The Palestine Solidarity Campaign issued the following statement from its UK headquarters in London:
July 1, 2014
Kamel Hawwash, Vice-chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said:
‘I am saddened to hear of the death of the three missing Israelis whose bodies were found near Hebron. It is time violence ended and a genuine drive for a just peace started.
Over 1500 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli forces since 2000.
Israel regularly abducts Palestinian children, beats them, humiliates them and brings them to military courts in shackles. In 2012, a Foreign Office-commissioned report confirmed that Israel treated Palestinian children as adults at 16 while Jewish Israelis were legally not considered adults until 18.
Israel missed the opportunity to show a genuine desire for peace in the recent peace talks, choosing to build illegal settlements instead. I fear that rather than conduct a proper investigation into the deaths, Israel will collectively punish Palestinians. It has done this since the three went missing, arresting hundreds and killing at least five Palestinians. An enlightened Israeli leadership would want to end the conflict and move to end the occupation of Palestine. I fear it will choose violence.’
Professor Kamel Hawwash, Vice-chair, Palestine Solidarity Campaign