Rights Denied: Palestinian Children Under Occupation
The ill effects of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip on the health and safety of Palestinian children and minors have been well-documented over the years by Palestinian human rights groups such as Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP). Those effects are only worsening, with three Palestinian children killed by the Israeli military during the recent hostilities in Gaza and hundreds of Palestinian children prosecuted in Israeli military courts each year. DCIP’s Farah Bayadsi and Brad Parker will talk about developments on the ground, as well as legislation in Congress prohibiting U.S. taxpayer funding for the military detention of children, recently re-introduced to Congress by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN).
Speakers:
Farah Bayadsi is a lawyer at Defense for Children International – Palestine. Bayadsi provides legal aid to Palestinian children detained by Israeli forces and prosecuted in Israeli military courts. She specializes in issues of juvenile justice and speaks on the situation of Palestinian child detainees, specifically issues of ill-treatment and torture of child detainees within the Israeli military detention system and violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. She earned her LL.B from Shaarei Mishpat College college in Hod Hasharon and her LL.M in International Law and Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Brad Parker is a Senior Adviser, Policy and Advocacy, at Defense for Children International – Palestine. He specializes in issues of juvenile justice and grave violations against children during armed conflict, and leads DCIP’s legal advocacy efforts on Palestinian children’s rights. Parker regularly writes and speaks on the situation of Palestinian children, particularly issues involving detention, ill-treatment and torture of child detainees within the Israeli military detention system, and violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. He leads DCIP’s US Program and is a co-leader of the No Way to Treat a Child campaign in the United States and Canada. He is a graduate of the University of Vermont and received his J.D. from the City University of New York School of Law. Follow him on Twitter @baparkr.
Lara Friedman (moderator) is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP). With more than 25 years working in the Middle East foreign policy arena, Lara is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. She is published widely in the U.S. and international press and is regularly consulted by members of Congress and their staffs, by Washington-based diplomats, by policy-makers in capitals around the world, and by journalists in the U.S. and abroad.