Filipino children stand in solidarity with Palestinian children
By DOMINIC GUTOMAN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – “The struggle of the children in Palestine and the Philippines is connected,” these words came from a 15-year-old advocate Allia Dela Cruz, as she joined the Palestinian children’s solidarity activity last October 5, Saturday.
Around 17,000 children have been killed and almost 26,000 children live without one or both parents in Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, according to Ismail al-Thawabta, head of Gaza’s government media office, in a report by international media outfit Anadolu.
This prompted the child rights group Salinlahi – Alliance for Children’s Concerns to conduct solidarity activities attended by Filipino children and fellow advocates.
“They are targeting children, the next generation of people who will continue the culture of Palestine! Both Israel and the US are violating the rights of Palestinian children, just like what is happening to the indigenous people here in our country,” said Salinlahi in a statement.
More than 70 percent of Israel’s conventional weapon imports were provided by the US from 2011 to 2020, according to the report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
In addition to this, U.S. President Joe Biden signed legislation on April 24 to provide $95 billion in aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. Around $26 billion of the funds will be sent to Israel for its operations in Gaza, despite grave violations of the international humanitarian law (IHL).
“Today, we are witnessing not just ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from their land, but an actual genocide, in real time, as the Israeli occupation forces completely cut off Palestinians’ access to clean drinking water, proper food and nutrition, health services, safe shelter, and education,” said Miguel Gonzales, spokesperson of Salinlahi.
The latest humanitarian report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) stated that more than 21,000 children have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition, almost 17,000 with moderate acute malnutrition, and nearly 5,000 with severe malnutrition. This has been attributed to continuous displacement and limited entry of humanitarian supplies.
There have been overwhelming numbers of civilian infrastructure bombed in Gaza. In a study by Harvard University, more than half of healthcare, education, and water facilities were damaged or destroyed by Israeli attacks.
“Children have the inherent right to education, live freely, and be protected. They should not be casualties of bombings, especially of their lands. They have the right to play, study, develop, and participate,” said Dela Cruz, underscoring the universal rights of children.
She also emphasized that even in the Philippines, children are being victims of bombings, especially in the far-flung Indigenous communities.
NOW: In the face of ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Filipino children and child rights group @salinlahiphils mount a solidarity activity in Quezon City, reporting around 17,000 Palestinian children who have been killed since the October 7 attacks. pic.twitter.com/UaYrNLYRu8
— Bulatlat (@bulatlat) October 5, 2024
Earlier, Filipino children also wrote messages and drew images in solidarity with the Palestinian children. With the parents and guidance of Salinlahi, they also mounted a protest along E. Rodriguez Avenue to publicly demand the end of the outright killing of children and civilians in the US-backed Israel genocide in Palestine.
Salinlahi urged the Marcos administration to stop buying weapons from Israel and to take a stand in the ongoing genocide.
Israel is known as one of the largest arms suppliers of the Philippines. In 2023 alone, around $40.33 million was spent to buy Israel’s arms, ammunition, and other military accessories. Israel is also reportedly eyeing the military modernization initiative of the Philippines that cost $36 billion.
“Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s concerns firmly acknowledges the Palestinian people’s right to resist the Israeli settler-colony terror and psywar tactics, protect their land as the people indigenous to Palestine, defend their sovereignty against the occupation, and free themselves from the imperialist shackles of US warmongering,” the group said. (RVO)
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