US congresswoman slams Israeli killing of Palestinian children

 US Congresswoman Betty McCollum has called on the United States and the world to stop Israel from killing Palestinian children.

"As these killings exemplify, Israel's treatment of Palestinian youth in the Occupied West Bank is unacceptable and must not be tolerated by the US or the international community," the Democratic member of the House of Representatives wrote in a recent letter to the US State Department.

The Minnesota politician reportedly decided to write the letter after meeting with Siam Nawarah, a Palestinian father who has traveled to America in pursuit of justice for his 17-year-old son, Nadeem, who was killed after being shot in the chest by Israeli troops last year.

"I usually wear a suit, but I wanted to represent my son today," Siam Nawarah explained earlier in the month, after walking down the halls of Congress and meeting with the State Department while wearing a t-shirt adorned with a picture of his son.

Mohammad Daher, 16, was another unarmed Palestinian teenager who was shot to death by Israeli snipers, only an hour after Nadeem’s death.

Both killings were recorded on camera from several different angles which revealed that they were posing no threats when they were shot dead.

"The murders of Nadeem Nawara and Mohammad Daher only highlight a brutal system of occupation that devalues and dehumanizes Palestinian children. It is time for a strong and unequivocal statement of US commitment to the human rights for Palestinian children living under Israeli occupation," McCollum went on in her letter.

McCollum demanded an investigation by the State Department to determine whether the 38th Company of the Israeli Border Police, the unit that killed Nadeem and Mohammad, violated the "Leahy Law."

In case of such violation, the unit "should be ineligible to receive future US military aid and training and all border policemen involved in this incident should be denied US visas as stipulated by the law."

She wrote another letter in June, dubbed "Dear Colleague," that was signed by 18 Congress members.

The letter expressed concern about Israel’s harsh policies against Palestinian children which included their detention, maltreatment and military court trials.

"Palestinian children should be treated exactly the same as Israeli or American children, without the fear that one day soldiers will arrest them, beat them, and lock them away in prison," McCollum stated..

According to reports, since the year 2000, Israel has killed more than 1400 Palestinian children. That is not to include 535 more children that the Tel Aviv regime killed in its 50-day military aggression on Gaza during last summer.

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