FARMINGTON – Ivan Karakashian, advocacy unit coordinator for Defence for Children International, Palestine (DCIP), will speak at the University of Maine at Farmington 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 29 in the North Dining Hall of the Olsen Student Center.
DCIP is an independent children’s rights organization dedicated to defending and promoting the rights of children living under Israeli military occupation. An expert in Middle East issues, Karakashian has 10 years of experience reporting, writing, and editing news about the region. Ivan Karakashian is part of a New England tour titled, “What Will Become of Our Children? Voices of Hope for a World Free of Prejudice and Hatred.” The tour is organized by the Tree of Life Educational Fund.
Karakashian was born and raised in Jerusalem. “I’ve always been interested in human rights,” he said, “Just the myriad of abuses that I’ve watched growing up instilled in me a strong sense of wanting to do something for human rights, to try to improve the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian Territory.”
“At Defence for Children International, Palestine,” he continued, “we don’t care who the perpetrators are. Whether it is on the Palestinian side or the Israeli side–any abuse of children that takes place, we want to try to prevent that.”
Karakashian earned a law degree and has an MA in journalism from Columbia University Graduate School. In his work for Defence for Children, he has spoken about DCIP’s documentation of grave human rights violations against Palestinian children and their legal aid for those caught up in the Israeli military justice system.
Karakashian’s visit to Farmington is sponsored by Veterans for Peace, Island Peace & Justice, Peninsula Peace & Justice, and Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights. All are welcome. For more information, rawlings@maine.edu.
