Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Opinion: No, Israel Does Not Target Palestinian Children
Inside-Sources
By InsideSources.com
Published 5 years ago on
November 25, 2019

Share

Does Israel intentionally target Palestinian children, including during its most recent operation in Gaza? Several prominent figures would certainly like the public to think so.
For example, the recent flareup in the region compelled best-selling author Shailja Patel to tweet: “I’m talking about Israel incarcerating over a million Palestinian children in the world’s largest concentration camp, Gaza, steadily poisoning them, and testing weapons on them.”


Ido Levy
InsideSources.com
Opinion
Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan grabbed headlines in May when she tweeted that Israeli forces “unjustly oppress & target Palestinian children and families.”
Meanwhile, the website of Representative Betty McCollum of Minnesota states that “Israel’s system of military juvenile detention is state-sponsored child abuse designed to intimidate and terrorize,” echoing similar language from a bill she introduced in April, currently with 22 co-sponsors.
It’s true that Israel’s control of the West Bank and frequent conflicts with Gaza have resulted in the detention of — and occasional use of armed force against — Palestinian youth. But stating or implying that Israelis intentionally target Palestinian children goes well beyond a display of genuine care for children and crosses a clear line into antisemitism.
First, blaming incidents of child casualties exclusively on Israel requires a willful blindness to culpability on the Palestinian side.
In Gaza, Hamas indoctrinates, arms and orders adolescents to conduct terrorist operations. It uses children to either deter or raise the stakes of Israeli retaliation by launching rockets into Israel from homes and schools. And it commands its people to remain in areas where Israel has clearly warned of an impending offensive.

A Disproportionate Obsession With the Jewish State

Things are no better with the Palestinian Authority, which offers monthly salaries to the families of terrorists killed or imprisoned by Israel, and encourages children to become “martyrs.” Even the U.S. House of Representatives acknowledged these dangerous tactics, last year passing  legislation that sanctions Hamas for “violating universally applicable international laws of armed conflict by intentionally using civilians and civilian property to shield military objectives from lawful attack.”
Second, selectively emphasizing Palestinian children while ignoring more at-risk children in other conflict zones shows a disproportionate obsession with the Jewish state.
In July, the United Nations released its annual report titled Children in Armed Conflict of 2018, which found last year to be the worst on record for children in conflict. In Afghanistan, the child death toll was 3,062. In neighboring Syria, 1,854 children were killed. In Yemen, close to 1,700. Meanwhile, the same report showed that Israeli forces were responsible for the deaths of 56 Palestinian children, 51 of whom died in Gaza during the same violent demonstrations for which Hamas cancelled school so students could be present when the strike occurred.
The third way we know that accusing Israel of targeting Palestinian children crosses the line into antisemitism is the way in which, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, it paints Israel as an evil entity that either specifically targets children, or doesn’t care if children get targeted.
Bernie Sanders’ surrogate Linda Sarsour tweeted as much recently when she said Israel has “stripped the Palestinians of their humanity to justify the indiscriminate killings including of children. Half of the population of Gaza ARE CHILDREN.”

Israel Should Continue to Take Great Measures to Minimize Collateral Damage

In reality, Israel’s military goes to unprecedented levels to reduce casualties. The Israel Defense Forces emphasizes “purity of arms” and consistently works to avoid harm by distributing flyers and sending text messages to Gazans alerting them of impending airstrikes, even using non-explosive “roof-knocking” projectiles to warn residents who may not have vacated the area.

Israel should — and I expect will — continue to take great measures to minimize collateral damage. However, to suggest that Israel purposefully and maliciously targets innocent children is plainly antisemitic. When espoused by elected officials no less, it impedes any genuine debate about how to reduce child suffering during conflict. 
Col. Richard Kemp, national security expert and former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan, has spoken at great length to this very point. So has former U.S. chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, who praised Israel’s measures to reduce civilian casualties. In the latest round of violence, these measures explain why adult males (considered by Israel to be combatants) constituted the vast majority of casualties.
So if accusations made by Patel, McCollum, Tlaib and others are so far from the truth, one has to wonder why they continue pushing this narrative. The simple answer is that such claims are modern incarnations of centuries-old blood libels, antisemitic slander that falsely accused Jews of killing Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals. Circulating throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, this formed the basis for countless anti-Jewish pogroms.
Proportionately critiquing Israel’s military actions in the interest of reducing civilian casualties and the detention of Palestinian children is completely legitimate, if not encouraged.
Israel should — and I expect will — continue to take great measures to minimize collateral damage. However, to suggest that Israel purposefully and maliciously targets innocent children is plainly antisemitic. When espoused by elected officials no less, it impedes any genuine debate about how to reduce child suffering during conflict.
About the Writer 
Ido Levy is editor-at-large of the J’accuse Coalition for Justice. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
[activecampaign form=31]

