23 Nov 2019; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces detained a 13-year-old Palestinian child, then led him around Hebron blindfolded, reported human rights NGO B’Tselem.
The incident occurred on the morning of 3 November, when soldiers seized ‘Abd a-Razeq Idris, 13, from the Abu Jales neighbourhood of the occupied West Bank city.
As related by B’Tselem, the soldiers put the boy in a jeep, “blindfolded him and drove him around”, then took him to another neighbourhood roughly 1km from his home, “where they took him out of the jeep and walked him, blindfolded, through the streets”.
“I was really scared and didn’t understand what was going on. I sat in the jeep and didn’t say a word. One of the soldiers slapped and kicked me. He spoke to me in Hebrew so I couldn’t understand what he was saying”, ‘Abd a-Razeq Idris told a B’Tselem researcher.
When the boy’s father arrived, soldiers refused to release him and instead drove him to a military post based in Kiryat Arba settlement – despite telling the father they were taking him to a police station. ‘Abd a-Razeq was “asked about stone-throwers and sent home alone” at around 2pm.
“My mom was really worried, and when I got home, she and my grandma hugged me and cried. I didn’t do anything, and I didn’t throw any stones. I have no idea what the soldiers wanted from me”, said ‘Abd a-Razeq Idris.
According to B’Tselem, “this case is no aberration” but rather “part of the routine violence imposed on Palestinians in Hebron” by Israeli forces and settlers, “including physical attacks, threats, verbal abuse, soldiers’ incursions into homes (usually at night) – and the false arrest of minors and adults”.
While “Israel cites security to justify this conduct and the segregation it imposes on the city”, B’Tselem described such claims as “baseless” and “serve merely to bolster a policy of driving Palestinians to leave Hebron by making daily life unbearable”.
