Amira Hass / Beatings, arrests, nighttime raids and dubious indictments
Israel detains Palestinian children in the middle of the night, holds them in conditions of fear and pain before their interrogations, and interrogates them without the presence of their parents or a lawyer.
By Amira Hass Tags: Palestinians West Bank East Jerusalem Israel news
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Emad Bornat and Guy Davidi. |
| Photo by: Nir Kafri |
M., a Haaretz reader from Zichron Yaakov, was disturbed by reports about the manner in which Palestinian children are arrested in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They are being detained held in the middle of the night, held in conditions of fear and pain before their interrogations, and then finally interrogated without the presence of their parents or a lawyer.
On March 14, M. wrote the following to attorney Yuri Gai-Ron, the head of the Israel Bar Association: "I am appealing to you to use all of your authority to intervene and put an end to the abusive behavior and violation of the law with regard to children and youths... Any decent citizen silent - and even more so the body you have headed over the past few years - cannot remain silent in the face of the frivolity with which children are kept in detention, interrogated and even condemned."
On April 22, attorney Linda Shafir, the director general of the bar association, sent a letter to Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and State Prosecutor Moshe Lador. Copies were also sent to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the commander of the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank (whose name she did not mention ), and the Military Advocate General Avichai Mendelblit, as well as to M.
Among other things, Shafir wrote: "In her appeal, Ms. M. mentions that Palestinian children and youngsters from areas of the West Bank are detained under inappropriate circumstances and are held in inappropriate conditions.
It goes without saying that the Israel Bar Association considers the holding of detainees in appropriate conditions to be of supreme importance, from both the legal point of view and on the level of human rights. I should be grateful if the appeal is transferred to all concerned parties, so that possible means of dealing with the situation are examined with a view to eradicating the phenomenon."
Broken camera
Another Palestinian detainee, though not a child, is Imad Bornat of Bil'in, a photographer and film director. He was arrested in October 2006 by Border Policemen while photographing the weekly demonstration against the separation fence in his village. After being detained for 21 days, he was then kept under house arrest outside his village for a month and a half. Bornat's trial, during which he was accused of throwing stones and attacking Border Policemen, dragged on for some three years.
This became a routine method of deterring demonstrators in the villages fighting against the separation fence - beatings and arrests, nighttime raids, and indictments based on dubious testimonies.
In April 2009, Bornat was acquitted of all the charges; no trace of anything. He never hit anyone, he never threw any stones. But despite his acquittal, from the police perspective the criminal file remains open, alongside a police order forbidding him to enter Israel (which is five kilometers from his village ). When he required medical treatment, he received some limited exit permits only thanks to the intervention of his lawyer, Gabi Lasky.
Last month Bornat was invited to participate in an event in Tel Aviv organized by CoPro, an Israeli foundation for marketing documentary films. They planned to screen part of the movie he and his partner, Israeli cinematographer Guy Davidi, are busy editing - "Five Broken Cameras." Haaretz published a short item reporting that Bornat had been prevented from participating in the event.
On the same day, May 26, the Civil Administration issued him a permit in a particularly accelerated move, despite the police's position. His file remains open, however, in the police computers. Lasky was told last week that she must send the court verdict, evincing Bornat's acquittal, to the Binyamin police station, which she has already done at least four times.
'A different aspect of Israel'
On May 27, yours truly received a letter from Amir Merom, the spokesman for the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, in which he wrote: "Your efforts on behalf of upholding human rights, which have been a guiding principle of your work as a journalist over the years, are not supposed to hold back from your readers at Haaretz journalistic facts which are not in line with one organized doctrine or another.
"We read your May 26 article about the photographer from Bil'in, and were left with the impression that your attempt to present the saga vis-a-vis the military authorities and the police was paramount, from your point of view, to the need to add objective factual parameters that would widen the scope of the story for the reader's benefit and offer a broader spectrum of reference on an already loaded subject.
"Besides the lengthy paragraphs describing, in minute detail, the conduct between the various bodies - which attempt to present Israel in an unflattering light - you mentioned in one general sentence that 'in November 2008, Bornat was seriously injured in a car accident and required medical treatment in Israel.' It is most surprising to me that you chose so strange a way to mention the fact that the patient arrived on the threshold of death at Sheba Medical Center, the leading government hospital in the State of Israel, and that his life was saved thanks to the dedicated treatment he received there...
"In addition, I am certain that your readers, who possess varied points of view, will be glad to be exposed to a different aspect of Israel from that described in your article - an aspect of love for human beings, of humanity and compassion.
