A, now 18, demonstrates a position he was restrained in for hours at a time many times during the course of his 25 months in prison. (Photo: Jo Ehrlich)
Two boys from Dheisheh were arrested the other day at the Beit Jala/Jerusalem checkpoint. I read the news in Ma’an. The description of the arrest reads:
“Two youth from the Dheisheh Refugee Camp in Bethlehem were in fact detained, the military spokeswoman said, noting they were transferred to Israeli border police. She said the two were carrying a "15cm knife and a Japanese knife" respectively.”
This description clearly leaves much to be desired. Ok, two knives, one very small and what is a “Japanese knife”? But more to the point, what exactly did they do with the knives? Stab someone? Attempt to stab someone? Get caught trying to sneak the knives into Israel?
I wasn’t able to find any more information on the Internet so I asked some friends in Dheisheh if they knew what had happened. They knew about the incident of course, one of the boys lived on their street.
What happened? I asked
They brought knives to the checkpoint my friend Ahmad answered.
And what did they do with them? I asked.
They just brought them to the checkpoint he said. They didn’t want to do anything with them.
Then, why? I asked incredulous.
They wanted to get arrested. They think that maybe jail is better then the refugee camp. They see the boys who come back, who get some money and respect. They don’t realize what it is like in prison. He finished.
Shocking, but this type of incident, youth purposely attempting to get arrested by Israel, is not an isolated phenomenon. Most notably perhaps were the teenage girls Bara’a M. and Samah S. Bara’a was released along with 18 other women this past fall, in a “show of good faith” by Israel as part of the Shalit negotiations. At the time of her release she had served all but one month of her eleven month sentence. The two were fourteen when they were arrested.
Samah S.’s statement, part of a repository of statements from child Palestinian prisoners published by Defense For Children International begins:
“I was born on 25 April 1994. I am in the ninth grade.
On 1 December 2008, a day before I was arrested, I went to Bara’a M’s house and asked her to find a way to get imprisoned. I told her that we could go to Qalandiya checkpoint and take knives with us so that the soldiers would see us and arrest us.” (PDF, page 86)
As bad as the situation is under occupation, the fantasy that life will be better in an Israeil jail seems to be misplaced. Recently I sat down and spoke with a young man, also from Dheisheh Refugee Camp, who had just been released from prison.
A. recreates another position he was restrained in while held in an Israeli prison. (Photo: Jo Ehrlich)
The story of his 25 months in prison is brutal. Told to me in his cousin’s living room, over many cups of coffee it overturned any illusions I had of what prison in the “democracy” of Israel looked like. My closest reference point was what I have read of the conditions at Abu Ghraib, not surprising I guess, military occupations tend to share certain characteristics. Arrested at 16, his interrogation, “trial” and time in prison were marked by coercion (his interrogators repeatedly attempted to implicate him in crimes he did not commit), a foggy legal process (he was held in detention for 17 months before he was sentenced) and experienced what could only be described as torture (guards would regularly beat prisoners, wake them by douses of ice water and throw tear gas bombs into the prison yard). Although this sounds extreme it is absolutely in line with research into the conditions for Palestinian’s in Israeli prisons documented by B’tselem and Defense for Children International.
What does this tell us about the occupation? The obvious question is what must the day-to-day life be like under occupation that some Palestinian children think Israeli prison might be a better option. But the question that interests me more is what are the goals of the Israeli state that they find it in their interest to arrest and convict children arrested under these pretenses?
Jo Ehrlich is a graduate student from the United States. She is currently living, working and learning in Dheisheh refugee camp in occupied Palestine.
‘merca lends a hand:
CIA working with Palestinian security agents
Palestinian security agents who have been detaining and allegedly torturing supporters of the Islamist organisation Hamas in the West Bank have been working closely with the CIA, the Guardian has learned.
Less than a year after Barack Obama signed an executive order that prohibited torture and provided for the lawful interrogation of detainees in US custody, evidence is emerging the CIA is co-operating with security agents whose continuing use of torture has been widely documented by human rights groups.
The relationship between the CIA and the two Palestinian agencies involved – Preventive Security Organisation (PSO) and General Intelligence Service (GI) – is said by some western diplomats and other officials in the region to be so close that the American agency appears to be supervising the Palestinians’ work.
link to guardian.co.uk
Bush said “America doesn’t torture.” And we did.
