A public lecture in Dharawal country, Wollongong, on September 3 focused on the devastating impact the genocide of the Palestinians has had on its children.
The event, organised by the Association for the Promotion of International Law, featured presentations by Chris Sidoti and Dr Ruth Mitchell.
Sidoti is a human rights lawyer and a commissioner of the United Nations’ (UN) International Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel.
The event took its title, “The essence of childhood has been destroyed”, from the Col’s latest report, issued in June.
It found that Israel’s actions in Gaza form part of a deliberate strategy to destroy the future of the Palestinians by targeting its children.
Sidoti outlined two explicit reasons for the extreme number of child deaths in Gaza, which now, officially, numbers 21,283.
“They have died as a result of the military strategies employed by the Israeli military in Gaza; it is a strategy of total bombardment and total destruction.
“I have no idea whatsoever how many children have died in Gaza over the last three years as a direct result of the Israeli military operations, but it certainly exceeds 21,283, probably by many times.”
The second reason is that children have been targeted.
“There is a lot of evidence of children being deliberately targeted by snipers and targeted by drones or quadcopters.”
One of the report’s conclusions is that UN member states should cease the transfer of arms and other equipment to Israel.
Sidoti outlined Australia’s legal obligations, emphasising that the federal Labor government needs to convert its rhetoric into action.
“[Australia] should have no military relations with the state of Israel. It’s not enough to do what the government have done and said we’re not supplying them with weapons and we’re not supplying them with ammunition. Military relations are far broader than that.”
Sidoti ended his speech by drawing parallels between the legacy of intergenerational trauma facing Palestinian children with that experienced by First Nations children in Australia.
He issued a simple but heartfelt plea: “Palestinian children deserve a chance. That’s all. Just a chance.”
Dr Mitchell, the second speaker, is a paediatric and adult neurosurgeon, who joined a Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association mission to Gaza earlier this year. She performed 17 major neurological operations and saw hundreds of patients in her two weeks there.
Mitchell outlined the effects Israel’s siege of Gaza continues to have on medical facilities, personnel and patients.
She described a two-year-old girl recovering from a major spinal operation “with essentially just Panadol and the occasional dose of ibuprofen”.
“There really is a paucity of adequate pain relief and simple medications in Gaza.”
Mitchell’s engaging and reflective speech managed make the room laugh — despite the bleak subject matter.
Describing her usual ability to connect with her paediatric patients Mitchell said: “I don’t want to make out like I’m Ms Rachel [but] I’m generally able to connect with children, and I can make them laugh. Even when there’s a language barrier or I’m dealing with a toddler I can normally get a kid to laugh and smile by making ridiculous faces.”
However, with her two-year-old patient and other Gazan children she met, she realised there was no way to cut through. “What I was up against was the enormous burden of traumatisation.”
She ended her presentation by imploring the audience to keep advocating for Palestine’s children. “When I think of the children of Gaza, the way that their bodies are being destroyed, the way that their childhoods are being stolen, the way that their families are being eroded… When I think of them, I think we must all redouble our efforts … every single one of us, there is something we can do.”