Boys Disappearing From Hebron Old City

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press Sunday March 21, 2010 18:50 by pat c

Paulette Schroeder writes about an Israeli tactic of kidnapping Palestinian children and falsely charging them with crimes. These children are then convicted and imprisoned by the Israeli kageroo courts. Full text at link.

I am most concerned these recent weeks in Hebron. Young teens and even smaller children are disappearing from our neighbourhood in the Old City of Hebron. It's not by kidnapping. It's not by trafficking. It's not an unknown person with a criminal record perpetrating the crimes. Rather, the Israeli military is again pressing its boots down harder on the heads of the Palestinian people. If restrictions on travel and commerce, land confiscations, home invasions, and forced business closures have not succeeded in convincing Palestinian families to leave their land, then MAYBE taking their children will.

Our Palestinian neighbor sent her 15 year old son to buy bread. Fifteen minutes later, Israeli soldiers blindfolded and handcuffed him, accusing him of throwing stones. The boy insisted he did not throw stone/s at the soldiers. Nevertheless, he is now spending time in the Israeli prison system. Having spent the first 17 days in Ofir Prison among men who may/ may not have committed serious crimes, he continues to insist on his innocence. He will spend four or five months in another Israeli prison until his court case is completed. All for the "crime" of supposedly throwing a stone at soldiers!