"As the spokesman for a hospital where Arabs, Jews and members of all faiths are treated alongside one another with the same degree of professionalism and love, I would expect that you would be wise enough to use the abovementioned facts in your upcoming articles on the subject."
Bornat paid for his hospital treatment.
Waiting for a letter
No reader wrote a letter about the fate of Adib Abu Rahma - a resident of the same village as Bornat, a regular participant in the demonstrations against the separation fence, a 40-year-old taxi driver and a father of nine. He was arrested on July 10, 2009 on the basis of a photograph showing him holding an onion, to be used against tear gas, which a prosecution witness somehow interpreted as a megaphone.
On the basis of incriminations conducted with minors from Bil'in, who had been arrested in the dark of night and held in frightening circumstances, Abu Rahma was charged with incitement, disturbing the public order and entering a military area. Many of the "facts" illicited through these interrogations later turned out to be false.
Abu Rahma has been in jail for 333 days already. on Sunday a military judge found him guilty, as was expected.
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IN ISRAEL THER'S DEMOCRACY!! HALLELUYAAAAAAA!
If these tactics will save Israeli lives or stop a terrorist attack than it is a great strategy. If their parents weren't terrorists than they woul;dn't have to do these things.
Amira Hass is pointing to a phenomenon that is well-known throughout the Israeli political establishment. It has been widely documented by Defence for Children International and the Israeli government has twice been challenged on its illegal treatment of Palestinian children by the UN Committee of the Rights of the Child. So, the letter from 'Mrs M' in ZY should have come as no surprise to anyone. Israel is in gross violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law for its treatment of Palestinian children. When the rightwingers on here have to stoop so low as to suggest that all such children are potential or suspected suicide bombers (something of which they are not even suspected by the IDF) then you know that all shred of a reasonable defence has evaporated.
Speaking of that, there's an interesting detail about all those flotilla videos. We have footage of a Turkish doctor treating the injuries of the IDF Commandos who were wrestled down. We also have extensive footage of the forty or so dead and wounded Turks -- and these were in the custody of the IDF for several hours on board the Mavi Marmara. Not a medic to be seen.
Thank you Amira. It is good to know we do have some brave people in Israel. The negative response that you are getting , are from the slime of our society .
the German's could allow atrocities to be committed against the Jews in WWII, they need only look at Israel today. How a moral society can degenerate over time is a lesson that should have been learned after the Holocaust, particularly by the Jews. Instead, the lesson learned seems to be that if you have power, use it and to hell with humanity. The accusations on this site that those of us who object to Israel's policies are anti-semitic, or that we are terrorists, is false. We recognize that Israel incarcerates, beats, tortures, and holds without trial, not only adults, but children. We recognize that this is unethical and immoral and totally unacceptable from a country that claims to be democratic and moral. If you were to step back from the paranoia and victimhood for a moment, you could see yourselves as the world sees you. It isn't a pretty sight. A real disappoint to those of us who used to strongly support you.
Defence for Children International (DCI) recently released a report on children in Israeli prisons. On individual, confidential questioning of children who have been or are currently in prison, 69% of them have been beaten, 81% have signed forced confessions, 50 of them had been subjected to severe torture - beatings with metal bars and limbs broken. An Israeli soldier stated to 'Breaking the Silence' in 2009: " We treat children roughly even though we know the vast majority are innocent. This is how we are trained to get information."
What deceiptful, misleading, manipulative rhetoric are they aiming for this time? I'll beliee it when they take responsibility for their others misinformed claims.
Is it any wonder why there is an ever growing litany of reasons why people no longer have sympathy for Israel? Not one sane person can justify this inhumane treatment of children by a so called "civilised" nation. What do these thugs tell their mothers, wives and children when they return home? I defended Israel against children today, are you very proud of me? If these aren't war crimes then they should be and punished in international war crimes tribunals. No one is ever immune. Ever.
It is easy for the Left to object when their members are arrested. It would be a point of principle if you objected when little Jewish boys and girls are subjected to much worse conditions - a situation which not a single member of the Left thinks is worthy of comment.
I am so tired of her columns which seek to blacken Israel's name, in minute and obsessive detail, and it resounds across the world. She lies and distorts information, and sows hatred which Israel's enemies latch on to and disseminate. She shows no balance in her rants and never has anything good to say about the substantial goodness in Israeli society or the humanity that is displayed daily. I wonder if this will be published as she is being protected by Haaretz.
Not to worry. Soon it'll all be over.
