By Reneva Fourie
No one, especially children, should experience the horror of war. The unique challenges and opportunities that young people encounter worldwide, including the distressing consequences of military conflict, come sharply into focus on International Youth Day – August 12. The day also marks the ratification of the four Geneva Conventions that serve as the cornerstones of international humanitarian law designed to safeguard civilians.
The plight of children in countries like Ukraine, Palestine and Sudan all deserve focus. However, the devastating impact, the substantial asymmetry with regard to the weapons used, and the indiscriminate brutality, make the genocide in Gaza particularly heartbreaking.
Our consistent efforts to expose the US-enabled Israeli atrocities in west Asia and to support the Palestinians’ demand for the right to self-determination are not driven by hatred, religion or nationality but in defence of humaneness. For the historically oppressed in South Africa, in particular, the struggle of the Palestinians is reminiscent of our own resistance against apartheid. Those who have visited the Palestinian occupied territories find it impossible to differentiate between conditions there and our past as the whole character of the Zionist state and its actions replicate that of South Africa’s former apartheid regime.
This Women’s Month, we reflect on the contributions of young women in our fight for freedom. We remember how the apartheid regime – not unlike the current Israeli regime – cold-bloodedly performed extra-judicial executions of women like Ruth First and Dulcie September and ruthlessly tortured women like Lindiwe Sisulu and Thandi Modise.
Young women were among the 575 fatalities and 3 907 injured during the 1976 youth uprising. Young women also formed part of the South African youth who were killed and wounded by the apartheid police in the 1980s, as well as the over 30 000, of which at least a third were children, detained and tortured for political reasons. The severe repression at the time induced the hosting of the UN-endorsed International Conference on Children, Repression and the Law in Apartheid South Africa in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1987.
Thus, given our background, the plight of Palestinian children and youth weigh heavily.
Israel’s war on Gaza’s children is no different from what we experienced in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. In fact, over the past few months, it has proven to be significantly worse. Of the now close to 40 000 fatalities since October 7, it is estimated that at least 16 456 of the accounted-for bodies are children. UNICEF has labelled Gaza “a graveyard for children”. Furthermore, the Israeli regime has murdered at least 143 children in the West Bank. The number of injured exceeds 92 000. The situation is bound to be exacerbated by the current massive increased presence of the US military in the region.
A UNICEF statement this month says, “The life of a child in Gaza, in month 10 of this conflict, is not a life. We cannot say it enough – there is no safe place, and everything is running out – food, water, fuel, medicines.” The situation is extremely grave, with 3 500 children at risk of death due to malnutrition and lack of food; 36 children have already died of starvation. At least 17 000 children are living without one or both parents.
The now estimated 82 000 tons of explosives dropped on Gaza has put 34 hospitals and 80 healthcare centres out of service. In addition, formal education has been disrupted due to the complete destruction of 121 schools and universities and partial damage to 333 others. An entire generation now faces the prospect of limited employment opportunities, with youth unable to pursue education and those who have completed their studies finding their proofs of qualifications destroyed. The estimated direct infrastructural destruction in Gaza is valued at approximately USD $33 billion.
While the horrific acts of torture of Palestinians, including children, have been well documented, the ghastliness thereof is further confirmed in the well-researched, credible report “Welcome to hell: The Israeli prison system as a network of torture camps”. The report found that there were 9,623 Palestinians incarcerated in Israeli prisons and detention facilities, 4,781 of whom were detained without trial. At least 60 Palestinians died in Israeli custody in the past few months.
The report omits the specific count of children under administrative detention, approximated at 200. However, it elaborates on how mass incarceration is a component of a system intended for control and oppression, causing severe disruptions to family and social ties. It highlights that some children are frequently separated from their families, sometimes for extended periods. Others have to cope with the detention of one or both parents or siblings, and even classmates.
Some of the gruesome atrocities exposed in Israel’s detention system, which also affect children, are: frequent acts of severe, arbitrary violence; sexual assault; humiliation and degradation; deliberate starvation; forced unhygienic conditions; sleep deprivation; prohibition on, and punitive measures for, religious worship; confiscation of all communal and personal belongings; and denial of adequate medical treatment.
There are still those who dismiss the revelations of Israel’s atrocities as lies. As we debate the correct terminology for the most intense bombardment of a concentrated urban space and the fastest starvation of any population in recent history, Palestine’s young people are being exterminated.
Dirco Director General Zane Dangor’s recent article, “Why South Africa’s global role must be centred on peace and human rights”, emphasises the need to refocus international relations on values that prioritise the dignity and equality of all people. It demonstrates the interconnectedness of stability and economic, social and political justice, thereby serving as a commanding elixir for preserving life.
The declaration of the 1987 Harare conference on children mentioned above concludes as follows:
“We appeal to the international community to work for the imposition of sanctions against the regime and urge all governments to declare their support for all those who, even at risk to themselves, were prepared to act in defence of the children of South Africa.”
It is our responsibility to insist that equivalent measures are taken to safeguard the children of Palestine.
* Dr Reneva Fourie is a policy analyst specialising in governance, development and security.
** The views expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media