AMP media director makes presentation to Middle East Special Envoy

During a three-and-a-half-hour briefing session at the US Department of State, organized by the Arab American Anti-Discrimnation Committee, AMP national Director of Media and Communications Kristin Szremski discussed Palestinian child prisoners before Middle East Special Envoy Frank Lowenstein and Deputy Assistant Secretary Larry Silverman.

The presentation was part of the Now Way to Treat a Child campaign, a coalition effort spearheaded by the American Friends Service Committee and Defence for Children International – Palestine Section, and supported by AMP.

 “In the past 10 years, Israel has arrested and detained 7,000 children, many of whom have been subjected to torture and harassment,” Szremski told the panel. “Israel is the only country in the world that subjects children to military courts and military detention and is completely anathema to our American values of justice.”

Szremski also disclosed that Congresswoman Betty McCollum, D-MN, wrote a Dear Colleague letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, asking the State Department to include Israel’s military detention of Palestinian children to its annual human rights report.

“I was surprised at their level of interest,” Szremski said after the briefing. “In the end, they took three full packets of information and promised to examine the information presented.”