Report: 32 children killed in Gaza tunnels in past 3 years

[Mosby]

Gaza - paltoday - A report Saturday showed that 32 Palestinian children have been killed while working in smuggling tunnels under the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt in past three years.

The report, conducted by the Palestinian National Society for Democracy and Law, said 32 children were killed since Israel imposed a blockade on the coastal enclave in mid-2006 and restricted entry of goods to little more than food and medicine.

The research also focused on child labor, revealing that children, under 18 years old, work for 12 hours a day in the tunnels, and some of them take pain-killer called Tramadol and energy-giving drugs.

http://paltoday.com/english/news.php?id=35977


Why are Gazan kids working in these tunnels given the obvious risks?

[shira]

1. HRW and Goldstone say: No evidence that is happening - see no evil, hear no evil

[The Magistrate]

2. Good Lord, Sir, What A Silly Question: They Are Working For Money and Goods

Things that are rather scarce in Gaza at present.

A good way to get punched, by the way, is to call a sixteen year old male working full-time at physical labor a child....

[Ian David]

3. You smuggle in guns and rockets, you get food for your family. n/t

[The Magistrate]

5. As the Song Says, Sir....

"It's a hard world to get a break in. All the good things have been taken."

[Ian David]

9. True. n/t

[oberliner]

4. Would you call the 16 year olds who were killed in OCL children?

Would you say that 16 and 17 year old males who were killed in Operation Cast Lead ought to be identified as children?

[The Magistrate]

6. The Usage Seems A Stretch To Me In Many Cases, Sir

It is the standard definition that anyone under eighteen counts as a child, of course, but in many situations employing it blurs matters, conjuring up images of toddlers and second-graders when what is actually referenced is a well post-pubescent fellow with an automatic rifle to his shoulder....

[Mosby]

7. Kids under 18 should be in school

No doubt some of these tunnel kids are working to help support their families, but surely there are plenty of adult Gazans that could do this very dangerous work instead of using child laborers.

[The Magistrate]

8. Please, Sir, Spare Me The Up-Lifting Bromides....

Children should be sleek and slightly plump with a good sheen of fat on the skin, and be free to pursue every dream a young mind can concoct, and all the rest of it. Many are not, and we both know it....