To view the on-line version click here [1].

CPTnet
30 May 2012
*AL-KHALIL (**HEBRON**): Mother’s persistence wins five boys’ freedom
from Israeli detention*

Five Israeli soldiers detained five children and backhanded at least one of
them in Hebron on 28 May.

Two CPTers on evening patrol observed two Israeli soldiers approaching
children playing on roofs overlooking a small park in Al-Khalil’s Old City
at 9:17 p.m. They arrived in time to see the soldiers, of the Kfir Brigade,
detain two young boys. When the CPTers asked the soldiers what the boys had
done to deserve detention they accused the boys of throwing rocks. One said,
“You don’t understand. These children can kill us.”

A CPT delegation at this point joined the two CPTers in the park. They all
followed the soldiers, who detained another three young boys as they were
leaving the park. They marched all five to the checkpoint building that leads
to Shuhada Street. The soldiers tried to prevent the CPTers from seeing
through the window but they could not cover the view completely. A soldier
twice backhanded one of the boys across the head. The five soldiers then
performed a military maneuver right in front of the children, cocking their
guns and acting as though they were going to fire into the air.

They then took the children from the building onto
Shuhada Street
. The CPTers and the mother of two of the boys, with her younger son, ran
through the
Ladder Lady
’s house, but when they reached Shuhada Street, the children and soldiers
had left. CPTers asked the soldier still at the checkpoint where the children
had been taken. He replied, “to the police station,” but denied knowing
which one.


A woman in one of the houses said soldiers had taken the children along
Shuhada Street to checkpoint 56. The CPTers and the mother with her toddler
son walked along the street and came to another checkpoint. When the soldier
asked the mother what she was doing on Shuhada Street, she explained that she
was looking for her sons, and the soldier let her through. Further along the
street a second soldier stopped the mother and CPT and asked CPT, “Who gave
you the authority to bring a Palestinian woman along Shuhada Street?” A
CPTer replied that the soldier at the last checkpoint had. The second soldier
called and said his colleague denied this and that he should arrest the
woman. The CPTers insisted it was the truth but agreed that the mother would
return down the street with two CPTers.

As she was leaving, the soldier called the woman back and said he would
escort her to checkpoint 56. At checkpoint 56, soldiers were still holding
the five children, who were seated against the wall, guarded by eleven border
police. The mother begged the border police to release her sons. At 10:25
p.m. the children were released to Palestinian Authority police, who took
them through the checkpoint and, in accordance with Israeli protocol, to the
police station, where they were released half an hour later.

The Kfir Brigade has a history [2] of 
unabashed abuse
 and 
loyalty to settlers over military command structures
. 


----------------------------------------------

MISSION: Christian Peacemaker Teams: Building partnerships to transform
violence and oppression.

VISION: A world of communities that together embrace the diversity of the
human family and live justly and peaceably with all creation.

VALUES: Christian Peacemaker Teams is committed to work and relationships
that:

* Honor and reflect the presence of faith and spirituality 
* Strengthen grassroots initiatives 
* Transform structures of domination and oppression 
* Embody creative non-violence and liberating love

COMMENTS: To ask questions or express concerns, criticisms and affirmations
send messages to .

NEWSLETTER: To receive CPT's quarterly newsletter by email or in print, go to
http://cpt.org/participate/subscribe [3]

DONATE: Donate to CPT on-line with your credit card! Go to
http://cpt.org/participate/donate [4]

YOUR SUBSCRIPTION: to change your subscription settings go to
http://mailman.cpt.org/mailman/listinfo/cptnet [5]


[1] http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2012/05/30/al-khalil-hebron-mother%E2%80%99s-persistence-wins-five-boys%E2%80%99-freedom-israeli-detention
[2] http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/kfir-brigade-leads-in-w-bank-violations-1.245582
[3] http://cpt.org/participate/subscribe
[4] http://cpt.org/participate/donate
[5] http://mailman.cpt.org/mailman/listinfo/cptnet