Palestinian children tried in military courts | Israel’s hard-line stance

[dexter]

More than 700 Palestinian children and young people are arrested every year by the Israeli army. Some are locked up for years, usually because they’ve thrown stones at occupying Israeli troops.

Whereas Israeli youngsters caught doing something similar are tried in civilian courts, Palestinian children are put through the military justice system, inevitably resulting in harsher punishments. A UNICEF report from the year 2013 accused Israel of crimes against humanity in its treatment of Palestinian children. Adam Darwish, Ali Jawarish, Muhammad Al-Masaid, and Anas Al-Masaid all served long prison terms. For the film, they were willing to watch video recordings of their interrogations by Israeli military police and talk about what happened to them. Their stories mirror those of thousands of Palestinian children arrested by the Israeli army in recent years. They’re also part of the history of the State of Israel, which has been exacerbating the situation of people in the occupied territories for decades with a settlement policy that is illegal under international law. The film also hears from representatives from the Israeli side. These include a soldier involved in numerous arrests and a former military prosecutor. Their statements shine a light on this common practice, the impact of which resonates far beyond the four individual stories told here.