IV

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 202

Condemning the Palestinian Authority and various Palestinian organizations

for using children as soldiers and inciting children to acts of violence

and war.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 27, 2001

Mr. ENGEL (for himself, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr.

FROST, Mr. WEINER, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, and Mr. PLATTS) submitted

the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee

on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Condemning the Palestinian Authority and various Palestinian organizations for using children as soldiers and

inciting children to acts of violence and war.

Whereas the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the

Child (1989) provides that persons who have not attained

the age of fifteen years shall not take a direct part in

hostilities;

Whereas the Palestinian Authority and various Palestinian

organizations have interspersed children with fighting

units during hostilities;
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Whereas the Palestinian Authority established and trained

units, called the Fatah Youth cadres, or ‘‘Shabiba’’, to

fight in the current ‘‘Intifada’’;

Whereas the Palestinian national media have encouraged the

children to become martyrs;

Whereas the Palestinian educational system uses an antiIsraeli curriculum which endorses fighting against Israel

and promotes the martyrdom of children;

Whereas the Palestinian Authority has incited and continues

to incite its children to acts of violence against the State

of Israel;

Whereas Yasir Arafat has called Palestinian children ‘‘generals of the Intifada’’ and those ‘‘who throw the stones

to defend Jerusalem, the Muslims, and the holy places’’;

Whereas the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information

has commended the Palestinian children’s ‘‘unique example for resistance’’ stating that it forms ‘‘the first defense

line against the Israeli military arsenal’’;

Whereas Sheik Ikrima Sabri, the Mufti of Jerusalem appointed by Yasir Arafat, stated that ‘‘the younger the

martyr, the greater and the more I respect him’’;

Whereas during the summer of 2000, approximately 25,000

Palestinian children attended military-style summer

camps run by Yasir Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization Fatah Movement to indoctrinate them in antiIsraeli militancy;

Whereas the American Academy of Pediatrics states that

‘‘governments that encourage or permit children to participate in violence, to further political aims, are practicing a form of societal abuse’’;
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Whereas Doctors Opposed to Child Sacrifice, an organization

of American pediatricians, has strongly condemned the

use and encouragement of child soldiers by Palestinian

families and community leaders;

Whereas the Tulkarm Women’s Union has urged Yasir

Arafat ‘‘to issue instructions to your police force to stop

sending innocent children to their death’’; and

Whereas Carol Bellamy, the Executive Director of the United

Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has called on the

Palestinian Authority ‘‘to take energetic measures to discourage those underage from participating in any violent

action because such action places them at risk’’: Now,

therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That Congress—

3 (1) considers the Palestinian Authority in viola4 tion of the principles embodied in the United Na5 tions Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)

6 for its use of children as soldiers and inciting chil7 dren to acts of violence and war;

8 (2) strongly urges the Palestinian Council to

9 immediately declare its commitment to the United

10 Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and

11 to adopt legislation to implement the Convention as

12 soon as possible;

13 (3) while reaffirming the continued applicability

14 of all existing prohibitions, restrictions, limitations,
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1 and directives that otherwise apply to the Pales2 tinian Authority—

3 (A) urges the President to withhold any

4 future United States assistance to the Pales5 tinian Authority until the Authority stops the

6 use of children in armed conflict; and

7 (B) urges the Secretary of the Treasury to

8 instruct the United States executive director of

9 each international financial institution to use

10 the voice and vote of the United States to op11 pose any assistance from that financial institu12 tion to the Palestinian Authority until the Pal13 estinian Authority discontinues its use of chil14 dren as soldiers;

15 (4) requests the Secretary of State to submit to

16 the Committee on International Relations of the

17 House of Representatives and the Committee on

18 Foreign Relations of the Senate—

19 (A) a report on the degree to which Pales20 tinian children are encouraged by the Pales21 tinian Authority to participate in organized acts

22 of violence and acts of terror, and the degree to

23 which the Palestinian education system, reli24 gious structures, and media play a role in the
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1 participation of Palestinian children in violence;

2 and

3 (B) periodic reports every 6 months on ef4 forts by the Palestinian Authority to discour5 age, prevent, and halt the involvement of chil6 dren in organized Palestinian violence and acts

7 of terror; and

8 (5) requests the Secretary of State to transmit

9 a copy of this concurrent resolution to the Pales10 tinian Authority.

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