ICP
Asks Malaysia
FM Anifah of
Israel, CAR,
Children &
War, Asian
Migration
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, June
18 -- After UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
decided not to
list Israel or
Hamas in the
annex of his
Children and
Armed Conflict
report -- nor
the French
troops alleged
to have raped
children in
the Central
African
Republic -- on
June 18 Inner
City Press
asked
Malaysia's
Foreign
Minister
Anifah for his
views on both.
Video
here.
Anifah said
everyone
should be held
accountable.
Pressed, he
said that Ban
Ki-moon should
be asked.
Inner City
Press asked
asked Anifah
about the
migrant crisis
not only in
the
Mediterranean
but in Asia.
He recounted
his country's
commitments,
but said that
the
international
community must
help more, it
is a global
problem.
In
later
speeches, many
criticized Ban
for the
omission and
urged him to
reverse it.
Israel on the
other hand
said without
"attention to
intention,"
the CAAC
office
ill-served
children.
Australia
called for the
Security
Council's
South Sudan
sanctions
committee to
start listing
people.
Myanmar sung
its own
praises.
Palestine,
whose stakeout
Inner City
Press missed,
said this:
“We come
before the
Security
Council
anguished by
the
Secretary-General's
decision to
exclude Israel
from the list
of parties
committing
grave
violations
against
children in
his annual
Report on
Children and
Armed Conflict
(S/2015/409).
Israel, the
occupying
Power, is
without doubt
a flagrant
violator of
child rights.
Israel
systematically
commits crimes
against
Palestinian
children, its
actions
contravening
its
obligations
under human
rights law,
including the
Convention on
the Rights of
the Child, and
international
humanitarian
law, which
obligates the
occupying
Power to
ensure the
well-being and
safety of the
civilian
population
under its
occupation.
“Evidence
verified by
the United
Nations and
numerous human
rights
organizations
affirms that
Israel
continues to
kill and maim
children,
attack schools
and hospitals,
and prevent
humanitarian
access, with
devastating
impact on the
rights, lives
and well-being
of Palestinian
children.
These facts
are well
documented in
the current
report and
similar past
reports.
“According to
the
established
criteria, such
actions would
trigger a
listing among
the grave
violators
identified in
the report's
annex. And,
yet, Israel
was not
included in
that list as
pressures were
again
blatantly
exerted to
shield it from
censure and
measures of
accountability.
This glaring
omission and
failure to
hold Israel
responsible
for its crimes
comes at heavy
cost to our
innocent
children, who
are being
denied the
protection of
the law, their
rights
violated,
their
suffering
deepened and
their lives,
dreams and
futures
shattered,
without
consequence.
“Israel's
brutality
increased
against
Palestinian
children in
2014, causing
the 3rd
highest number
of child
fatalities in
armed
conflicts
worldwide. As
reported, at
least 557
Palestinian
children were
killed, the
majority in
the Gaza Strip
during the
Israeli
military
assaults of
July-August
2014,
including 340
boys and 200
girls, from
babies of one
week old to 17
years old.
“Israel must
be held
accountable
for its
crimes. We are
convinced that
only
collective
international
action can
compel it to
cease its
violations and
respect the
law. Our
pursuit of
accountability
and commitment
to
international
law are
evident in our
accession to
the Rome
Statute and
other
international
treaties.
While the
Israeli
Government
continues to
demonstrate in
word and deed
that it has no
interest in
peace and the
rule of law,
insistent on
denying the
Palestinian
people their
rights and
entrenching
its
occupation,
the
Palestinian
leadership
remains
committed to
peace. To
salvage the
prospects for
peace, we
implore the
international
community,
with the
Security
Council at the
forefront, to
act to uphold
international
law and UN
resolutions
towards ending
Israel's
illegal
occupation and
achieving
freedom and
justice for
the
Palestinian
people. Until
then, we again
appeal for
protection of
the
Palestinian
people,
beginning with
our children."
At
the end there
were only four
rights of
reply, or
"further
statements" as
they are
called in the
Security
Council.
Israel shot
back - in
Arabic; Russia
took on
Georgia and
Ukraine, which
is said is
hurting
children in
Dongas. Both
counties did
their replies
and that that
was it. Inner
City Press
chatted with a
tired
Zerrougui as
she left, even
as the doors
to the
Security
Council
stakeout were
locked.
, 
