Israel Terrorizes 5-Year-Old Palestinian Boy
Societies are perhaps best judged by how they treat prisoners, the elderly, their most disadvantaged and children. Israel fails on all counts.
On July 9, perhaps it reached a new low. Seven IDF soldiers and an officer terrorized a 5-year old boy. They threatened him and his parents. They handcuffed and blindfolded his father. They handed the boy over to police. They wrongfully accused him of stone-throwing. Many other children face similar charges.
Guilt by accusation is policy. Justice is a four-letter word. Fines, detention or longer-term imprisonment follow. More on the latest incident below. Defence for Children International (DCI)/Palestine "is a national section of the international non-government child rights organisation and movement." It "promot(es) and protect(s) the rights of Palestinian children." It does so according to international law principles. Each year, about 700 West Bank children are arrested, detained, interrogated, terrorized, and prosecuted in Israeli military courts. DCI lawyers represent 30 - 40% of them. They're treated like adults. According to DCI, Israel operates "almost completely devoid of international scrutiny." It systematically spurns human rights and humanitarian law. It does so with impunity. Due process and judicial fairness don't matter. Israel does what it pleases. It remains unaccountable.
Palestinian children are routinely terrorized. It's done for any reason or none at all. They're arrested at checkpoints, on streets, heading to school, coming home, helping parents plant and harvest crops, at play, and while sleeping pre-dawn. Family members are threatened not to intervene. They're beaten if attempt to. Regardless of weather, they're forced onto streets in their nightclothes. Their homes are disruptively ransacked.
