By Paul Rehm, Reservist with Christian Peacemaker Team
“Abnormal”? Apparently so in the eyes of the Israeli soldier who told international observers in the West Bank city of Hebron, “We don’t arrest normal people. They are not normal people.” Reporting on that mass arrest of 27 Palestinian children – 18 under the age of 12 – on their way to school, the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz demanded only, “The IDF must stop arresting children.”
Sadly, the IDF (That’s short for the Israeli military.) continues to arrest and abuse Palestinian children in defiance of International Law (Articles 3 and 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and without regard to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the government of Israel ratified in 1991. What the Israeli government calls justice continues, year after year, to scar these children.
It’s not as if this goes on in secret. Last year, in its report “Children in Israeli Military Detention”, UNICEF concluded, “…ill treatment of children who come in contact with the military detention system appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalized throughout the process…”; and, “…in no other country are children systematically tried by juvenile military courts that, by definition, fall short of providing the necessary guarantees to ensure respect for their rights.”
UNICEF reported that Palestinian children are usually interrogated without a family member or attorney present and that the interrogation “mixes intimidation, threats and physical violence, with the clear purpose of forcing the child to confess”.
Defence for Children International announced in September that things are looking up. The longest a Palestinian child can be subjected to interrogation without being charged is now down from 60 days to 40 days. Of course, the Military Court of Appeals retains the authority to extend the interrogation beyond 40 days.
What about legal representation? A delegation of lawyers from the UK reported in 2012 that Palestinian children in the West Bank can be imprisoned for up to 90 days without access to an attorney. Israeli children, on the other hand, cannot be held for more than two days without such access.
At least parents should be able to see their imprisoned kids…right? That’s up to the court. If the court says OK, you then have to consider where the child is being imprisoned. If the child lives in the occupied territories but is among the 41% transferred to Israeli prisons inside Israel (a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention), his parents may not be able to obtain the required permits to enter Israel and travel to see him.
How many children am I talking about? Defence for Children International reports that the IDF arrests, detains and interrogates 500 to 700 Palestinian children every year, “some as young as 12 years”. Why are they arrested? In most cases, it’s for throwing stones or on suspicion of having thrown stones. The maximum penalty for stone throwing is twenty years. Although, for 12 and 13 year old children, it’s only six months.
Imagine yourself a Palestinian family member living under occupation and experiencing the Israeli justice system. How might you feel about Israel? I wonder if the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinian children is part of a pattern to maintain a wall of hostility that’s harder to bring down than any physical barrier, to goad Palestinians into reacting violently so the Israeli government can establish even harsher measures while saying to the rest of us, See. That’s why we must repress these people.
Yusef a Shawamreh, 14 years of age, no longer has to worry about being arrested by the IDF. Soldiers lying in ambush shot and killed him on the 19th of March as he and two young friends from a small West Bank village southwest of Hebron crossed the Israeli-built separation barrier to pick wild food plants on their own farmland.
You and I are not powerless. We can and should apply economic pressure to end the Israeli occupation and the IDF’s abusive treatment of Palestinian children. Boycotts and divestments helped end apartheid in South Africa. They can bring much needed justice here, too. Don’t buy Ahava cosmetics or Soda Stream carbonation units…products produced in illegal Israeli settlements. Contact the stores that carry such products. Ask them to sell alternatives. If you or organizations you’re part of hold stock in companies (Caterpillar, Hewlett Packard and Cement Roadstone are examples) profiting from the occupation and its illegal settlements, divest from those companies and tell them why you’re divesting.
Act for the children…please.
To contact Mr. Rehm: email@example.com