Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza

Israel has declared a unilateral ceasefire in its war against Hamas in Gaza. Israel began air attacks on Gaza on December 27 in response to rockets fired by Hamas into southern Israel and the breakdown of a six-month ceasefire. On January 4, Israeli tanks entered the Palestinian territory.

More than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed and about 5,300 people were wounded in 22 days of attacks. Nearly half of the wounded are women or children, according to a Gaza Health Ministry statement.

Thirteen Israelis have been killed, including three civilians.

Refugee Rights

Unjustly exiled from their home country, refugees are persons forced to migrate to a new country for security and protection. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (the UN refugee agency) legally defines refugees as “people who are outside their countries because of a well-founded fear of persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or social group.”

The UNHCR reports that there are 20.8 million refugees and other people in need of protection worldwide. Out of that large number, nine million children are refugees.

Children Rights

“The child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding. The child should be fully prepared to live an individual life in society…in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity.”-from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Every child has a right to their childhood – a hopeful existence free of exploitation, violence, neglect, and extreme poverty. Children need education, health services, consistent support systems as well as love, hope and encouragement; all these things and more are required in order to experience childhood to the fullest, and to eventually develop into healthy, capable adults.

Human Rights & Equity

Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms entitled to any person, regardless of economic status, nationality, jurisdiction, age, ability, ethnicity, sex, and sexuality. These basic rights are the right to life, freedom, equality, justice, and freedom of thought and expression.

In 1948, the world community spoke through the United Nations by establishing a framework for human rights awareness and protection with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This was the first time that the protection of human rights was officially declared an international responsibility. Since then, human rights education and awareness has taken root in countries all over the world.

Youth Violence

“Violence is anything that denies human integrity and leads to hopelessness and helplessness.” (Marin Luther King Jr.)

Interpersonal violence perpetrated by youth is a problem in every society. Youth violence can take many forms: bullying, gender and racial harassment, sexual assault/rape, gang violence, gun use, and ‘hate’ crimes. Some blame the mass media, particularly music, sports and video games, for glorifying violence and desensitizing its viewers; while others its our structural culture of violence, war and instability. Youth violence is disturbing because it can cause a lot of psychological damage to a person’s sense of self at a critical identity-forming time in one’s life. And youth who exhibit violent behaviors early will likely continue to act in destructive ways over the course of their adult life.

Peace Building

We can all contribute to creating a culture of peace. Building peace requires following through on the principles of good communication: be clear when stating your position; aim to resolve differences by treating others with respect; listen, don’t argue angrily or fight; be open to different viewpoints and alternatives; and finally be optimistic that good will come out of a non-violent approach. Peacebuilding happens at the international level but also at the grassroots level.
At an international level, peace-building refers to both nonviolent conflict resolution and the process of creating and sustaining peace after violent conflict, by providing an alternative to violence and conflict through communication, problem-solving and preventative measures. It is the work that must be done before during and after conflict and involves collaborating with knowledgeable organizations to equip people with tools that can help them avoid and leave conflict situations.