It is true that Israel arrests Palestinian minors who commit stabbings, throw Molotov cocktails or engage in other violence or terrorist activity, in many cases under the direction of Hamas or other groups. Even though many are arrested in an armed conflict situation, the rate of Israel’s arrest of Palestinian minors is less than the rate of minors arrested in other democracies in regular situations, for example 5 times lower than England and Wales.[1] Moreover, according to data from the Israel Prison Service, the average monthly number of Palestinian minors in Israeli detention has steadily declined from 2016 to 2019. This is attributable to a decrease in participation of Palestinian minors in terror activity.

There is no evidence that IDF arrests of Palestinian minors is “arbitrary.” Regrettably, Palestinian minors often take part in terrorist activity and have carried out violent terrorist attacks, including deadly terrorist attacks.  For example:

• October 2015: two teenage Palestinian boys seriously wounded two Israelis, including a 13-year-old boy riding his bicycle, in stabbing attack in Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood of Jerusalem.[2]
• January 2016: 16-year-old Palestinian Morad Bader Abdullah Adais stabbed to death Israeli mother-of-six Dafna Meir at her home.[3]
• January 2016: 17-year-old Palestinian Hussein Muhammad Abu Ghosh with an accomplice stabbed to death 23-year-old Shlomit Krigman.[4]
• June 2016: 17-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Taraireh stabbed to death 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel as she slept.[5]
• August 2019: Palestinian teens stabbed Israeli police officer near the entrance to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.[6]
• February 2020: 17-year-old Palestinian teen threw Molotov cocktail at Israeli soldiers.[7]

These are not isolated examples. They reflect the pervasive culture of hatred and violence inculcated in Palestinian youth from a very early age. See critique of Palestinian Authority by Israeli and American security experts.[8] Through the education system and the media, Palestinian children are taught that Israel has no right to exist because Israel-proper really belongs to Palestine.[9] These children are encouraged to follow in the footsteps of famous terrorists, who are honored and glorified. Israel, Israelis, and Jews are routinely demonized.[10]

UN stakeholders must address Palestinian education to hate

Instead of condemning Israel for legitimately arresting Palestinian children committing acts of terrorism, UN stakeholders ought to hold the Palestinian Authority accountable for its state-sanctioned incitement of children to violence and martyrdom, which the Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination found “fuels hatred and may incite violence, particularly hate speech against Israelis, which at times also fuels antisemitism.”[11] This violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international treaties.[12]

Indeed, the Palestinian educational curriculum is known to be notoriously anti-peace. Recent studies by IMPACT-se, the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Tolerance in School Education, have found that Palestinian textbooks, in breach of UNESCO standards for peace and tolerance, radicalize Palestinian children by severely demonizing Israel, glorifying martyrdom, teaching that Palestinians will “return” to and defeat Israel. Western governments, including the EU, UK, and US have denounced this teaching of hate to children.[13] On May 14, 2020, the European Parliament adopted a resolution expressing concern that “problematic material in Palestinian school textbooks has still not been removed,” and over the PA’s “continued failure to act effectively against hate speech and violence in school textbooks.”[14]

Incitement of Palestinian children to violence is also pervasive in statements by Palestinian officials and in the media. For example, Palestinian officials, including school officials, regularly reject Israel’s right to exist and praise child terrorists as “martyrs.”[15] Both Palestinian Authority and Hamas television routinely screen content for children glorifying martyrdom and praising children for endorsing violence.[16] For example, in a December 2019 PA TV program, the host demonized Israelis as child killers while children recited a poem exalting martyrdom: “The blood of the Martyrs flows in my veins… My sword is drawn and won’t return to the sheath… the Dark-Eyed [Virgins] yearn for me…”[17]

Children are further propelled to violence by the common Palestinian practices of turning terrorists into role models through the naming of schools, summer camps and youth centers after terrorists, and exploiting youth activities to train children in terrorism. For example, in the summer of 2019, a Hamas summer camp provided children with terrorist training, while a Palestinian Authority summer camp had children chanting praise for famous terrorists such as Abu Iyad, who masterminded the slaughter of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.[18]

Having been indoctrinated from an early age to hate Israel and aspire to martyrdom, it should not be surprising that Palestinian children engage in terrorist violence, and that they are then arrested for such criminal activity. Even 17-year-old Ahed Tamimi, who was embraced in a massive social media campaign by Amnesty International, endorsed blood, violence and martyrdom after being released from Israeli prison in 2018, when she pledged “to continue on the path of the martyrs, so that their blood will not have been shed in vain,” adding “we shall always continue on their path… even sacrificing my life, for the sake of liberating Palestine.”[19]

Finally, if UN stakeholders are genuinely concerned about arbitrary arrest in the Palestinian territories, they ought to address the Palestinians’ own record with regard to arbitrary arrest of children. Both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have been known to arrest children without any basis and to subject them to harsh treatment, including torture, in violation of international law. For example, in August 2018, Hamas arrested and tortured a 13-year-old boy who got into a fight with the son of a Hamas military leader. Similarly, in September 2015, the PA police beat and detained a 14-year-old boy who got into a fight with other children outside a wedding party.[20]

For more information on Palestinian Authority and Hamas violations against children, see UN Watch’s 2019 submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child.[21]