The Genocide is not over: Hold Israel accountable under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Article published in Mondoweiss

The Palestine-Global Mental Health Network calls on global leaders to protect Palestinian children by cutting off the military, political, financial, and diplomatic support that sustains Israel’s systematic human rights abuses.

By Palestine-Global Mental Health Network February 9, 2025 1

We, the Palestine-Global Mental Health Network and our international counterparts? call upon global leaders to uphold international law and protect Palestinian children by cutting off every channel of support—military, political, financial, and diplomatic—that sustains Israel’s systematic human rights abuses.

1. Sign this Petition?
2. Write to Lawmakers (follow link)

Why This Matters

A so-called “ceasefire” has done nothing to halt the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. Israel’s government is escalating policies that jeopardize the very lives of Palestinian children, and powerful nations are complicit through their silence or direct endorsement. Even now, terror and bloodshed continue in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while the U.S. administration signals tacit support for what amounts to ethnic cleansing in Gaza.

Under the Biden administration, sanctions were imposed on extremist Israeli settlers—17 individuals and 16 entities over 11 months—to curb violence against Palestinians. However, President Trump rescinded these measures, effectively granting extremists renewed impunity to unleash violence on Palestinians.

This unbroken chain of oppression against Palestinian children is not an isolated tragedy; it is a deliberate, institutionalized atrocity.

Imagine if this Were Your Child

• Sniper Fire: Picture your son or daughter taking a bullet to the head. (See New York Times, February 9, 2024) How would you bear that sight, knowing they were targeted without mercy?
• Skin Diseases: Envision your child forced to live in conditions so unhygienic and desperate that they develop life-threatening illnesses. (See Defense for Children International–Palestine) Could you watch helplessly as infection spreads, with no reliable healthcare in reach?
• Freezing to Death: Imagine cradling your infant as they slip away from hypothermia because a blockade has cut off essential supplies. (Read United Nations report) What would it feel like to hold your baby close, powerless to provide even basic warmth?
• Military Trials: Think of your 12-year-old hauled before a military court, facing a life sentence with virtually no chance of justice. (See Times report) Can you imagine the dread in their eyes, knowing the world’s most powerful nations simply look away?
• Amputated without Anesthesia: Hear the screams of your 7-year-old child as her leg is amputated without any anesthesia. (See Save the Children report) How would you cope with that horror—knowing there was no pain relief, no mercy?
• Forced Home Demolitions: How would you feel watching the heartbreak on your children’s faces as you demolish your own home under orders from the occupying force? Could you endure the moment when the walls they grew up in crumble at your hands? (Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied)
• Ongoing Violations: What if your children lived under a system that repeatedly violated their most basic rights? When every day brought a new humiliation or threat, how long before you felt hopeless? (Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied)
• Delayed Ambulances: Envision your 15-year-old son bleeding to death after being shot by a sniper, because those who fired the bullet wouldn’t allow an ambulance to reach him. How would you live with the knowledge that help was deliberately withheld? (See DCI-P report)
• No Accountability: Ask yourself how you would ever rest, knowing the perpetrators responsible for your child’s death would never be held accountable. Where would you find justice—or peace—if the entire world simply turned away? (see Human Rights Watch report)

These are not distant tragedies. They are daily realities for families under occupation. Pause and truly ask yourself: If this were your child, how would you feel?

A Crime Against Childhood

For decades, Palestinian children have been subjected to the brutality of military courts—an outrage found nowhere else on Earth. The Israeli Knesset has intensified this horror by passing legislation allowing life sentences for children as young as 12.? (See Adalah report)?

This flagrantly violates international law and tramples the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

We demand that world leaders enforce accountability. Every child, without exception, deserves a life of safety, free from fear and systematic persecution.

Our Mission

The No Child a Target campaign insists that Palestinian children be recognized as children—entitled to the compassion, care, and basic human rights guaranteed to young people everywhere. This is not a mere political stance; it is an unshakable moral imperative.

How You Can Help

1. Sign and Share the Petition Rally your friends, family, and communities to join this urgent call for justice.
2. Contact Your LawmakersDemand they uphold international law by cutting off all forms of support—economic, diplomatic, or otherwise—that fuel the oppression of Palestinian children. Follow this link to join the letter campaign
3. Speak OutHarness social media, host local gatherings, and refuse to let these atrocities go unheard. Follow No_Child_a_Target instagram account. And use #NoChildATarget.

Your voice matters. In unity, we can shatter the silence and end this cycle of brutality. No child should ever be sacrificed for political gain.

Sign now to break the chain of complicity and stand with us in protecting Palestinian children.