Author Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian states that the Israeli occupation authorities attempt to criminalize Palestinian children in front of the international community by stripping them of the human, social, and political qualities that guarantee their rights, all with the aim of justifying the acts of violence Israel carries out against children.
This statement was made during the launching event for Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s new book titled “Incarcerated Childhood and the Politics of Unchilding,” hosted by the A. M. Qattan Foundation on Saturday, January 25, 2020, at the Foundation’s building in Al-Tira, Ramallah.
The event was moderated by Dr. Salim Tamari, a professor of social science and researcher at the Institute for Palestinian Studies, while assistant professor at Birzeit University’s Department of History, Dr. Rana Barakat, acted as a discussant.
Shalhoub-Kevorkian spoke about cases similar to the un-childing of Palestinian children, such as the Stolen Generations of Australia and the experiences of Native American children. In the book, she tackles the question of what happens to children, citing mental and physical trauma as well as identity crises as a result of experiencing the process of un-childing. To find answers, she relies on her direct conversations she conducted with children through interviews and letters.
Shalhoub-Kevorkian is a Palestinian researcher residing in Jerusalem. Her research focuses on trauma, state crimes and criminology, surveillance, gender violence, law and society. In particular, the areas she researches include crimes of femicide and other forms of gender-based violence, violence against children in conflict-ridden areas, crimes of abuse of power in settler-colonial contexts, surveillance, securitization and social control.