Of course, Amira HAAS has gone deeply through the file of these guys, and tell us in very deep knowledge of the facts...!!! All we have got to know, in her articles, as well as those of Gideon LEVY's, is the systematicity and, therefore, predictability of their positions. So systematic that it is now become more than suspicious... By the way, the minor in the photography illustrating the article is one of a suicide bomber who turned himself in to the soldiers... Amira cannot even check that!!! Before your write, please check: facts only facts.
Such honesty in reporting - it's not an innocent palestinian boy, but rather the picture is of an unsuccessful suicide bomber - or at least one that didn't explode. Taken in 2004. BTW - I don't think this one was even taken by Tal Cohen, rather by Nir from Reuters. Shame on you!
Who was responsible for the photograph? Normally not the reporter, usually an editor or sub-editor I would have thought. Maybe, incredibly, it's the only photograph they have?
until that day you will have displeasure of seeing them going prison. We can't catch them always when the plunge the knife in... And when we do they tend to booby trap church of Nativity and offer a choice of suicide and taking sacred grounds with them… or their happy life in EU on state sponsored welfare cradle to grave. They are not the first. We could not catch Capone doing same. But we did catch him... on tax evasion. As far as kids go, you should have seen what 5 Seattle policeman recently did to a Mexican kid. If IDF ever caught on camera doing same, UN will be voting to dismantle Israel next day.
We shouldn't forget one thing,The Creator of the universe will hold us accounable for our deeds.
Ummm isn't that the picture of that poor mentally challenged Palestinian boy duped by Hamas terrorists into strapping bombs around his body and sent to blow himself up at a checkpoint and the Israeli soldiers defused the bomb? 3ayb 3aleki ya Amira Hass, shame on you
come on, this is getting old.
Another piece of incoherent non-journalism from from the contemporary Quisling Amira Haas. Fortunately she preaches only to her choir of Arabs and global Jew-haters including, sadly, some Jews. Unfortunately this global anti-Smeitic chorus that feeds on her every malodorous canard against Israel is is very large as European post-Christians will not be content until the business of the Shoah is completed, and all Jews are gone.
your use of Quisling to discredit Mrs. Hass is missing any form of adequacy. Quisling was a Norwegian cooperating with the German occupying forces during the Second World War. According to the situation today in the occupied territories the term "Quisling" could only be used for an Palestinian voluntarily cooperating with the Israeli occupation forces.
Why does Haaretz keep employing Amira Haas? She doesn't contribute anything to this newspaper positive or negative. All she ever does is shed crocodile tears for the poor Palestinians. She is far from being objective.
Having been in the West Bank, I have talked with Palestinian children arrested by the IDF, handcuffed and blindfolded, hauled off to jail and held overnight. This happened on the basis of a settler child claiming the Palestinians threw stones at her. The charges were never substansiated nor formalized, but due process was denied. This is not uncommon.
You are quite right. Children should net be treated like that. Although, unfortunately, their parents often use their children in violating the law, throw stones etc. However, I would like ask to ask Ms Haas why she kept silent when the children of the settlers were arrested and treated not any better than the Arab children? Can Jewish children be abused? Why is she protesting only when Arab children are abused and says nothing when the same treatment is given to the settlers children?
That boy from the picture was a would-be suicide bomber. That's why he was detained! This is ridiculous. Hamas uses children as suicide bombers, human shields, and fighters, and the only ones Amira Hass can attack are the IDF who try to stop this.
It was particularly disappointing for me to start reading about the alleged abuse of Palestinian minors at the hands of Border Police or IDF personnel, without parents or lawyers, only to be pushed into personal epistolar disputes between the journalist and the spokesman for the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. I couldn't be less interested in the personal aura Ms. Hass wants to pigment the Israeli institutions, the Palestinian detainees and above all, herself. The article started well, and I wished the issue to be explored further, not in a personal light, but an impersonal one. Mr. Borat's detention matters. His filming doesn't, for this article at least. If documentaries were the issue, then it would be meaningful. This is a hodge-podge of grave accusations that do matter, with personal pigments that don't.
I am not religious but I truly hope journalists like you who help the oppressed go to heaven. If anyone deserves to go to heaven you people do please say hello to Mother Teresa from me. Of course I wish you a long and happy life though.
