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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191024-the-eu-un-and-pa-masquerade-as-activists-while-highlighting-their-colonial-complicity/">https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191024-the-eu-un-and-pa-masquerade-as-activists-while-highlighting-their-colonial-complicity/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">The EU, UN and PA masquerade as
activists while highlighting their colonial complicity</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">Ramona Wadi - <span>October
24, 2019 </span></div>
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<p>This year marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. True to
form, UN, EU and Palestinian Authority representatives
abandoned their political roles to pose as
pseudo-activists for a month, embarking upon the Masar
Ibrahim Al Khalil trail walk in the occupied West Bank,
accompanied by Palestinian children, to “raise
awareness” and highlight different articles of the
convention along the route.</p>
<p>Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator for the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, <a
href="http://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=GW9tWqa113848693860aGW9tWq"
target="_blank">hopes</a> “that the walks undertaken
over these last 30 days further focus attention on how
to safeguard and promote children’s rights in the very
unique and challenging context of Palestine.”</p>
<p>Aside from the platitudes which the participating
representatives reserved for themselves, it is unlikely
that the trekking venture has contributed to one single
change in the lives of Palestinian children.
Nevertheless, we are told that the children expressed
“how happy they are to have their rights promoted and
respected.” Promoting samples of text from the
convention is not equivalent to promoting the rights of
Palestinian children. Quoting what children allegedly
said to the representatives is not even indicative of
the reality that Palestinian children face daily as a
result of Israel’s colonial violence. But why ruin a
large-scale propaganda exercise by mentioning the actual
reasons why Palestinians have no apparent “right to an
equal chance to reach their innate potential,
irrespective of background of circumstance”?</p>
<p><strong>READ: <a
href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191023-the-un-exploits-palestinian-children-to-further-the-two-state-propaganda/">The
UN exploits Palestinian children to further the
two-state propaganda</a></strong></p>
<p>The trail walk made no difference to UN, EU and PA
rhetoric; these generic statements could have been
uttered from the usual podiums. All the representatives
know full well that background, context and circumstance
make all the difference when it comes to the illusion of
equal opportunities. As detached from reality as
politicians are, including those masquerading as
purported activists for a brief period, there was no
mention of how the UN conventions employ generalised
rhetoric and fail to address the specifics of political
violations. To ensure that the trail walk’s “awareness”
was rendered completely void of significance, the
representatives omitted any reference to Israel,
preferring the euphemism of “the continuing conflict”
instead.</p>
<p>As politicians, all representatives have the duty to
implement the changes which would enable the rights of
Palestinian children to become a tangible means for
achievement. The EU, UN and PA can and should prioritise
decolonisation as the first step; after all, is the UN
not supposed to be committed to eliminating colonialism?
Instead, the collective antics of these institutional
representatives have ensured the protection of Israel’s
colonial violence against Palestinian children, while
their lack of rights is framed against “obstacles
resulting from a combination of factors”.</p>
<p>Raising awareness is an exercise performed with the
intent to change existing injustice. These politicians —
let’s call them performers, shall we? — have every
intention to ensure the opposite. Trail walks and a
month of sightseeing in occupied Palestine at the
expense of children’s rights is an abomination,
regardless of the EU’s funding of the trail to “enhance
Palestinian citizenship and identity”. If Israel is
constantly erasing Palestine and Palestinians, as the
UN, EU and the PA are well aware, how does a walk to
promote the convention alter the ramifications of
Israeli colonialism, backed as it is by the same
entities which put themselves and human rights rhetoric
on an untouchable pedestal?</p>
<p><strong>READ: <a
href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191003-settlers-assault-3-palestinian-children-in-hebron/">Settlers
assault 3 Palestinian children in Hebron</a></strong></p>
<p>The views expressed in this article belong to the
author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial
policy of Middle East Monitor.</p>
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