Eli Amir

Youth Aliyah welcomes the findings of the Special Committee on Children’s Legal Rights. Set up by Israel’s Justice Ministry and the National Council for the Child in 1997, District Court Judge Saviona Rotlevi, who headed the Committee writes, “this is a historic opportunity to change the status of the child and understand that they deserve their own rights.”

The Committee’s report was handed to Minister of Justice Tommy Lapid last month and he pledged to appoint a commissioner who will oversee its implementation. Youth Aliyah believes that children deserve their own rights. We are pleased that the concept of children, as set out in the International Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990,will now be an integral part of Israel’s educational landscape. It is also good to see that two of the fundamental recommendations of the report, that we have consistently practiced - that children have the right to be partners in developing their school curriculum, and that children in residential schools have rights to demand an appropriate education – will now become a sacred right for all children in Israel.

Heshvan 5764 - November 2003