Middle East

Wed
22
Oct
2014
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Photo: YPJ soldier, Hevedar Mohammed, aged 12. Image Credit: Marie Claire.

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Sun
31
Jan

Israel Jails Teenager for Refusing to Serve in Occupation Army

A 19-year-old Israeli woman who refused to do compulsory military service as a protest against the occupation of the Palestinian territories has been released from jail – but could return within days.

Tair Kaminer’s case has been the subject of fierce debate in Israel, driving calls for reform to laws punishing conscientious objectors, while seeing her labelled as a “traitor” by others.

Israel Jails Teenager for Refusing to Serve in Occupation Army
Mon
23
Nov

Tel Aviv-Ramallah-Kigali: a peace-building journey

"Forgiving is not forgetting, but moving forward and being stronger."

Tel Aviv-Ramallah-Kigali: a peace-building journey
Fri
06
Nov

Kurdish YPG militia recruiting child soldiers in Syria: HRW

A Kurdish youth holds a picture of a YPG (People's Protection Units) fighter killed in Kobane during a celebration in Diyarbakir on 26 January 2015 (AFP)

A Syrian Kurdish militia is using child soldiers despite international law prohibiting its practice, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.

The New York-based body said it documented at least 59 children under 18 recruited by the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia and the YPJ, its female branch.

Some of the children died in combat in June, it said.

“The YPG promised to stop sending children to war and it should carry out its promise," said Fred Abrahams, a special adviser at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

“Of course the Kurdish forces are fighting groups like ISIS that flout the laws of war, but that’s no excuse to tolerate abuses by its own forces," he added.

As the armed branch of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the YPG has a sizable presence in Syria's north and has been backed by US airstrikes in a conflict that has killed more than 230,000 people and forced almost four million to flee the country.

Mon
11
May

Why so many children are fighting in Yemen’s civil war

By Ali al-Mujahed and Hugh Naylor, The Washington Post

SANAA, Yemen — Abdullah Ali’s 15-year-old son disappeared from home one morning three months ago. A week later, the boy called his horrified family to say he had joined the Shiite insurgents known as Houthis — becoming one of a growing number of underage soldiers fighting in Yemen’s civil war.

“He’s just a child. He’s only in the ninth grade,” Ali, 49, a civil servant who lives in the city of Taiz, said recently. “He should be at school learning, not fighting.”

Mon
20
Apr

Yemen crisis: Meet the child soldiers who have forsaken books for Kalashnikovs

By Charlene Rodrigues and Mohammed Al-Qalisi, The Independent

With schools forced to close, children as young as seven have been recruited by the Shia Houthi rebels.

At the entrance of Bab Al-Yemen, Old Sanaa, a waif-like Hassan, dwarfed by his Kalashnikov, stands at a checkpoint. His dark eyes scan vehicles as they pass through.

Like most seven-year-olds in Sanaa, Hassan used to spend his time at school – or playing table football with his friends. That was until three weeks ago.

Mon
13
Apr

Child soldiers fighting on the frontline in Yemen

Aden has become a theatre of bloody urban warfare as Houthi rebels and backers of president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi battle for control of the city in southern Yemen. Since fighting first broke out in mid-March, several amateur videos have surfaced showing child soldiers battling on the frontline on both sides.

These striking images were filmed at night and posted on YouTube on March 31. They show youths battling Shiite Houthi rebels in the streets of Aden, a port city located around 500 km south of the capital Sanaa. One of our Observers on the ground confirmed that teenagers aged between 15 to 17 years old were fighting in the ranks of so-called "popular committees", paramilitary units that back the country's beleaguered president.

Click here to read more. 

Fri
10
Apr

One third of combatants in Yemen are children: UNICEF

Photo: AP

The United Nations Children's Fund has expressed concern over the use of large number of child fighters by armed groups in Yemen. 

"Up to a third of combatants in armed groups in conflict-torn Yemen are children...I have been myself held up at checkpoints by children who were 14, 15 and sometimes even little younger," UNICEF's Representative in Yemen Julien Harneis told The Anadolu Agency in Geneva.

Motivated by money and with the aim of defending families or tribes as part of their culture in the poorest country of the Middle East, an increasing number of children are being recruited by Yemen's warring factions.

"It is a cultural issue...In Yemen, in many parts of the country, it is considered to be normal, if not a good thing, to pick up a gun and be able to contribute to the defense of your family and tribe," Harneis said.

Wed
01
Apr

At least 62 children killed in Yemen in past week: UNICEF

Photo: Reuters

The violence is leaving children terrified and more of them are being recruited as child soldiers, UNICEF said.

At least 62 children have been killed and 30 injured in Yemen over the past week as fighting has escalated with a Saudi-led air campaign, the UN children's agency UNICEF said Tuesday.

"Children are in desperate need of protection, and all parties to the conflict should do all in their power to keep children safe," said UNICEF's representative for Yemen, Julien Harneis.

Fighting has escalated sharply in Yemen after a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes five days ago to block an advance by Shiite rebels know as Huthis.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon separately said he was "deeply concerned" by reports of numerous civilian deaths from the military campaign including an attack on Monday on a camp for displaced people that left dozens dead.

Tue
14
Oct

Making Militarism Visible: slideshow

This powerpoint presentation is a version of an exhibition, built by New Profile, which highlights the everyday militarism of Israeli society. The exhibition is also available in Arabic and French. You can download the powerpoint here.

Mon
15
Sep

Selling Israeli Militarism Like Toothpaste

From children's shows to national war drills, a discussion on militarism in Israeli society and gender equality in the army.
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On Wednesday, June 22nd, Israel held the largest war exercise in its history. The Real News' Lia Tarachansky interviewed Rela Mazali, the founder of New Profile, an organization working to demilitarize Israeli society, and Alex Cohn, a war resister who served five months for objecting to serve in the army. Cohn analyses a children's show that portrays a typical interaction between soldiers and Israeli children as part

Selling Israeli Militarism Like Toothpaste

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