Origin: Palestine | Documentary | Director: Ala Khouri | 8 minutes

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“My father has decided to leave Silwan and take us to Anata refugee camp because we’re tired of soldiers and settlers harrassing us. Settlers who live in our neighbourhood (Silwan) keep insulting us and soldiers arrest us whenever something happens. My brother, Feras, was released yesterday and is now under home arrest for six months, and my father is summonsed from time to time. Our house is also under threat of demolition. Therefore, my father has decided to leave Silwan and spare us the suffering. That means we’re going to start a new life in Anata and go to new schools. We will leave our relatives and friends behind because my father doesn’t want us to get arrested and beaten by soldiers.”

Luai (15 years)
Former resident of Silwan, East Jerusalem

From the DCIP report Voices from East Jerusalem: The Situation facing Palestinian Children
Israel has, for the past 44 years, endeavoured to unilaterally annex East Jerusalem through a number of administrative and legal measures aimed at limiting the population growth and development of the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem. At the same time, Israel has actively encouraged the influx of Israeli settlers into the occupied territory in order to pre-empt a negotiated resolution to the question of Jerusalem, by creating irreversible “facts on the ground” in the Old City and its environs.
This report seeks to illustrate the impact of these policies through the voices of 15 children who live in East Jerusalem, and sheds some light on the day to day hardships they face living under prolonged military occupation. The report also includes three testimonies provided by mothers, who speak of their anxieties and fears for the safety of their families. The report focuses on three issues and their impact on children and family life in general.

Download full report: https://www.dci-palestine.org/voices_from_east_jerusalem_the_situation_facing_palestinian_children

Keywords: children human rights prison home demolitions