“All of the evidence supports a move for the UN to put Israel on its List of Shame. Despite all this evidence, which is the killing of more than 500 Palestinian children during the Gaza offensive and the attacking of schools, the secretary general of the UN has given in to US and Israeli pressure.” These were the words of Hayed Abuk Taysh from an organisation called Defence for Children International Palestine (DCI), in his expressing outrage on the United Nation’s (UN) controversial decision to exclude Israel from its ‘List of Shame’ of countries and military forces who have violated basic children’s rights, notably during armed conflicts.

The move comes despite an initial list drafted by the UNs special envoy for children and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui having included both the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) and Hamas as transgressors during the 50 day conflict in Ramadan last year. The list was later amended by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon, with both parties excluded from the final draft.

It is widely reported the Israel’s removal is based on political pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which comes despite that state having been directly involved in the deaths of 561 children in last summer’s conflict in Gaza. A further 4271 are reported to have been injured during the offensive. On the opposing side, 4 Israeli children were killed and 22 injured as a result of Palestinian rocket fire.

The move has provoked a global outcry from rights group, but Ban has insisted that despite the list remaining unchanged from the 2014 edition, he remains “deeply alarmed” by the atrocities witnessed against children during the Gaza conflict.
Speaking VOC Drivetime, Taysh said the Ban was bending to pressure from Israel and the US, saying the decision was based on political motives and not a concern for children’s rights.

He suggested the UN’s resolve to turn a blind-eye to Israel’s atrocities would only serve to give the state a green light to continue its oppression against the Palestinian population, children included. With Israel seemingly afforded impunity in this regard, Taysh highlighted a problem within the UN itself.

“We are concerned about what the UN has done because it is their role (to be) the guardian of human rights. Despite all the evidence that Israel committed war crimes against Palestinian children, the Israeli army has not been listed,” he said.

He rejected suggestions the current right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu served as the most brutal and oppressive yet, stressing that policy of oppression against Palestinians remained the same regardless of which government was in charge in Israel.

“Almost all Israeli governments are right wing governments, and it’s enough to mention that the major wars were launched by the labour party (left) in Israel. So i don’t differentiate between right-wing and left-wing governments,” he said.

The pressure on the part of Israeli has been seen as a measure to maintain a positive global image as the only democracy in the Middle East, as well as the only state in the region to observe human rights. But many would reject such a notion, particularly since statistics highlight that the number of Palestinian children killed (largely due to the war) was the third highest overall in 2014, just behind Afghanistan and Iraq, and above war-torn Syria.

Other nations to have been included on the list are Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Mali, Congo, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen, Myanmar, and Nigeria amongst others. Military forces and radical groups were also featured on the list, most notably Boko Haram and the Islamic State (IS). VOC (Mubeen Banderker)