We’re coming together to demand the Canadian government condemn Israel’s killing, injuring, and detaining of children. We support the call for Canada to impose a full, immediate arms embargo on Israel.
Protect Palestinian Children Now is a follow-up to Defense for Palestinian Children International’s (DCPI) No Way to Treat a Child 2018 campaign. As part of the 2018 campaign, over 20 MPs signed a letter calling for action to protect Palestinian children and hold the Israeli government accountable for its actions in regard to military detention and treatment of Palestinian children.
Ready to send a letter or sign on to the campaign? Jump to the Take Action section. Want to know more about the campaign? Check out the info below.
Why the updated campaign?
As Israel has escalated its “chronic, insidious genocide” over the last 16 months, Palestinian children have not been spared. Rather, they continue to be targeted, injured, tortured, and killed. Israel has a long history of cruelly targeting Palestinian children through:
- its disproportionate killing in all its military incursions,
- its incremental genocide of injuring in bombing and shooting, including the knees and eyes of children and leaving them maimed for life,
- its withholding of essential health care and nutritional needs,
- the intentional terrorizing of children with nightly sonic boom flights over Gaza, and ongoing bombing, and through acts such as night raids and house demolitions
- widespread and systematic ill-treatment of Palestinian children in the Israeli military detention system
Why focus on children?
While we advocate for the rights of all Palestinian people, there is ample moral, legal, and ethical weight to an argument that children shouldn’t be injured, imprisoned, or killed. As signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Israel has an obligation to ensure basic due process rights and the absolute prohibition against torture and ill-treatment of children in accordance with international juvenile justice standards. Under Article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, all high signatories, of which Canada is one, are required to take actions to ensure that violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention do not occur under any circumstance. This is embedded in Canadian law in the Geneva Convention Act.
Further, there should be nothing controversial about this call to action.
What is the goal of the PPCN campaign?
The main goal: to obtain endorsements / support from Canadian MPs to
condemn Israel’s killing, injuring, and detaining of Palestinian children, and the trauma that is being inflicted on children through the military occupation and genocide. This includes insisting in a military arms embargo by Canada, and that Canada take immediate and urgent steps to insist Israel comply with its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the recent ICJ Advisory Opinion.
Additionally, PPCN aims to:
- Highlight the Canadian’s governments legal obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention / Geneva Convention Act and Israel’s obligations as a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child;
- Ensure the protection of the rights of children around the world is a priority of the Canadian government; and
- Amplify the decades long work of Al-Haq, Defense for Children International Palestine and other human rights groups who have investigated, documented, and exposed human rights violations against children.
Take Action Now
For constituents
- Send a letter your own federal member of parliament, and Prime Minister Trudeau and Foreign Minister Joly.
- Commit to contacting your MP directly and (optionally) get connected with other folks in your area.
- Have you heard from your MP? Let us know what they’ve said by filling out our response form.
For Members of Parliament or MP Candidates
If you are an MP (or MP candidate) and want to support this campaign, email info@justpeaceadvocates.com or fill out this form.
For organizations
If you would like to add your name to this campaign, fill out this form.
Initial Organizational Signatories
Ontario Palestinian Rights Association
Defense for Children International Palestine
MP Signatories
Green Party
Elizabeth May
NDP
Alexandre Boulerice
Heather McPherson
Taylor Bachrach
Additional endorsers:
Academics for Palestine-Concordia
Al-Quds
Americans Committed to Justice and Truth
Association of Palestinian Arab Canadians
Axe & Reel
Baltimore Nonviolence Center
Brampton4Palestine
Bridges Not Borders – Créons des ponts
Bruce R. Allen Paralegal
Canada Palestine Association
Canada-Wide Peace & Justice Network (CWPJN)
Canadian BDS Coalition and International BDS Allies
Canadian Foreign Policy Institute
Canadian Palestinian Social Association (CPSA)
Canadians for Justice and Peace In the Middle East, Saskatoon Chapter
Canadians in Support of Refugees in Dire Need
Carleton for Palestine Coalition
Coalition Against Pinkwashing
Collectif Le Récif
Cube Gallery
Daraja Press
Dark Woods of Grief Trainings and Programs
Davenport Aid Brigade
Denman Islanders for Climate Action and Social Justice
Donvalley4palestine
Eastern Shore For Palestine
Edmonton Small Press Assn
Friends of Palestine Canada
Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
Global Peace Alliance BC
Greater Toronto 4 BDS
Independent Jewish Voices
Independent Jewish Voices BDS Toronto & York Region
Independent Jewish Voices Vancouver
Independent Jewish Voices Victoria
International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
Jewish Anti-Zionist Collective Toronto (JAZCto)
Justice For All Canada
Kiko
Labour for Palestine Ottawa
Labour for Palestine Victoria
Longueuil pour la Palestine
Manitoba Healthcare Workers for Palestine
Maquila Solidarity Network
Mississauga-Streetsville for Palestine
Montreal for a World BEYOND War
National Council on Canada Arab Relations
Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine-Israel (NMJPI)
Oakville-Halton 4 Palestine
Occupy UofT
Ottawa Healthcare Professionals for Palestine
Palestine House-Toronto
Palestine Solidarity Ottawa Centre
Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU)
Regina Peace Council
Retired Teachers Divest BC
Rights Action
Rohingya Human Rights
Socialist Action / Ligue pour l’Action socialiste
Solidarité Sherbrooke Gaza
Solidarity with Palestine – St. John’s
Spadina-Fort York for Palestine
Students for Justice in Palestine at Carleton University
Teachers for Future Turtle Island
Teachers For Palestine-Toronto
Toronto Palestinian Families
Toronto World Beyond War
Toronto-St. Paul’s for Palestine
Victoria Peace Coalition
World BEYOND War
Looking for more information on Israel’s mistreatment of children?
Since 1967, Israel has operated two separate legal systems in the same territory. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers are subject to the Israeli civilian and criminal legal system whereas Palestinians live under military law. Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes between 500 and 700 children in military courts each year.
DCIP reported on August 21, 2024, that “Israeli forces are systematically detaining and torturing Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip, including using some as human shields.”
