestinians under the age of 18 had been detained before 1 December last year.

A recent Guardian report makes clear there have been breaches of children’s rights: arrest during the night; no adult, either parent or lawyer, in attendance during questioning; detention in solitary confinement; and sleep deprivation.

These findings are contested by the Israeli Government, but DCI Palestine has affidavits recording unacceptable treatment of children. After visiting Palestine, Labour peer Alf Dubs reported the humiliation of young Palestinians in Israel’s justice system.

The NUT is deeply concerned that so many children remain in detention, and that access to education for those at liberty is constrained by roadblocks and the wall, which separate many from their schools.

Many members have written to their MPs about the child prisoners. Though Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt has expressed the coalition Government’s concern, the NUT understands its financial support for the DCI has ceased. We will be lobbying the Government to continue this funding.

The Union is pressing for the release of all child detainees and working with the General Union of Palestinian Teachers (GUPT) to ensure they have resources to function in the appalling circumstances of Gaza and the West Bank.

• Please add your voice to those calling for the continuation of UK Government funding of the DCI. Visit www.writetothem.com and contact your MP.

Practical help

The NUT has established the Tom Hurndall Education Fund. An Israeli soldier shot Tom in the head as he tried to protect a Palestinian child. The fund will provide resources to support the education of Palestinian children with disabilities.

If your Association would like to donate to this fund, send a cheque payable to the Tom Hurndall Education Fund, for the attention of Samidha Garg at NUT HQ.