Today marks an important anniversary in the history of children’s rights. On November 20th, 1989 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). To date, 194 countries are party to the convention. This leaves all but two countries: Somalia and the United States.

Ten years ago today, the news reports announced the death of Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). After spending two years essentially incarcerated by Israeli forces in his Ramallah compound, Arafat was airlifted to France on a French government jet and fell into a coma at the Hôpital d'instruction des armées Percy in Clamart, a suburb of Paris. He died shortly thereafter.

The controversy over Conflict Kitchen’s Palestinian iteration advanced by pro-Israel institutions demonstrates why initiatives like Conflict Kitchen are so important.