Obama says, “America doesn’t torture.” And we…?
Of $500million in aid being earmarked for the PA, $100million is for training the Daytonistas.
This is going to be another one of those threads that Witty completely pretends never existed, I’m guessing. “Humanist” that he is, and all.
Hey this story can’t be true. Jeffrey Goldberg wrote a whole book about the time he spent as a prison guard in Israel (he served in the IDF and spent his time in a Palestinian prison) and doesn’t mention acts like this.
Makes you wonder about the Rahmbo and what he picked up during his time with the IDF, huh?
which branch did he serve in? who did he serve with?
Pingback: To some Palestinian children the antidote to Israeli occupation is … Children Me
A “Japanese knife” is a box-cutter in Israeli parlance.
Seriously? With no offense intended to you… do they seriously racialize everything in Israel?
Seriously, it’s probably just borrowed from another language (Japanmesser), like the names of a lot of tools and mechanical equipment.
Thanks, Smuel, I suspected something like that when I read it.
We use Engländer = Englishman for this tool, . Well strictly, I don’t, I use the technical term, but you hear it frequently.
sorry, Shmuel, I always have to concentrate otherwise I miss the “h”.
gone again.
In Israel, that’s a “Swedish wrench”.
We use the term “monkey wrench”–I guess because it’s not a specialized size open-end wrench (or closed-end). So, any layman or money can use it to get the job done by adjusting–it’s not a firm grip always, but it’s adjustable, hence more versatile then any one sized wrench–don’t need a whole set of wrenches for a quick job. The big size monkey wrenches are called plumber’s wrenches.
At least that’s what I recall.
I can’t think of any hand tool we call an ethnic or national name…
Nah, you just name them after poor defenseless primates ;-)
In Israel, that’s a “Swedish wrench”.
Interesting, I remember I once wanted to look into the history of this usage, but never did. Look, this is our Franzose = Frenchman.
If you will perhaps forgive me for flexing my long-dormant polyglot muscles, but: Sind Sie im Deutschland, LeaNder, oder im andere Land? (And forgive me if that turns out not being intelligible, it’s been a long time. :) )
In Spanish, a monkey wrench is an “English key (wrench).”
Yes, Chaos, that’s right. I changed my avatar back to normal to make it more easily perceptible to you.
Sind Sie in Deutschland, LeaNder, oder in einem anderen Land.
but on this blog the more likely version would be
Bist du in Deutschland, LeaNder, oder in einem anderen Land?
Answer: Ja!
Genauer gesagt in Köln/Cologne or Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium
Avatar: Will take some time to work. The original is black and white.
Hey guys,
French TV just passed an excellent 30 minutes reportage about Gaza, it was broadcast in the prime time, very powerful sensitive message, if any French speaking people here you can watch it at link to thalassa.france3.fr
How cruel you Zionists are!!!! GRRRRR Witty and Yonira please watch out the cruelty of your idols
“1. Sleep deprivation for over 24 hours (15 cases);
2. “Dry” beatings (17 cases);
3. Painful tightening of handcuffs, sometimes while cutting off blood flow (5 cases);
4. Sudden pulling of the body while causing pain in the hand joints which are cuffed to the chair (6 cases);
5. Sudden tilting of the head sideways or backwards (8 cases);
6. The “frog” crouch (forcing the detainees to crouch on tiptoes) accompanied by shoving (3 cases);
7. The “banana” position – bending the back of the interrogee in an arch while he is seated on a backless chair (5 cases).”
Another known as “Palestinian hanging,” where the person is hung from their arms tied together at their back, it is commonly called stappado, or crucifixion. Greatly used in Iraq, many variations of severity (arms waist level behind back, slightly elevated, and completely lifted off the ground or to the point of standing on toes), and part of the training given to “interrogators.” We find many instances again in Iraq as an example, arms linked to upper bunk bed, or to bars on a window, etc.
B’Tselem Report On Palestinians Being Tortured
As a further example, you can see some photographs of “Palestinian hanging” at my site from Abu Ghraib, particularly from bars on windows, etc. -
WE WANT THE WORLD AND WE WANT IT NOW
If you keep scrolling you will see more of an expose (some of them in the “no release” files). It leave a pall over you, like when you view Philip Guston’s The Tormentors painting.
