In the latest violation of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, Israeli authorities on Monday issued a summons for a 3-year-old child to be brought to the Jerusalem police station for interrogation.
During an invasion of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of al-‘Isawiya Monday night, Israeli forces stormed the home of 3-year old Mohammad Rabi ‘Alian, and handed a summons to his parents for him to appear the following day for interrogation about possible stone throwing.
At the time of the summons, dozens of Palestinian residents of al-‘Isawiya accompanied the small boy to the interrogation center, holding a protest outside while he headed in to be interrogated by the Israeli police.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society called for an investigation into the incident, which they called a blatant example of the occupation’s criminality against children.
The head of the Commission, Maj. Gen. Kadri Abu Bakr, condemned the Israeli occupation authorities for summoning the 3-year old child, stressing that the occupation is committing open and clear crimes against minors.
Abu Bakr added that Palestinian childhood is in grave and constant danger in light of the silence of the international community towards Israeli violations of international law and the global convention on childrens’ rights.
He stressed that the Israeli occupation authorities have stepped up their targeting of East Jerusalem during the last few years. It was noted that there is an organized campaign against Jerusalemites in particular, and the arrests of Jerusalemites have escalated.
This is in the context of the Israeli E1 Jerusalem Plan, which outlines the planned expansion of Israeli colonial settlements in a ring around East Jerusalem, in an attempt to depopulate Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, and annex the entire area into what is now Israel by using military force and the forced transfer of the indigenous population. This plan was announced in 2003, and has been carried out in the 16 years since then using numerous violent tactics.
