{"id":28278,"date":"2013-04-29T12:00:35","date_gmt":"2013-04-29T11:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=28278"},"modified":"2015-05-06T12:53:09","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T11:53:09","slug":"tell-us-about-jail-just-in-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2013\/04\/tell-us-about-jail-just-in-case\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Tell Us about Jail \u2013 Just in Case\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hebron, Occupied West Bank, Apr 22 2013<\/i> – \u201cThree interrogators questioned me for three hours. I was handcuffed. They beat me, slapped me, kicked me, boxed me, accused me of throwing stones; played a video of a demonstration. I denied I was there. So again, they beat me up,\u201d recounts Zein Abu-Mariya, 17, seated on a sofa next to dad.<\/p>\n

\"Zein<\/a>

Zein Abu-Mariya (17) with his parents after nine months in Israeli custody. Credit: Pierre Klochendler\/IPS.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThey pressured my son to confess,\u201d Hisham chimes in. \u201c\u2018If you don\u2019t sign, you\u2019ll be treated like an animal,\u2019 they threatened.\u201d Zein acquiesces.<\/p>\n

In March 2012, in the dead of night, he was arrested by Israeli soldiers. Thirty-six hours later, he was brought before a judge. He stood at 35 court hearings, spent nine months in the HaSharon jail minors section; yet was never convicted.<\/p>\n

In January, his father finally managed to bail him out. Back home, waiting for an impending court hearing, Zein strikes a defiant pose: \u201cI don\u2019t want to go back to jail, but I\u2019m not afraid; I got used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s gone back to school, but he was held back one year. \u201cMy friends ask me what jail is like \u2013 just in case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zein\u2019s testimony \u2013 like that of many other minors \u2013 reveals one of the most painfully enduring experiences of life under occupation.<\/p>\n

\u201cPut yourself in their shoes,\u201d U.S. President Barack Obama recently told young Israelis. The issue of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention provides a dramatic example of just how far the U.S. president\u2019s plea is from being fulfilled.<\/p>\n

In February, 236 Palestinian minors were incarcerated \u2013 39 aged 12 to 15 \u2013 reports rights group Defence of Children International.<\/p>\n

Each year for the past ten years, 700 children aged 12 to 17, most of them boys, are arrested by Israel \u2013 an average of two per day\u2013 estimates the United Nations Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) in a report also published in February.<\/p>\n

UNICEF concludes that ill-treatment of imprisoned children \u201cappears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalised\u201d throughout the process, from arrest to interrogation, prosecution, eventual conviction and condemnation.<\/p>\n

Its report points to practices that \u201camount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention against Torture\u201d ratified by Israel.<\/p>\n

Parents aren\u2019t always notified of their child\u2019s arrest. Most arrests occur at night. During questioning, minors are denied access to a lawyer, or the presence of a relative. Most are accused of throwing stones at Israeli soldiers and vehicles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese stones can cause death,\u201d maintains Israeli Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Ilana Stein. \u201cBut putting children in jail isn\u2019t something we like.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report\u2019s 38 recommendations for bettering the rightful protection of Palestinian children are assigned dutiful consideration. \u201cWe actually worked on the report with UNICEF because we want to improve the treatment of detained Palestinian children,\u201d Stein says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch Israeli reaction is good,\u201d welcomes \u2018Adli Da\u2019ana, education officer with UNICEF in Hebron. \u201cBut on March 20, they grabbed 27 kids in the Old City of Hebron, just like that, in one fell swoop. So is this what they call re-considering their policy?\u201d<\/p>\n

Military laws are particularly harsh on children.<\/p>\n

The alternative Israeli website 972.com recently brought up the imaginary case study of two 12-year-olds \u2013 one Israeli settler, one Palestinian \u2013 getting into a fight, and compared the judicial consequences.<\/p>\n

An Israeli minor sees a judge within 12 hours; for a Palestinian child, it could take up to four days. Before seeing a lawyer, an Israeli child can be held for two days, a Palestinian child for 90 days. An Israeli child can be held 40 days without charge; a Palestinian child, 60 days.<\/p>\n

A 12-year-old Israeli can\u2019t be held during trial; a 12-year-old Palestinian can be held up to 18 months before trial.<\/p>\n

Chances of bail before trial stand at 80 percent for Israeli children, at 13 percent for Palestinian children. And while there is no custodial sentencing in Israeli civilian law for a minor under 14, a 12 year-old Palestinian can be incarcerated under Israeli military law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most urgent change is to ensure children spend the least possible time in jail,\u201d urges Na\u2019ama Baumgarten-Sharon, researcher at B\u2019tselem, the Israeli human right organisation. \u201cChildren must be brought before a judge in much less time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Implemented starting Apr. 2, a military order supposed to reduce the length of pre-trial detention stipulates that Palestinian children under 14 should be brought before a judge within 24 hours of arrest and children aged 14 to 18 within 48 hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when there\u2019s realisation that things need to change, it\u2019s a slow process,\u201d notes Baumgarten-Sharon. \u201cThe only form of punishment is jail. There\u2019s no other alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smain Najjar lives in the Jewish-controlled part of Hebron. Only 17, he\u2019s already been arrested four times on suspicion of stone throwing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time, it was while playing soccer with friends. I was nine. They locked me in a cold-storage box for six hours; then let me go.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second time \u2013 I was 11 \u2013 they held me for three hours at a nearby checkpoint because I got into an argument with a settler my age.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe third time, they took me to the nearby settlement\u2019s police station; I was 14.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fourth time \u2013 last November, during Israel\u2019s military operation on Gaza \u2013 I spent four days at the Ofer detention centre. I\u2019d been arrested on my way home from an evening shift at a coffee shop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anxious, his mother Suad kept calling his cellphone. After a while, a voice answered, and ordered, \u201cStop calling this number, we\u2019ve arrested your child.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smain has dropped out of school. \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll become a sports coach,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe help these kids find their future, rebuild their personality. Unfortunately, sometimes we fail. Once arrested, it\u2019s a cycle of arrests,\u201d says psycho-social counsellor Ala\u2019 Abu-Ayyash.<\/p>\n

Smain likes to take refuge in his dovecote. He says the doves provide an escape from the darkness of life. The doves circle in disarray till one is caught.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 ipsnews.net<\/a><\/p>\n

Join the BDS-BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS<\/i> <\/b><\/span>campaign to protest the Israeli barbaric siege of Gaza, illegal occupation of the Palestine nation\u2019s territory, the apartheid wall, its inhuman and degrading treatment of the Palestinian people, and the more than 7,000 Palestinian men, women, elderly and children arbitrarily locked up in Israeli prisons.<\/p>\n

DON’T BUY<\/b> PRODUCTS WHOSE<\/b> BARCODE<\/b> STARTS WITH<\/b> 729<\/b>, which indicates that it is produced in Israel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 DO YOUR PART! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

7 2 9: BOYCOTT FOR JUSTICE!<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hebron, Occupied West Bank, Apr 22 2013 – \u201cThree interrogators questioned me for three hours. I was handcuffed. They beat me, slapped me, kicked me, boxed me, accused me of throwing stones; played a video of a demonstration. I denied I was there. So again, they beat me up,\u201d recounts Zein Abu-Mariya, 17, seated on a sofa next to dad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-palestine-israel-gaza-genocide","category-justice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}