Childhood Behind Bars

Take action: Stand in solidarity with Palestinian children whose futures are threatened by arbitrary detention

Embrace's campaign ‘Childhood Behind Bars’, calls on the UK government to put pressure on Israel to end military child detention in the West Bank, and also address the root cause of it – the occupation.

Our local partners in the West Bank work directly with child ex-detainees and witness first-hand the detrimental impact of child detention on the children, their families and wider society. The UK government must put pressure on Israel to stop the systematic detention of Palestinian children.

No child should be arbitrarily detained and treated inhumanely. Together, we can take collective action to put an end to these practices. Will you join us?

Write to your MP and call on them to pressure the UK government to:

Urge Israel to end the practice of night arrests and the use of inhumane tactics against Palestinian children

Call on Israel to immediately stop the unlawful transfer of Palestinian child detainees from the occupied West Bank to detention facilities inside Israel

Enact legislation that bans trade with and investment in Israeli settlements in the West Bank

Your MP has the power to pressure the government for real change for Palestinian children.

Write to your MP today.

Take action: Stand in solidarity with Palestinian children whose futures are threatened by arbitrary detention

Embrace's campaign ‘Childhood Behind Bars’, calls on the UK government to put pressure on Israel to end military child detention in the West Bank, and also address the root cause of it – the occupation.

Our local partners in the West Bank work directly with child ex-detainees and witness first-hand the detrimental impact of child detention on the children, their families and wider society. The UK government must put pressure on Israel to stop the systematic detention of Palestinian children.

No child should be arbitrarily detained and treated inhumanely. Together, we can take collective action to put an end to these practices. Will you join us?

Write to your MP and call on them to pressure the UK government to:

Urge Israel to end the practice of night arrests and the use of inhumane tactics against Palestinian children

Call on Israel to immediately stop the unlawful transfer of Palestinian child detainees from the occupied West Bank to detention facilities inside Israel

Enact legislation that bans trade with and investment in Israeli settlements in the West Bank

Your MP has the power to pressure the government for real change for Palestinian children.

Write to your MP today.

Write to your MP now

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I am writing as your constituent to bring to your attention the issue of child detention in the Israeli occupied West Bank. I was deeply shocked to hear the story of 17-year-old high school student Navid. He was fast asleep when Israeli soldiers came for him. They burst into his home, beat him, and took him into military detention.

Whilst most of the public attention has rightly been on Gaza, the security situation in the West Bank has sharply deteriorated. Arrests like Navid’s are on the rise, along with more settler violence, demolitions and displacement.

I joined the campaign “Childhood Behind Bars”, launched by the charity Embrace the Middle East, to stand in solidarity with Palestinian children held in military detention by Israel and to ask you to pressure the UK Government to act against it.

UN estimates and Israeli military data indicate that around 38,000 to 55,000 Palestinian children were imprisoned under military law between 1967 and 2022. Since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 the rate of arrests has skyrocketed.

The most common charge for child detainees is stone throwing, carrying a penalty of up to 20 years. Children are also held under administrative detention, meaning they are detained without charge or trial.

Child detainees are often being transferred from West Bank to Israeli detention centres, in violation of Articles 49 and 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Parents are often unable to visit their children while in detention because Palestinians in the West Bank need Israeli-issued permits to enter Israel and these are often difficult, if not impossible, to obtain.

Many children experience aggressive and frightening tactics during arrest and detainment, including being blindfolded, beaten, or tied with single plastic ties. In violation of international standards, many children experience inhumane treatment while in detention.

The lasting negative impact of detention on children is devastating, with many suffering prolonged mental and physical trauma. The harm also extends beyond the child, affecting their whole families and wider community.

These policies and practices do not take place in a vacuum, but occur within the context of Israel’s protracted occupation of the Palestinian territory, which was declared unlawful by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024.

This cannot be allowed to continue. Will you join me and press the UK Government to:

- Urge Israel to immediately end the practice of night arrests and the use of inhumane tactics against Palestinian children, including beatings, blindfolding, and hand-tying during arrest and detention, violating Articles 3(1) and 37 (a) and (c) of the CRC, and Article 7 of the ICCPR.

- Call on Israel to stop without delay the unlawful transfer of Palestinian child detainees from the occupied West Bank to detention facilities inside Israel, in violation of Articles 49 and 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

- Urgently act upon the ICJ Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024 by enacting legislation that bans trade with and investment in Israeli settlements. The ICJ affirmed that Member States must not aid or assist in maintaining the occupation and must act to end impediments to the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. Despite the UK Government’s position that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, it maintains a policy of “recommending” appropriate labelling of products without enforcing a legal ban.

If you wish to read more about this issue, I recommend reading the following brief from Embrace the Middle East: LINK

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