Week 46: Children’s Rights Online Gathering 2023
Week 46: Children’s Rights Online Gathering 2023
On November 14, 2023 Ayed Abu Eqtaish of Defense for Children International joined us to discuss the horrible impact that the war in Gaza and the occupation of Palestine are having on Palestinian children – and what we can do about it.
More about our guests:
Coming soon
Urgent Action
Action 1: Pressure Democrats in the U.S. who censured Rashida Tlaib
- If you are a resident of one of the following districts (see list below), then your representative was among the 22 democrats who voted to censure Rashida Tlaib. Put pressure by calling your representative and expressing anger and disappointment towards the way they voted, and continue asking them to support the CeasefireNOW resolution.
- If you are not a resident of the following districts, but know friends or family who are, please forward them the instructions for this action.
- Regardless of if you are a resident of the following districts, you can amplify the voice of Representative Rashida by sharing these images as posts on social media or via email (you can also share them by sharing the posts on our accounts):
Democratic representatives who voted to censure Tlaib:
- Steve Cohen (D-TN)
- Jim Costa (D-CA)
- Angie Craig (D-MN)
- Don Davis (D-NC)
- Lois Frankel (D-FL)
- Jared Golden (D-ME)
- Dan Goldman (D-NY)
- Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ)
- Greg Landsman (D-OH)
- Susie Lee (D-NV)
- Kathy Manning (D-NC)
- Jared Moskowitz (D-FL)
- Wiley Nickel (D-NC)
- Chris Pappas (D-NH)
- Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA)
- Pat Ryan (D-NY)
- Brad Schneider (D-IL)
- Kim Schrier (D-WA)
- Darren Soto (D-FL)
- Ritchie Torres (D-NY)
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
- Frederica Wilson (D-FL)
Action 2: Thank Rashida Tlaib
If you’d like to thank Rashida Tlaib for her words and actions, you can call or send a letter to her office (unless you live in her district, it is hard to contact her digitally):
Rayburn House Office Building, 2438
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5126
Action 3: Pressure Governments
Until there is a ceasefire, we want you to think globally, but act locally. Israel won’t stop its assault on Gazans until the international community pressures it to do so. So far, only Arab countries are openly calling for a ceasefire. Let’s change this!
Email or call your own representative, MP, or other leader, urging them to call for an immediate ceasefire. Did you email last week? Email again! Politicians won’t act on a single email. They need to be reminded over and over again that this matters.
Work with members of your local activism group (Friends of Sabeel or otherwise) to identify which politicians and leaders are the most likely to listen and act. Share their email addresses and phone numbers.
We will repeat this action every week until a ceasefire is in place.
Share this action and your local contact information on social media. Use the hashtags #Palestine #Gaza #CeasefireNOW #KumiNow
Kumi Action
Israel ratified the U.N.’s Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992. But the Israeli government has had difficulties identifying just what a “child” is, as it argues that the Convention does not apply to the West Bank. Furthermore, while non-Palestinian children in Israel and around the world don’t become adults until they are 18, it treats Palestinians as adults at 16.
We need to help Israeli politicians learn what a child is. In celebration of Universal Children’s Day on November 20, share a photo of yourself as a child, along with messages such as:
“Hey Israel! When I was 16 I was still a child. Let Palestinian youth enjoy their childhoods!”
“A six-year old is a child. Period. Treat Palestinian children like children.”
Feel free to look at the Convention on the Rights of the Child treaty and remind Israel which parts of the treaty they are breaking: https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
A powerful way to share these photos and messages would be for your class or club or church group to post the childhood photos in a hallway, inviting others to identify who is in each photo. Or, simply share them on social media. Include a link to this page of the Kumi Now website along with the hashtags #KumiNow and #Kumi46.
From the Presentation/Chat
Coming after the session