Israel ‘systematically mistreats’ Palestinian children in custody

Juan Cole reports that Israel ‘systematically mistreats’ Palestinian children in custody.

Some 700 Palestinian children per year are arrested and face “ill-treatment” by Israeli forces, according to a new report by a children’s rights group.

In the report, Child Rights International Network said that “during 2014, an average of 197 children were held in military detention every month, 13 per cent of whom are under the age of 16.”

“Arrested children are commonly taken into custody by heavily armed soldiers, blindfolded with their wrists tied behind their backs before being transported to an interrogation centre,” the CRIN report said.

“Children questioned about their experience frequently report verbal and physical abuse during the arrest.”

According to research conducted by Defense for Children International — Palestine cited by the report, some 56 percent of children report having experienced “coercive” interrogation techniques during their time in Israeli custody.

Some 42 percent say they signed documents in Hebrew, despite the fact that most Palestinian children do not speak or understand the language.

Additionally, 22 percent of detained children say they underwent up to 24 hours of solitary confinement, in violation of international standards.

Emphasis Mine

Can you imagine the sheer depth of racism that must pervade Israeli society for this type of child abuse to be unremarkable? And for the Western media to gloss over such a report?

Here, in Australia, the systemic abuse of children in churches, schools, youth organisations, etc is currently the subject of an ongoing royal commission. Daily, the media has reports about the latest scandal to emerge from this inquiry.

Yet, on the subject of the pervasive child abuse by the IDF, the Australian media is silent.

Racism blinds one to such horrors.