So why did I post this? It is because I do not believe that some still grasp the depth of the depravity we are dealing with in both Israel and the USA. It is not really your fault, it is hard to conceive the reprobate nature of the activity, it is not normal.
“But the question that interests me more is what are the goals of the Israeli state finds it in their interest to arrest and convict children arrested under these pretenses?”
Indeed, what is the goal? First of all the population is almost 50% children. My belief is that they are investing in the radicalization of the next generation, as well as planting fear deep in the psyche of the child. They throw them into the adult population of the prison, there is no child’s section – even if they are trying to start a juvenile court at this juncture (after so many years?). All in all they are in the process of trying to destroy the generations, that is, to cause such abnormality that it is impossible to continue in the simple family and institutional structure. It portends a malleability to the point of slavery, and for those who do not break a radicalism that gives them the excuse to annihilate them.
It is close to what the function of the massacre in Iraq did and is still doing to the children, as a parallel –
DESTROYING THE CHILDREN OF IRAQ
Further evidence of the intent to destroy by Israel -
“The Israeli authorities closed down all the commercial crossings between Israel and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Friday…Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses said that Israeli army vehicles rolled several hundred meters into east of al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip.
The witnesses said five Israeli army bulldozers backed by three armored vehicles drove about 350 meters into the area and razed agricultural lands east of the refugee camp. ”
Israel shuts down all commercial crossings with Gaza
Nooooo……. Army? bulldozers? in Gaza after 2005 disengagement?
Didn’t Israeli’s left Gaza to let it become a new Singapore?
Israeli connection to US torturing in Iraq:
link to mombu.com
“An article by Dexter Filkins in the New York Times on December 7, 2003 reported that the rules of engagement used by the U.S. in Iraq were modeled on the Israeli rules for Gaza and the West Bank.” And, here too, the larger US-Israel context that is in accord with the larger consensus on this blog in my opinion:
link to huffingtonpost.com
In regard to “rules of engagement” Citizen, one cannot but help to see the distinct parallels between Israeli and American activity. In fact, the numbers of Israeli “contractors” in Iraq per person has been said to be about 10,000 participants. On the rules of engagement no one seems to bring out the full implications, it is done in bits and pieces so you have to pull all of the facts together to get the full picture.
UNITED STATES OCCUPATION FORCE KILLS 10,000 OR MORE IRAQIS PER MONTH
The parallels are undeniable, all the way to the “separation walls” which many communities are isolated within.
I read that article years ago and I’d like to see some more evidence before I assume it’s correct. I followed the debate over the number of Iraqi deaths almost obsessively for several years and frankly, I don’t think one can say much beyond that the death toll is somewhere between 100,000 and over a million and the number caused directly by US forces is also very very uncertain. (Personally, I suspect a number somewhere in the middle of that.) Wikipedia has a pretty good collection of references to all the various polls, surveys, and reports on the subject–
link
I can appreciate your concern for accuracy Donald, that is why everything I write about is mostly doubly or triple confirmed by credible sources. When you are studying a subject like this it is worth asking if someone (“various polls, surveys, and reports”) has a vested interest in controlling information. In fact, you might ask yourself why there is such a drop recently in reporting from Iraq? Let me tell you why, because “sources” want you to think that the case should be closed, and that no follow up on anything should be done (see this administrations amazing cover up act, and hence plea for impunity).
I am afraid it goes a bit further than many have been lead to believe. Even if you want to dispute higher figures (which is the tendency of all who rely on MSM), you certainly cannot dispute the facts and figures out of Iraq from the sanctions forward. I might add, someone who allows over half a million children to die via sanctions has no qualms about lying with figures in regard to the dead, and who killed whom in Iraq. This country took decades to admit how many of our own were killed in Vietnam, the history books are full of vociferous lies, and the tales about “clean wars” are just that, lying tales.
