Kids Court in Conflict reaches £30,000 to pay for lawyer for Palestinian kids

14 April 2015, 10:48 am
Israeli soldiers at Kalandia checkpoint in occupied West Bank taking Palestinian minors out of sight behind a building and assaulting them (presumably in an effort to obtain information from them). Other soldiers interrupted my photo-taking as the pictured soldiers repeatedly struck the kid in the head.
Israeli soldiers at Kalandia checkpoint in the West Bank with a Palestinian minor (Wikimedia commons )

British Jews have raised enough money to pay for a full-time lawyer to represent Palestinian youngsters brought before Israel’s military justice system, and pledged to do more to help.

The fundraising effort, spearheaded by Jewish and Zionist youth leaders as part of the Kids Court in Conflict campaign, which is part of Yachad, hit the £30,000 mark in just two months, which will pay for an on-call lawyer for 14 months.

The next generation of British Jewry sprang into action after learning that only 5 percent of Palestinian juveniles passing through Israel’s military justice system have access to a lawyer prior to interrogation. Often their offence is stone-throwing.

“The current political situation is not very hopeful for Palestinian minors who are arrested in the occupied territories,” said Israeli human rights lawyers at Gaby Lasky and Partners. “It seems we will need to redouble our efforts.”

A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in London said: “In fact all Palestinian minors in Israel’s military court system are represented by a lawyer.”

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