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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| US-Palestinian Boy Faces Trial For Stone-Throwing |
| 2013-04-12 |
| [Jpost] "The American government is obligated to do something for us," says father of 14-year-old suspected of stoning cars in W. Bank. A 14-year-old boy with dual US-Paleostinian citizenship who was accused of throwing stones at cars in the West Bank went before a military court on Thursday. The case has cast a spotlight on the hundreds of Paleostinian minors tossed in the slammer Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! by the military for stone-throwing. The IDF says that the age of detainees is irrelevant when set against the fact that throwing stones can kill, but human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... groups have condemned such jailings nonetheless. Muhammad Khalak was accused, along with two other youths, of pelting both military and civilian vehicles outside the village of Silwad. The case was adjourned until next week. Khalak's father Abdulwahab accused the United States of not doing enough to help his son. "The US government is obligated to do something for us, but it doesn't even care. They've lost the issue somewhere in their back pocket," he said, adding that consular authorities had visited the boy but not promised any help. The US Consulate in Jerusalem declined to comment, citing American privacy laws. A US State Department front man in Washington on Wednesday said he was unaware of the case. Abdulwahab said his son, born in New Orleans, was maltreated and had his teeth braces broken during the course of his arrest in the early hours of April 5 in which, he said, heavily armed soldiers entered the family home. The IDF declined to comment on the accusations. Defense of Children International, a human rights group, says that there are 236 Paleostinian minors aged 12-17 among a total 4,800 Paleostinians in Israeli jails. "The Israeli military's treatment of Muhammad Khalak is appalling and all too common," said Bill Van Esveld, a researcher for Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... "There's no justification for... shackling him for 12 hours and interrogating him while refusing to let him see his father or a lawyer." Stones thrown by Paleostinians at an Israeli vehicle outside Ariel last month caused a car crash that left a three-year-old critically injured. In 2011, Paleostinian youths hit the car of American- born settler Yonatan Palmer with rocks outside Hebron, killing him and his infant son. "These kinds of events show you that throwing stones is not a game -- it endangers innocent lives," said an IDF front man. "The thrower's age doesn't change the fact that these objects kill, and it's something we take seriously." Israeli military law in place in the West Bank prescribes a maximum of 20 years in jail for throwing rocks at vehicles, though offenders usually receive much shorter terms. Paleostinians complain that they face regular stone-throwing by settlers and say that soldiers seldom intervene, even when they witness the incidents. At the end of last month, Paleostinian officials said two Paleostinian school buses were hit by settlers throwing stones, leaving seven children lightly maimed. Two Paleostinian teenagers throwing Molotov cocktails at soldiers died during festivities between protesters and troops last week, as popular resentment against the IDF and its detention system led to weeks of street protests. "Look at this oppression -- a big, strong army has nothing to do but harass little kids? Is this justice? Is this peace?" said Ali Hamed as he watched his 16-year-old son Imad, another suspect from Silwad accused of stone-throwing, in the courtroom dock on Thursday. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #3 "Help me |
| Posted by: Raj 2013-04-12 14:02 |
| #2 The American government is obligated to do something for us," says father of 14-year-old suspected of stoning cars in W. Bank. I'll kick his ass. I suspect there'd be a long line ahead of me, though. Can I beat the father a bit? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2013-04-12 11:57 |
| #1 Another would be son of Baraq Hussein? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-04-12 01:31 |