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Chevron Announces First Oil at Ballymore Project in US Gulf

DON'T MISS

Fresno Barbershop Shooting Leaves Man Dead, Two Others Injured

DON'T MISS

Vance, Modi Welcome Significant Progress on India-US Trade Deal

DON'T MISS

White House Denies Report It Is Searching for New Defense Secretary

DON'T MISS

Israeli Spy Chief Hands Court Scathing Rebuke of Netanyahu Bid to Sack Him

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Satbir Singh

DON'T MISS

Steeply Discounted OD-Reversal Medicine Now Available to Any Californian

DON'T MISS

Merced College Breaks Ground on $21 Million Center Geared for Tomorrow’s Ag Jobs

DON'T MISS

Delta Plane Suffers Engine Fire in Orlando, Forcing Evacuation

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest 11 for DUI During Weekend Enforcement

UP NEXT

Fresno Barbershop Shooting Leaves Man Dead, Two Others Injured

UP NEXT

Vance, Modi Welcome Significant Progress on India-US Trade Deal

UP NEXT

White House Denies Report It Is Searching for New Defense Secretary

UP NEXT

Israeli Spy Chief Hands Court Scathing Rebuke of Netanyahu Bid to Sack Him

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Satbir Singh

UP NEXT

Steeply Discounted OD-Reversal Medicine Now Available to Any Californian

UP NEXT

Merced College Breaks Ground on $21 Million Center Geared for Tomorrow’s Ag Jobs

UP NEXT

Delta Plane Suffers Engine Fire in Orlando, Forcing Evacuation

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Arrest 11 for DUI During Weekend Enforcement

UP NEXT

Reddit Down for Thousands of Users Worldwide

White House Denies Report It Is Searching for New Defense Secretary

2 hours ago

Israeli Spy Chief Hands Court Scathing Rebuke of Netanyahu Bid to Sack Him

2 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Satbir Singh

3 hours ago

Steeply Discounted OD-Reversal Medicine Now Available to Any Californian

3 hours ago

Merced College Breaks Ground on $21 Million Center Geared for Tomorrow’s Ag Jobs

3 hours ago

Delta Plane Suffers Engine Fire in Orlando, Forcing Evacuation

3 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest 11 for DUI During Weekend Enforcement

3 hours ago

Reddit Down for Thousands of Users Worldwide

3 hours ago

Israeli Minister Says Freeing Hostages Not ‘Most Important’ Aim of the War

3 hours ago

Palestinian Red Crescent Says Israeli Probe Into Gaza Aid Workers’ Killings Not Enough

3 hours ago

Chevron Announces First Oil at Ballymore Project in US Gulf

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Chevron has started oil and gas production from a project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the oil major said on Monday...

41 minutes ago

A Chevron gas station sign is seen in Austin, Texas, U.S., October 23, 2023. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)
41 minutes ago

Chevron Announces First Oil at Ballymore Project in US Gulf

Jampier Quintero, 44, was killed and two others were injured in a shooting Saturday at a Fresno barbershop, with police still searching for suspects. (Fresno PD)
1 hour ago

Fresno Barbershop Shooting Leaves Man Dead, Two Others Injured

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets U.S. Vice President JD Vance at his residence in New Delhi, India, April 21, 2025. India's Press Information (Bureau/Handout via REUTERS)
1 hour ago

Vance, Modi Welcome Significant Progress on India-US Trade Deal

A view of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 20, 2024. (REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo)
2 hours ago

White House Denies Report It Is Searching for New Defense Secretary

Israeli Security Agency director Ronen Bar attends a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on October 27, 2024. (GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)
2 hours ago

Israeli Spy Chief Hands Court Scathing Rebuke of Netanyahu Bid to Sack Him

Satbir Singh is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for April 21, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
3 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Satbir Singh

3 hours ago

Steeply Discounted OD-Reversal Medicine Now Available to Any Californian

3 hours ago

Merced College Breaks Ground on $21 Million Center Geared for Tomorrow’s Ag Jobs

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend