Hundreds of Palestinian children are arrested by Israel every year, estimates range from 800 to 1,000 children, some under 15 years of age, and others in pre-adolescence. The places where these arrests take place reveal a certain pattern. The closer the Palestinian village is to a settlement, the more likely it is that more of these minors will find themselves in Israeli custody.

For example, in the town of Azzoun, to the west of the Karni Shomron settlement, there is barely a house whose children have not been arrested. Residents say that in the past five years, more than 150 students from the city's only high school have been arrested, and the most common reason for their arrest is the throwing of stones at Israeli soldiers, as revealed by talking to many young men.

A number of Israelis decided to combat this phenomenon, in the framework of an organization they call “parents against the detention of children”. Nearly 100 members are active in social networks. The organization holds public events to raise awareness about the phenomenon and violate the rights of Palestinian minors, and the organization works to create A pressure group to stop the phenomenon of child arrests.

About half of the detained boys are arrested from their homes, and IDF soldiers usually storm the house in the middle of the night, arresting the wanted youth, leaving with the family a document indicating where they took the children to. The document is printed in both Arabic and Hebrew, but the Force Commander usually fills in details only in Hebrew, then delivers it to parents who may not be able to read it, and do not know why their son was arrested.

Innocent arrest

Usually, detention takes place at the same scene, as was the case with Adham Ahson of Azzun, who was then 15 years old, and was on his way home from a local grocery store. Not far away, a group of children began throwing stones at the Israeli soldiers, before they escaped from the place, but Ahson did not escape, so the soldiers arrested him and transferred him to a military vehicle. Some children who watched what happened ran to his mother, who went out with her son's birth certificate, to prove to the soldiers that he was just a child. But it was too late, the car had already left, heading for a nearby military base, where he remained waiting for interrogation.

Usually, the youths are taken to a military base, or a police station in a nearby settlement, with their eyes blindfolded. "When your eyes are covered, your imagination takes you to more fearful places," says a lawyer who represents Palestinian youth. Many of the detainees do not understand the Hebrew language, so once they are pushed into the army vehicle, they do not understand what is going on around them. In most cases, the young man, handcuffed and blindfolded, is moved from one place to another before being questioned, and sometimes the boy is left outside for some time. In addition, his repeated transfer poses another problem, as many violent acts occur, in which soldiers beat detainees, and these incidents go undocumented.

A journey to endless hell

Once at the army base or police station, the minor, who is still handcuffed and blindfolded, is placed on a chair or on the floor for a few hours, without getting anything to eat. Such incidents remain engraved in the mind of the boy, even years after his release, and a constant feeling of insecurity is cultivated in him throughout his life.

After three to eight hours of detention, the child is questioned, after he becomes tired and hungry, and he feels pain and fear after being beaten. This may be the first time that the gang has been removed from his eyes and his hands freed, and the process usually begins with a general question, such as: "Why do you throw stones at soldiers?" The rest is more severe and violent, a hail of questions and threats, with the aim of making the teenager sign a confession. In some cases, investigators promise him that if he signs it, he will be given something to eat. According to testimonies, the investigators ’threats are statements such as“ You will spend your whole life in prison ”, or“ We will bring your mother here and kill her before your eyes ”, or“ If you do not confess, we will revoke your father’s permission to work in Israel, and because of you, he will be unemployed, and you will suffer The whole family is hungry. ” Whether the boy signs the confession or not, the next stop is the prison, either Megiddo, in Lower Galilee, or Ofer, north of Jerusalem.

Before entering the prison, the guards instruct him to undress for physical search, as in 55% of cases, and he is forced to stand for 10 minutes naked, sometimes in the dead of winter. He spends months in detention, awaiting trial, and after that, if he is sentenced, he spends his sentence in the youth ward of security prison facilities, who are forbidden to meet their families for months, and are allowed only one visit per month, through the glass.

The courtroom is usually the place where parents see their children, sometimes after several weeks of detention. Tears are the most common reaction to the scene of the young detainee, who is dressed in prison uniform and handcuffs. The Israeli Prison Service guards do not allow parents to approach their children, but rather ask them to wait in the visitor's seat.

Mixed sad feelings

At a pretrial hearing, some boys stop smiling to see their parents, while others lower their eyes, perhaps to hide tears. Another detainee whispered to his grandmother, who came to visit him, "Don't worry, tell everyone I'm fine." Another boy remains silent while watching his mother speak to him, "I love you, son." As children and their families try to exchange some words and feelings, the measures are moving forward, as if they were in a parallel world.

Deal

The vast majority of juvenile trials end in a confession deal, although there is no strong evidence that the boy was involved in throwing stones, and the petition is often the preferred option. If the detainee does not agree to this, the trial can last for a long time, and he will be held until the end of the procedures.

Before the boy enters prison, guards tell him to undress for physical search. He is forced to stand for 10 minutes naked. He spends months in detention awaiting trial, and if sentenced, he spends his sentence in the youth ward of the security prison facilities, who are prohibited from meeting their families, and are allowed one visit per month, through the glass.

A number of Israelis decided to combat this phenomenon, within the framework of the organization “Fathers Against Child Detention”, and nearly 100 members are active in social networks. The organization holds public events to raise awareness about the phenomenon and violate the rights of Palestinian minors, and the organization is working to create a pressure group to stop The phenomenon of arresting children.

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