- NABLUS, Palestine (IPC) -
The Israeli pre-programmed campaign against children in the West Bank,
especially the city of Nablus, has been recently stepped up.
-
- In one day, the Israeli occupying forces (IOF) arrested
two young girls, after raiding their homes and terrorizing them and their
families, leading both girls, younger than 15 years of age, into the military
jeep in their pajamas, despite the begging and cries of their families.
-
- Aseel Al Hendi, born on October 10, 1989 and a ninth
grade student at the Al Fatemiya School in Nablus, was arrested on the
dawn of June 16, after large forces of the Israeli occupation surrounded
her family's house and ordered all dwellers to come out barefooted with
their house gowns. Aseel begged the soldiers to give her time to wear proper
clothes and some shoes, but they were deaf to her cries.
-
- Then the barbaric interrogation of the mother and Aseel's
young siblings, the oldest is 14, with the soldiers shoving the mother's
shoulder with the butts of their rifles and shouting at them. The horrified
children were too afraid to even breathe.
-
- After checking everybody's ID card, they found out that
Aseel was only 15 years old, but that did not prevent them from leading
her into the military jeep along with her father, leaving the mother behind
crying and begging the soldiers to let her child wear at least some shoes.
-
- Al Hendi's mother said her daughter is considered one
of the best students in her class, enjoys reading and has interests in
computers. She was hoping to travel abroad to pursue her postgraduate studies.
-
- At the same night, the Israeli forces had a date with
another young flower to pick in the middle of night, and in the same cruelty,
they advanced to the Rafidia neighborhood, where they surrounded the house
of Al Kokhen family and arrested their 15-year-old daughter Majd.
-
- Majd was born on April 7, 1989 and with her arrest, she
was deprived of participation in the honoring ceremony of her scout group
at the Al Fatemiya School.
-
- IPC correspondent said that the Israeli forces surrounded
the Al Kokhen family house and then ordered all the dwellers of the house
to leave immediately. Afterwards, the soldiers barbarically checked the
family members' ID cards, before asking about Majd in a sharp tone, as
the Israeli soldier was holding a list of names in his hand.
-
- Majd, who was arrested by the occupying forces and thrown
into the military jeep along with her father, is under the international
standard of childhood, so she isconsidered a child. The IOF troops argue
that she was two months older than 15!
-
- Majd's mother watched in silent tears as the jeep that
has her daughter and husband drive away to the western part of the city,
praying that it won't be the last time she sees them.
-
- According to Al Kokhen's teachers, she was also a top
student, and led the basketball team of her school. She has also artistic
and sports interested, in addition to her preparation to join the "Seeds
of Peace" international organization for her beliefs in the virtue
of peace.
-
- After 24 hours of detention and interrogation at Howara
military base, both Aseel's and Majd's fathers were released, but without
their daughters, and later they were both transferred to the notorious
"Al Ramleh" prison, according to the complaints office "Hamoked"
in Jerusalem.
-
- The Association of Prisoners and Ex-Detainees "Hossam"
says that the Israeli occupying authorities torture even the children inside
the Israeli jails and concentration camps, pointing out that child prisoners
are frequently tortured, and this was particularly obvious in the "Etzion"
prison, where children were being beaten and placed in solitary confinement
cells, after being stretched all night on barbed razor wire in the prison's
yard.
-
- Also, the children are also deprived of hot water and
bathroom visits, due to which hygienic problems spread among them, especially
when treatment is not provided and cleaning materials are not present.
-
- According to a report by the Palestinian National Information
Center (PNIC) in Gaza, the number of children that have been imprisoned
in Israeli jails has reached more than 2,500 children, 463 of them are
still inside prisons. The ratio of children among the Palestinian prisoners
is 7.6%.
-
- 243 children are still detained pending trial, while
22 others are "administratively detained" without charge or trial.
-
- As for the female children, they are sent immediately
to the infamous "Neveh Tirtza" prison, which has frequently witnessed
since April 2001 attacks on the Palestinian female prisoners there by the
Israeli wardens and shock troopers. During these attacks, their personal
possessions were confiscated, and some of them were placed in solitary
confinement, such as the prisoner Soad Ghazal, 17, who was placed in a
solitary confinement cell of two square meters.
-
- PNA International Press Center
-
- <http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2004%20News%20archives/
June/24%20n/Israeli%20Occupation%20Soldiers%20Arrest%20Two%2015-
Year%20Old%20Palestinian%20Girls%20Aseel%20Al-Hendi%20and%20Majd
%20Al%20Kokhen,%20in%20Nablus.htm>
|
