Palestinian children face generational trauma from war in Gaza, UN Special Rapporteur tells Harvard

November 14, 2023

Chris Williams (left) moderates Q&A with U.N. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese (right).

Photo by Bryan Hecht

By: Bryan Hecht

United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese had an overarching message for the audience gathered at the Harvard Science Center on Oct. 30 to hear her thoughts on Israel, Gaza, and Hamas.Please think of the children.

Albanese’s more than hour-long talk, put on by Harvard Divinity School, was open to the public, Harvard students and alumni. The crowd of a few dozen consisted mostly of attendees older than the typical undergraduate age, including alumni and graduate students.

The Israel-Hamas war has sent shockwaves through every level of Harvard. Albanese’s talk came just a few weeks after the members of student organizations, many of them undergraduates, who posted a letter blaming Israel for the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, were doxxed.

 

Albanese was appointed ‘Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967’ in March 2022. Her job includes conducting research and interviews with Palestinians in Gaza to publish an annual report on the human rights situation, delivered at that year’s U.N. General Assembly. 

In her latest report from Oct. 20, 2023, Albanese urges international leaders to intervene in occupied Palestinian territories to save Palestinian children from the abuses of war and what she called colonization by Israel, which she said she believes is causing unaddressed generational trauma among Palestinian populations. 

“Half of the people under occupation are children, they are not even 18, and 40% of the Palestinian people are not even 15. We must be reminded of that when we think of what's happening in Gaza as we speak,” Albanese said in her lecture. “If this can be done to children, then it can be done to anyone.”

The U.N. considers Gaza to be occupied by Israel. Albanese said that occupation harms children not just physically, where many children are killed, but also has the psychological effect of robbing the living children of their innocence and childhood.

“When you talk to Palestinian children…you can see it there in their body, in their voice, they don't talk as normal children. They talk about rights, they talk about how to protect themselves,” Albanese said. “This is not normal.” 

Albanese advocated for an immediate cease-fire. She said she doesn’t support Hamas’ actions and sees no justification for them. But she also said Israel has no right to wage war in Gaza because it is considered occupied land.“Atrocious acts are being committed in the name of self-defense, which Israel does not have under international law,” Albanese said. “Under the fog of war, Israel has already carried out mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, and so it continues to do.”

At least 1,200 Israelis were killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. More than 11,000 Palestineans have been killed since Israel declared war, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths, the Associated Press reported.

Many audience questions asked Albanese to interpret the events of Oct. 7 and beyond, including her reluctance to use the word “terrorism.”

“I've refrained from using terrorism as a framework…[because] there is no agreement of one single definition of terrorism on the U.N. level,” Albanese told the audience. That means the word isn’t legally useful. 

Hamas’ actions seemed to be “in their aim or result in terrorizing…a population,” amounting to terrorism, she said. Still, it’s not enough to use the word because it would add to an international, dehumanizing narrative that labels Palestineans as terrorists, she said.

“I respect all the emotions in this room,” Albanese said to the crowd. “I don’t expect anyone who has suffered personally in this event to elevate themselves above their personal tragedy.”

Some audience members said they appreciated Albanese’s perspective.

“My guess is that the person who spoke isn't on a side, except for the side of…revealing what's really going on, which I think is a universal side,” Hami Habbas, a Harvard alumnus, said. “I don't think there are many places around this country where you get people of that quality being given a forum.”