DETENTION OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN IN ISRAEL

That this House notes with grave concern that every year Israel prosecutes an average of 700 Palestinian children from the occupied West Bank in military courts; further notes that children as young as 12 are brought to these courts in shackles and cuffs and denied a fair trial, that most of these children are charged on the basis of confessions under interrogation, that 32 per cent. of all confessions are written in Hebrew, a language they do not understand; further notes that frequently they only meet their lawyers for the first time in court, that there are widespread and persistent allegations of torture and abuse against Palestinian children; further notes that Israel, whilst considering children to be anyone under the age of 18 in its own system, treats Palestinians as adults from the age of 16 in contravention of the International Convention of the Rights of the Child; further notes that whilst Israeli settler children in the same area have to see a judge within 24 hours, Palestinians may not see a judge for eight days; believes that this represents a dual legal system based on race and a grave and serious breach of international law; further notes that according to the Israeli human rights group, B'tselem, in Jerusalem, Palestinian children under 12 have been arrested including a five-year old; and calls on the Government to demand immediate action from the Israeli government to bring its behaviour in line with international law.