❶ Relatives of Muhammad Abu Khdeir detained for throwing stones, Molotov cocktails

• Background from Aggressive Behavior

❷ My daughter sends joy to Gaza
❸ House of Lords debate on Palestinian children 21 July 2016
❹ Irish public figures’ statement in support of Israel boycott
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ RELATIVES  OF  MUHAMMAD  ABU  KHDEIR  DETAINED  FOR  THROWING  STONES,  MOLOTOV  COCKTAILS
Ma’an News Agency
July 31, 2016
Two young Palestinians related to Muhammad Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian teenager who was burned alive by Israeli settlers in 2014, have been indicted by a Jerusalem court over a number of charges in the wake of their cousin’s brutal murder, Israeli police said on Sunday.
___Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said in a statement that Nasser Abu Khdeir, 19, and Muhammad Abu Khdeir, 21 — who shares a name with his slain cousin — had been detained on June 26.
___The two youths have been accused of breaking the law following Abu Khdeir’s death, with al-Samri noting that they stood accused of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli security forces . . .
___A 16-year-old from Shufat in occupied East Jerusalem, Muhammad Abu Khdeir was kidnapped and murdered by three Israeli extremists on July 2, 2014.       MORE . . .

From Aggressive Behavior
War and military violence signify a shattering and nightmarish reality for children: life threat, loss of home, killing and detention of family members, and witnessing humiliation of trusted and admired adults. According to psychoanalytical view, human beings have two possibilities to deal with pain and bewilderment that overwhelms their cognitive-emotional processing capacity: to turn them inside and suffer subsequently from depression and anxiety or target them outside in the form of aggression and acting out. Contemporary conceptualization of children’s psychiatric distress as internalizing and externalizing symptoms concurs with these alternatives given for humans when facing devastating events.
[. . . .]
Society at war sends double messages to children who until early adolescence face difficulties in interpreting them: the aggression, defiance and revenge are encouraged toward the enemy, but discouraged or even punished when directed toward own family and peers.  Similarly, research on children’s war attitudes and moral development point out dilemmas and conflicts: children learn that war is generally bad and immoral, but our own war is heroic, legitimate and moral and our fighters are pure and honorable, whereas enemy soldiers are cruel and coward-like.

• Qouta, Samir, et al. “Does War Beget Child Aggression? Military Violence, Gender, Age And Aggressive Behavior In Two Palestinian Samples.” Aggressive Behavior 34.3 (2008): 231-244.       SOURCE  

❷ MY  DAUGHTER  SENDS  JOY  TO  GAZA
The Electronic Intifada
Rami Almeghari
July 25, 2016
It has been a long time since my family has had reason to celebrate.
___For nine years my wife Faten and I have been intermittently separated from our school-age children as we traveled back and forth between our home in Gaza and Cairo as Faten needed brain surgery and radiotherapy treatment unavailable here.
[. . . ]  my wife and I returned to Gaza in mid-February of this year. By then, Aseel had already been in school for five months without us present. The pressure on her mounted as summer neared and the time to sit for exams grew closer. Whether or not she would succeed became a matter of concern for our extended family.
___After she finished her exams in mid-June, we waited anxiously for the results. Is this a good result, Dad?” Aseel asked, her eyes tearing up. She had scored 86 percent.
___“Of course it is, my dear daughter. It is even great,” I replied, to Aseel’s relief.  MORE . . . 

❸ HOUSE OF LORDS DEBATE ON PALESTINIAN CHILDREN 21 JULY 2016
Caabu
On 21 July, a two-and-a-half-hour long debate was held in the House of Lords on the situation of Palestinian children in the Occupied Territories and the impact of the occupation on their mental health. This was the second debate on the issue this year following a Commons debate on 6 January.
The Lords debate was put forward by Lord Norman Warner. Lord Warner was part of a Caabu and Medical Aid for Palestinians delegation to the West Bank in April 2016 and  to Gaza in 2010.
___WATCH Lord Warner’s speech in his debate in the House of Lords on the situation of Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza.

❹ IRISH  PUBLIC  FIGURES’  STATEMENT  IN  SUPPORT  OF  ISRAEL  BOYCOTT
The Palestinian Information Center
July 27, 2016
In an open letter published recently in the Irish Times and Irish Independent, thirteen of Ireland’s best-known musicians, writers, artists and sports stars have called on the Irish government to join them in supporting the growing worldwide boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. The statement has been welcomed by Palestinian and Irish human rights campaigners.
[. . . .]
The letter welcomes Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan’s support for BDS as a legitimate political standpoint, but also outlines their disappointment that the Irish government does not go further and support the BDS movement. . .      MORE . . .