Israeli collective punishment under spotlight at the UN

Collective punishment is wicked and immoral. Throughout history, this cruel tactic was favoured by occupying powers to punish families and entire communities that resisted political subjugation.

Some of the more famous examples from recent history include the suppression of the Mau Mau uprising by British soldiers. British military forces also resorted to this brutal practice in Palestine during the Mandate era to suppress Palestinian uprising.

The Nazi’s were also very fond of this practice. German soldiers used it to instill fear and terror by demolishing entire villages. The practice was made illegal after the Second World War under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

But this hasn’t stopped states like Israel from carrying out this wicked, immoral and illegal practice. Sadly collective punishment has been a common feature of the Israeli occupation. Hundreds of homes have been demolished by Israeli forces resulting in untold misery.

At the UN last week, I was able to meet one of the victims of this wicked practice, Mohammed Eliyan. Eliyan is a lawyer from Jerusalem. He is the father of Bahaa Eliyan a young Palestinian man killed in 2015 by Israeli forces.

I met Eliyan during a meeting at the United Nations in Geneva where he was giving evidence. Not only was his home demolished following the death of his son, Israeli soldiers kept his body for ten months and revoked his wife’s residency permit.