Israel added to "list of shame" for crimes against children

The United Nations announced on Friday that Secretary-General António Guterres will include Israel on a select global list of offenders who fail to protect children. [1]

Contents

Zionist fury leads to public release of UN phone call More than ten children are losing limbs everyday 90% of Gazan children in “severe child food poverty”Lifetime of healing required for mental and physical trauma Deliberately withholding critical aid as part of genocide Analysis Also watch Also read

The Zionist entity has been engaged in a genocide in Gaza since October 2023, with over 10,000 children murdered to date.

The annual list compiled by the Secretary-General addresses the killing of children in conflict zones, the denial of access to humanitarian aid, and the targeting of schools and hospitals. It will be included in a report scheduled to be presented to the UN Security Council on 14 June. The official publication will be on 18 June.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for Guterres, explained that the staggered release is meant to ensure premature media reports do not cause any issues.

“It is done to give those countries a heads-up and avoid leaks.” [1]

Zionist fury leads to public release of UN phone call

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Reuters that the decision marks a step closer to holding Israel accountable for its crimes.

He highlighted that thousands of children have been killed in Israel’s aggression against Hamas in Gaza, with thousands more in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

In addition, the Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Riad al-Maliki, responded to the decision by saying,

“Now, faced with the catastrophe in Gaza that the world sees with its naked eyes with the genocide that specifically targets children and women, the UN Secretary-General no longer has excuses not to place Israel on the blacklist.” [2]

However, most ironically, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan claimed that he was “shocked” by the “shameful decision” of Guterres, adding that “Israel’s army is the most moral in the world.” [3]

Erdan accused Guterres in a personal attack that was partially shared on X and delivered via a phone call, which is understood to have been with a UN official.

“The only one being blacklisted is the Secretary-General who incentivises and encourages terrorism and is motivated by hatred towards Israel.” [3]

Dujarric said of the unprecedented publication of the private conversation,

“Ambassador Erdan’s video recording of that phone call, and the partial release of that recording on Twitter, is shocking and unacceptable — and frankly something I’ve never seen in my 24 years serving this organisation.” [2]

More than ten children are losing limbs everyday

The international NGO Save the Children has reported that more than ten children in Gaza are losing limbs daily, but the Zionist state has still condemned the UN’s decision. [4]

More than 36,700 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October, including 15,571 children, according to the Gaza Media Office. [2]

UN experts have also reported that Israel’s restrictions on the delivery of food, water, medicine, and other critical supplies have created a humanitarian crisis, with large parts of the coastal territory facing the threat of famine.

90% of Gazan children in “severe child food poverty”

Earlier this month, UNICEF reported that nine in ten Palestinian children in Gaza are living in “severe child food poverty”, surviving on diets comprising two or fewer food groups per day — one of the highest percentages ever recorded. [5]

In contrast, only 13 per cent of children in the Gaza Strip were living in severe child food poverty in 2020, according to UNICEF. [6]

Likewise, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that more than four in five Palestinian children in Gaza “did not eat for a whole day at least once in the three days” preceding a recent food insecurity survey. [7]

At the same time, Defence for Children International-Palestine (DCIP) has also reported on the severe impact of Israel’s ongoing military assault on Gazan children, noting that thousands have been critically injured since October. [8]

Lifetime of healing required for mental and physical trauma

The collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system months prior has left many patients, including children, unable to receive the necessary care, according to the DCIP. [8]

Ayed Abu Eqtaish, DCIP’s Accountability Program Director, said in a damning statement last Wednesday,

“Palestinian children who survive Israeli attacks face a lifetime of recovery to heal from the physical and psychological trauma.

”Israeli forces have made their intentions clear to kill and injure Palestinian children in Gaza to prevent this generation from growing up.

“The international community must apply an arms embargo and sanctions against the Israeli government and military to force an end to the genocide of Palestinians.” [8]

Deliberately withholding critical aid as part of genocide

Israel is delaying the entry of much-needed aid into Gaza, depriving residents of clean water, food, medicine, and fuel.

The US-based Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) has indicated that the recent Zionist military operation in Rafah, in Southern Gaza, has only exacerbated food insecurity in the area. [9]

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the UN, has rightly said the decision to add Israel to the blacklist:

“…will not bring back tens of thousands of our children who were killed by Israel over decades and will not restore normal life for the children who were permanently disabled by its actions.

“But it is an important step in the right direction towards ending the double standards and the culture of impunity Israel has enjoyed for far too long and that left our children vulnerable to its consequences.” [1]

Analysis

ANALYSIS

Dr. Salman Butt

Head of Islamic Thought

What is the intent behind this blacklisting?

It is unfortunate that this designation may appear more an attempt to save the reputation of such global institutions than Palestinian lives.

The historic racism and White supremacy inherent in the international system that allowed this genocide to happen has been laid bare for all to see, with more and more pressure mounting to punish the most famous offenders — the US veto culture that has protected injustice for decades.

While it is heartening to see mounting pressure make meaningful changes, we must not forget that these are symptoms of an underlying scourge.

Demolition of Zionism is critical

The White-supremacist invention of Zionism must be dismantled for there to be meaningful structural change in genocide and ethnic cleansing that has characterised this region for so long.

While there are many who are passionate about defeating Zionism and other forms of White supremacy and colonialism, Muslim thought leadership needs to step up on a local, national, and international level, because Islam is unique in having a moral anchor in something that transcends man-made philosophies and political calculations.

Allah says in the Qur’ān:

كَلَّآ إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ لَيَطْغَىٰٓ أَن رَّءَاهُ ٱسْتَغْنَىٰٓ

'No! (But) indeed, man transgresses, because he sees himself self-sufficient.'

Moral anchor that transcends man-made ideas

Islam has an anchoring that prevents injustice going into extremes, such as inviolable injunctions to protect non-combatants, especially children.

This is tethered to something above the 'almighty' modern nation state, which cannot be bent or tweaked to serve a national interest. Even the worst human being has rights and a due process to be followed to fight them — and crucially, they are still human.

Contrast this to the reigning philosophy of liberalism and White supremacy (which are inextricably linked, and which Zionism is a product of), where the White/civilised/liberal races are defined by, and structurally favoured, in contradistinction to a necessary illiberal-other, who is worthy of dehumanisation, all-out destruction, and genocide.

The language, metaphors, morality, and propaganda from the philosophical architects of this thought centuries ago still persist today, in everything from the Western news coverage to the mechanics of the international system.

For sustainable peace at a scale the world enjoyed for over a millennium, Zionism and White supremacy need to be dismantled in lieu of a more just world-view to capture our imagination: Islam.