...not presenting any relevant context. I'd like to hear from the those involved in the detention of young persons about the motivation/justification for their actions. Being a child in and of itself does not absolve an individual from responsibility for dangerous acts. Let's not pretend that children haven't been used in many facets of the operations against Israel supporting terrorism, or that children are inherently innocent and not a risk. Let's not pretend that a child cannot be a dangerous person (it's a reality many people refuse to accept). If children (or adults) are indeed being unjustly mistreated, then of course this is a serious problem that must be addressed by all relevant governmental and non-governmental groups and individuals. Given Hass' reputation on these matters, however, I'll take her report with more than a few grains of salt.
no comments can be made about this article. If it is true, and I dont believe it is untrue, the facts speacks by themeselves.
Please do not succumb to the most moral military in the world - what a twist of words!!! They are a shame on all Jews who sincerely want peace.
One of my beliefs (I am sure this will be taken as proof of my antisemitism,) is that what is wrong when done to a Jew is wrong when done by a Jew. How many who support such actions would be outraged if another country treated Jews this way?
finally you had a glimmer of thought that might lead you somewhere, if only for a moment... I would expect speedy clarification that will make me look rude and crass... who cares only about Jewish people... I feel so sorry getting into this argument with you. And I am sorry messing into this filth Nativity. Only filth floats on top.
Israel is not a country with people who feel anything at all except for their own. One day we will hopefully see all those who get off on cruelty and break the laws of the country, and the world, behind bars or swinging on the end of a rope like all other terrorists that have been dealt with so far. Israel is a hated country and whilst you may have a huge military stockpile of weapons that wont save you from the worlds citizens putting sanctions on Israel and making her pay economically. The word is spreading...and you will pay one way or another. Children are our most precious resource for a peaceful world...no matter their race or religion...you would think Israel would be trying to show them a different side so as to allow them to think their is a possibility of living together...but your society is just too sick.
There is no doubt that there are Israelis who give a damn for the Palestinians who suffer the indignities that Israeli society inflicts upon them. However, the truth is that Israeli ugly behavior is now part of the Israeli psyche and a few good apples in this barrel of rotten apples is not enough to rectify the problem. It is too late. Thank you for your reports, Amira. Keep up your good work.
. . the same 14 year old mentally retarded kid that Pali "freedom fighters" sent to the checkpoint outside Nablus with a suicide strapped to his chest. They tried to detonate the explosives from afar when the saw that the handicapped kid had been discovered. The freedom fighters did not care that the boy and other Pali civilians waiting in line would surely die when they called the cellphone and tried to detonate him. The soldiers then provided the child with that jacket after he cut the suicide vest off. A photo is truly worth more than a trillion self righteous words from Miss Hass. What a hypocrite,
The Palestinian youth in the picture featured in this article was detained after trying to commit a suicide bombing at a checkpoint. This picture does not correspond to this story.
I know you are incapable of hearing the other side, but I'll try. Of course there are probably unnecessary abuses in the IDF. But we are fighting an enemy that doesn't operate under international law, either. We can't have our hands tied by laws if they won't tie theirs. That would be certain defeat.
"They do bad things, so we should do bad things too." In doing so, you just sink to a lower level.
what a cold blooded idiot!! Its children we are talking about..soften your heart a bit ..its people on both sides of the issue that make it difficult o come to a peaceful solution
So we are only as moral as they are?
you write "unnecessary abuses" so you admit they are unnecessary I agree beating up children and imprisoning them is morally wrong but then "We can't have our hands tied by laws"? oh yes we can, because we are on the moral high ground, if you torture them they will torture you, and you have sunk to their level...as for "certain defeat" yes the occupation will be defeated, they always are...
Perpetrating an occupation ultimately destroys the morality of even the most righteous nation, if it is allowed to fester. It leads the inevitable dehumanization of the occupied by the occupier, and the inevitable frustration of the soldiers who have to do the dirty work of the occupation. Is it any wonder soldiers and police take out these frustrations on the helpless? This occupation is destroying Israel and everything that is good about it. Israel has got to end it as soon as possible, if only to save itself.
Israel was never a righteous nation. It was founded on violence, land and property theft. It was expanded by the same means. Please spare us the drivel about Israeli soldiers taking out their frustrations on the helpless. That is what they are trained to do.
Defence for Children International (DCI) recently released a report on children in Israeli prisons. On individual, confidential questioning of children who have been or are currently in prison, 69% of them have been beaten, 81% have signed forced confessions, 50 of them had been subjected to severe torture - beatings with metal bars and limbs broken. An Israeli soldier stated to 'Breaking the Silence' in 2009: " We treat children roughly even though we know the vast majority are innocent. This is how we are trained to get information."
For example, who is that soldier who said who trained him (instead of that "we") to mistreat children? That "50" in your post. Is it 50 children or 50% of children?
You are totally right.