In fact, let me clear the deck a little bit about “clean wars” and incisive preemptive strikes, etc. This is worth watching all the way through if you have not seen it yet –
MILITAINMENT
In fact, if you will note with me the “shock and awe” of the Iraq war was supposed to be like the “shock and awe” of Cast Lead with Gaza. The similar notes of overwhelming force in “response” (the shock and awe of Iraq was just a “valid” as the shock and awe of Cast Lead, zero). Both are displays of disproportionate force…hmmm… Also, the specific reason I showed this in the “news and entertainment” vein is obvious, especially when you see who authored the shock and awe narrative.
Here’s a recent Red Cross, very short article, saying currently Iraqis die at an average of 500 a month–I guess from all murderous sources.
link to reuters.com
I listened to an NPR program that was lauding how “Western” fashion — specifically for women — was returning to Iraqi society. I was pretty sickened by the tone of the piece, actually. They skimmed very neatly over the fact that modern fashion had been common before 2003 — that is, before the United States destroyed modern Iraq.
The fact is, the Islamic militarism was imported by us. Bush disbanded Iraq’s defenses to criminal or fanatical influences by disbanding the law enforcement/military infrastructure, and I do believe he did that with the express purpose of letting Iraq fall into a level of sectarian violence that it hasn’t known for literally ages. If at all.
The United States killed Iraq, or at least tried our damnedest to strike it a death blow. And that’s something I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive myself or my country for, being a part of that, even in dissent.
“I listened to an NPR program that was lauding how “Western” fashion — specifically for women — was returning to Iraqi society. I was pretty sickened by the tone of the piece, actually. ”
That self-congratulatory tone you identify is pretty much the norm for mainstream “liberal” media outlets. You get it at NPR (which I rarely listen to) and all the time at the NYT. The Sunday Week in Review section of the NYT is virtually a weekly hymn to America’s “good intentions” overseas. For this type of liberal, the US is God’s gift to the world and when we do something wrong, it’s because we underestimated the depravity of our enemies or, at worst, a tiny handful of Americans turned out to be less than perfect. Tom Friedman, for instance, is skeptical about the Afghan War, but because he’s not sure the Afghans are worthy of our help.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is where you hear this tone all the time, with the Israelis usually seen as an extension of the US (good, noble, Western, etc…, but maybe a little bit mistaken regarding the settlements). But you also hear it all the time in issues that have nothing to do with Israel. It’s ingrained in the American character to see ourselves and some of our allies (such as Israel) like this.
I usually have my local state public radio channel on, at this point. The conversations are far more balanced, more objective and have much more variety and they are willing to confront sensitive issues.
I used to like NPR better but admittedly, I could take it or leave it now. They’re better than… well, nothing, I suppose, which is essentially what we’ve have for serious news without them in the US (not to trivialize Democracy Now! or GritTV but those outlets are still being shut out of the mainstream)
Back in the 70s, I met a Swiss representative of the Red Cross in Jordan. At that time, I was still pro-Israeli, so I asked him:
“Surely, Israeli (ie white) prisons are better than Jordanian ones?
“No”, he said, “They’re much worse” (and gave me chapter and verse on the torture, lack of legal process, etc.)
When we begin to understand that Israel is a much more shitty little Levantine country than its neighbours, and has somehow attached itself and taken over the thinking processes of the US, then things begin to fall into place.
link to en.wikipedia.org
Psychologically, the act of provoking arrest to get to Israeli Prison has the same rationale as self-harm has in Federal Correctional Facility to get oneself transferred to the hospital wing.
Plus as a young Palestinian you get to see the foreign country – Israel, and it may be your only ever chance of getting permit/opportunity to see beyond your own village.
Nobody would argue that any of this is rational, but that is why children are treated differently in the judicial systems of civilised countries.
Correcto mundo, Eva.
@Citizen Thanks for this link:
link to huffingtonpost.com
The opening para:
Sounds like the normal Israeli apologia. He doesn’t mention the November 24th ‘incident’ that Israel caused to break the ceasefire, and give them an opportunity to punish the people of Gaza, as a whole.
But after the first para, he lets it rip:
RE: “Arrested at 16, his interrogation, “trial” and time in prison were marked by coercion (his interrogators repeatedly attempted to implicate him in crimes he did not commit), a foggy legal process (he was held in detention for 17 months before he was sentenced) and experienced what could only be described as torture”
TWO WORDS: Franz Kafka