In the early morning of October 18, Shadi Khoury, a 16-year-old student at the Quaker Ramallah Friends School in the West Bank, was brutally beaten by Israeli forces in his home, dragged away bleeding, and interrogated without the presence of his family or legal counsel.

Shadi, who has family in Canada, has had more than one court appearance since then, and his detention is repeatedly extended, without any charges being brought against him. His attorney has had little opportunity to speak with him, and he has appeared in court with multiple injuries. Shadi should be at home with his family and getting medical attention.

Shadi Khoury is just one of hundreds of Palestinian children who have been traumatized, detained, injured, and even killed through the actions of the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank.

Right now, according to the UN, roughly 175 Palestinian minors are being held in military detention by Israel. Since the year 2000, roughly 13,000 children in occupied Palestinian have been detained, prosecuted, and incarcerated by the Israeli army. Of these, 99% are convicted in a military court system that does not meet minimum standards for due process.

There have been tens of thousands of these child victims through more than 50 years of the Israeli occupation.

Generation after generation of Palestinian children living under military occupation have had their childhoods stolen and lived with years or decades of physical and emotional scars. Some of these children and relatives belong to Palestinian families right here in Canada.

In 2015, UNICEF said that Palestinian children are systematically abused in Israeli military detention, and the treatment they face amounts to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention against Torture.

There is mounting evidence of documented cases of unlawful detention and abuse against Palestinian children, just like Shadi. Canada has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, so it is the responsibility of Canadian officials such as you to formally demand that Israel upholds these standards and for Canada to urgently call for the immediate release of Shadi Khoury.

‘’Shadi’s story is part of a systematic regime designed to suppress an entire people by targeting the most fundamental rights of children: the right to childhood, education and safety’’ wrote Khoury’s mother, Rania Elias.

I urge you to demand the immediate release of Shadi Khoury and call for an end to the military detention of all Palestinian children.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

Respectfully,