UN Agency Ignores Complaints on PA-Employed Child Soldiers

By: TPS Staff

The United Nations’ International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has repeatedly ignored complaints submitted by the Israeli Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) over the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) use of child soldiers, in violation of international law.

Most recently, PMW authored an extensive and detailed report to UNICEF describing how the PA recruited child soldiers and terrorists in 2019.

PMW’s report shows how the PA indoctrinates Palestinian children to hate Jews and Israel and brainwashes them to admire murderers and seek Israel’s destruction.

The report further shows how the PA pays substantial financial rewards to the child terrorists.

PMW’s report also shows how the PA leadership openly admits that child terrorists are the PA’s soldiers.

“While UNICEF, overtly and covertly, collaborates with a host of Palestinian NGOs, who provide them with claims of alleged abuses of the rights of the Palestinian children by Israel, UNICEF does nothing to gather information about the PA or other Palestinian terror groups recruitment of children,” PMW said in a statement Monday.

Conversely, UNICEF annually releases its report on “Children and Armed Conflict,” which routinely blames Israel for its alleged maltreatment of Palestinian children.

PMW noted that “the way to protect Palestinian children from conflict is not to criticize Israeli law enforcement. It begins with identifying the clear factors that drive the Palestinian minors to participate in violence and terror,” and listed six steps to prevent such occurrences.

The recommendations include a demand of the PA that it “immediately desist from indoctrinating Palestinian children to hate Jews and Israel, and to believe in the destruction of Israel,” and that it “immediately desist from paying financial rewards to the child terrorists.”

PMW submitted the report to UNICEF, which has so far failed to respond.

Maurice Hirsch, head of legal strategies at PMW, pointed out that the report “explains why Israel is required to take law enforcing measures against the Palestinian minors, who are being indoctrinated and recruited by Palestinian leaders to be child soldiers and to engage in terror attacks against Israelis.”

Itamar Marcus, director of PMW added that “if UNICEF had any serious concern for Palestinian children, it would not criticize Israel for arresting child terrorists, but would thoroughly condemn the PA for creating child terrorists. The indoctrination, brainwashing and rewarding of child terrorists by the PA is clear child abuse by the PA leaders.”

The Israeli watchdog concluded by stating that it “is hopeful that with this report before them, UNICEF will finally acknowledge and condemn the recruitment of child soldiers/terrorists by the PA that PMW has been documenting for years, and thereby fulfill both their obligation to the international community as well as to Palestinian children.”

(TPS)