Israeli journalist slams occupation's treatment of detained Palestinian children

Israel’s daily newspaper Haaretz has published an article strongly criticising the Israeli occupation army’s treatment of detained Palestinian children. “What kind of country throws a teen out of an army jeep?” the newspaper titled the article by Israeli journalist Gideon Levy.

Levy goes on to explain the whole story: “Without money, a phone or identity papers, Fadel Tamimi’s 14 year old son was thrown out of an Israeli army jeep, in the dead of night, 15 kilometres away from home, after being interrogated.”

According to his account, 14-year-old Mohammed Tamimi was detained in his village on suspicion of throwing stones at the Israeli army. He was taken to a military base and then led to a police station to be interrogated. Levy described how his interrogators had suspected that “he was the son of a different Fadel Tamimi, a relative from the nearby village of Nabi Saleh, which is known for its prolonged and determined struggle against the occupation.” Of course, they were wrong.

He also revealed that when the child’s father and uncle went to the military base where Mohammed was initially taken to learn of his whereabouts, the Israeli occupation soldiers “chased them off with threats and vulgar language, rifles at the ready”.

At nine in the evening, the father received a call from an Israeli policeman called Roni, who asked him to go to the police station to collect his son. Having no car, he was then asked to go to the Nabi Saleh junction instead, where he waited for two hours without meeting anyone.

Later on, at 11pm, Fadel received a call from somebody living in Abu-Ein village telling him that he had found his son walking alone in a dark street. The Israeli occupation army apparently dropped the child at the Bier Ziet junction, 15km away from his home.

Levy added that there have been numerous international reports about the Israeli occupation army’s abuse of children, pointing out that the detention of Palestinian children has even become a serious concern for some of Israel’s close allies, such as Australia and Holland.

A report prepared by UNICEF and published last year showed that Israel had detained more than 7,000 children over the last decade, or about 700 hundred every year. The report described Israel’s treatment of children as “cruel, inhuman and degrading”.

Meanwhile, the Australian TV network ABC broadcast a few weeks ago a documentary called “Stone Cold Justice” highlighting the Israeli practice of detaining Palestinian children. The broadcaster even warns viewers that the film includes scenes that may concern some of them.

The documentary exposes the Israel’s horrific treatment of Palestinian children.

ABC’s Stone Cold Justice