Not many people around the world know what life is like for Palestinian children, how we feel insecure in our homes and what we experience every day as a result of the Israeli occupation.
I grew up in the village of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank. When I was seven years old, I started making videos on my mother’s phone about our lives to share with our friends on TV and other social media sites.
In my films, I try to show how everyday life is for us. Nighttime wake-up – 3am waking up to the sound of gas canisters, a bomb blast near your window, or Israeli soldiers trying to break into your house. There was even a time when I woke up and found an Israeli soldier in my room, breaking my dolls with his rifle. He continued to hold his weapon to his head.
This week, world leaders are meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and UN Human Rights Council meetings are being held in Geneva. This is a good opportunity for the international community to end the abuse of Palestinian children. Israel is violating our rights and violating international law with impunity.
All our rights and freedoms, including our right to life, are being violated. We often struggle to cope with the grief, stress, loneliness, and fear that come from using excessive force on us, following our families, schools, and homes. My friends in Gaza are afraid of being bombed by an Israeli bomb every day.
My cousin, Mohammad Munir al-Tamimi, was killed on the last day of Eid this year.
The Israeli army was taking over our village and soon began shooting at anyone who saw it in the streets. When Mohammad exited his house to search for his brother, a soldier shot him in the stomach with bullets. She was only 17 years old.
We mourn the loss of our friends and family, but we remain strong. Any bullet that does not kill us gives us more hope and makes us more willing to give up.
Israel is the only country in the world that binds, imprisons and holds children in military court.
My cousin, Ahed Tamimi, was imprisoned in Israel for eight months when he was just 16 years old. Some were “arrested” – meaning they could spend time in prison, without trial or trial, for years.
Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons face much suffering. Because of their experiences, even after being released, many will never enjoy their childhood.
When I was just 12 years old, I was stopped at the border on my way back from Jordan and interrogated for three hours by Israeli soldiers. I did not have a parent or a lawyer, so interrogation was not allowed under international law. But they didn’t care.
After that, I decided to sign up to become a journalist. Soon I became the last card-carrying journalist in the world. Being legitimate gave me security. But, of course, journalists are also frequently arrested, injured and killed in Palestine.
Today, I am speaking as a witness at a public meeting, organized by NGOs ActionAid and Al-Haq. I’m talking about violating human rights and violating international law that Palestinian children face. Al Jazeera Arab journalist Givara Budeiri – who was brutally detained by Israeli forces during a peaceful protest in the Sheikh Jarrah region of East Jerusalem in June – has also been found talking about Israel’s revolt against press freedom. Other Witnesses will be witnessing the forced evacuation of Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah, and the theft of land and natural resources in the Jordan Valley.
In the meantime, the UN Human Rights Council calls on member states to co-operate fully with the Commission of Inquiry into violating international human rights law and human rights law in Palestine. This research has been done for a long time. Foreign powers will not continue to ignore the plight of the Palestinians.
Palestinian children, like all children, have the right to be safe in their homes and at school. They have the right to release, subjected to torture, to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
But despite all the difficulties, I have hope for the future. We are a generation of change and a generation that, I hope, will liberate Palestine. We will make the world a better place, a place without jobs or colonialism, where everyone is equal, while Palestinians can live their lives freely and respectfully. But we cannot do this on our own – the international community must be able to remain silent and stand on our side in the fight against oppression.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor of Al Jazeera.