Al-Ayaam, Ramallah, April 4
Photos of young Palestinian teens detained and arrested by the Israeli Occupation Forces have, sadly enough, become too commonplace in our everyday lives—we see them on television, social media and in newspapers. What is less known, however, is what happens to these children once they are thrown in jail. There, in the dark recesses of solitary confinement, these young Palestinian boys and girls are stripped of their basic rights and subjected to manipulation and torture until they reluctantly plead guilty. Indeed, a recent study on Palestinian minors held in Israeli prisons revealed that over 90 percent of them end up being convicted for their alleged crimes—an incredibly high rate that raises serious doubts about the objectivity of Israeli courts. This is in part because many children detainees, some of whom have barely completed middle school, are pressured into accepting dubious plea bargains just to avoid ongoing detention. To make matters worse, only a handful of them are allowed to inform their families as to their whereabouts, let alone consult with a lawyer before being taken to court. This is a truly horrifying reality that we have preferred to ignore. Young boys and girls exercising their basic right to protest the unjust Israeli occupation are being harassed in interrogation centers and military courts until a verdict is thrown their way. Meanwhile, Israel continues to censor these practices through the use of ambiguous legal jargon and lengthy court orders. In the rare instances in which children actually return home, their childhoods have already been lost. – Mohmmad Hammady