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| Surge in Palestinian Youths in Prison Tests Israel’s Justice System | Surge in Palestinian Youths in Prison Tests Israel’s Justice System |
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| HALHOUL, West Bank — Sharing a cell inside an Israeli prison, the Palestinian girls would toss baskets and play a game they called shuffle ball. There were academic classes in the afternoon, and sometimes, an Arab-Israeli prisoner known as Auntie Lina would braid their hair. | HALHOUL, West Bank — Sharing a cell inside an Israeli prison, the Palestinian girls would toss baskets and play a game they called shuffle ball. There were academic classes in the afternoon, and sometimes, an Arab-Israeli prisoner known as Auntie Lina would braid their hair. |
| In the evenings, Dima al-Wawi, a 12-year-old arrested in February with a knife at the entrance to an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, would sing Palestinian nationalist anthems with Istabraq Noor, 14, who was accused of trying to sneak into a different settlement to attack Jewish residents in October. | |
| “Mom, I didn’t even cry once!” Dima boasted upon being released on Sunday after serving about half of her four-and-a-half-month sentence. | “Mom, I didn’t even cry once!” Dima boasted upon being released on Sunday after serving about half of her four-and-a-half-month sentence. |
| “Not even for us?” asked her mother, Sabha, 47. | |
| “Only under the covers,” she replied. “At night.” | “Only under the covers,” she replied. “At night.” |
| There were a dozen such girls with similar cases in Israeli custody before Dima’s release, up from one in September — part of a surge in Palestinian minors incarcerated during a wave of violence that has killed about 30 Israelis in the last seven months. Assaf Liberati, a spokesman for the prison service, said the number of Palestinian prisoners under 18 more than doubled, to 430 from 170 before the stabbings, shootings and vehicular attacks began on Oct. 1. Of them, 103 were 16 or younger, up from 32. | |
| “It’s the biggest number that we know,” Mr. Liberati said. | “It’s the biggest number that we know,” Mr. Liberati said. |
| The increase reflects a broad Israeli crackdown on young Palestinians who throw stones or otherwise confront soldiers and civilians amid an outbreak of attacks in which nearly half the suspects are teenagers. It has renewed a debate over how Israel’s military justice system, which prosecutes Palestinians from the West Bank, differs from the courts that cover Israeli citizens and Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, and especially how it handles very young offenders. | |
| “Nobody doubts what she did,” Sarit Michaeli of the Israeli human rights group B’tselem said of Dima, “but if she was an Israeli child, it would be impossible under Israeli law to sentence a child this young for an actual jail term. | “Nobody doubts what she did,” Sarit Michaeli of the Israeli human rights group B’tselem said of Dima, “but if she was an Israeli child, it would be impossible under Israeli law to sentence a child this young for an actual jail term. |
| “They don’t see a small girl,” Ms. Michaeli added. “They think of them as terrorists.” | “They don’t see a small girl,” Ms. Michaeli added. “They think of them as terrorists.” |
| Israel has enacted some changes since a 2013 Unicef report described abuses in the military court system as “widespread, systematic and institutionalized.” The age at which suspects can be prosecuted as adults was raised to 18 from 16; a separate youth court was created; and the amount of time minors can be detained without appearing before a judge was cut from 96 hours to 48 hours for 15-year-olds and 24 hours for those 14 and under. | Israel has enacted some changes since a 2013 Unicef report described abuses in the military court system as “widespread, systematic and institutionalized.” The age at which suspects can be prosecuted as adults was raised to 18 from 16; a separate youth court was created; and the amount of time minors can be detained without appearing before a judge was cut from 96 hours to 48 hours for 15-year-olds and 24 hours for those 14 and under. |
| Palestinian lawyers have had some success persuading judges to send young detainees to homes for troubled youths, a recourse that was offered to Dima but rejected by her parents. At least three have been sent to homes, Dima’s lawyers said. | |
| “How could my daughter, who is just 12, go to a place like that?” Ms. Wawi asked in an interview. “It was a hard decision, but we said, ‘O.K., put her in jail. At least we know how she will come out.’ ” | |
| The changes brought Israel’s two justice systems more in line with one another, but differences remain, as illustrated by the case of two cousins arrested on April 14 in Jerusalem’s Old City. | |
| Mohammad Shadeh, 12, who was found with a meat cleaver and two knives in his school bag — along with a piggy bank containing the equivalent of $11 and a note in misspelled Arabic saying he wanted to kill a soldier — has been jailed since his arrest. Mohammad Ramzi, who is also 12 and lives in East Jerusalem, is under house arrest — an option not available to West Bank residents like his cousin. | Mohammad Shadeh, 12, who was found with a meat cleaver and two knives in his school bag — along with a piggy bank containing the equivalent of $11 and a note in misspelled Arabic saying he wanted to kill a soldier — has been jailed since his arrest. Mohammad Ramzi, who is also 12 and lives in East Jerusalem, is under house arrest — an option not available to West Bank residents like his cousin. |
| Defense for Children International-Palestine, an advocacy group that has tracked the issue for years, said in an April report that most West Bank suspects were still interrogated alone, had faced some form of physical abuse and were not informed of their rights. | Defense for Children International-Palestine, an advocacy group that has tracked the issue for years, said in an April report that most West Bank suspects were still interrogated alone, had faced some form of physical abuse and were not informed of their rights. |
| The Israeli authorities say 37 percent of the Palestinians who perpetrated or attempted attacks between Oct. 1 and Feb. 10 were 16 to 20 years old, and 10 percent were 15 or younger. | The Israeli authorities say 37 percent of the Palestinians who perpetrated or attempted attacks between Oct. 1 and Feb. 10 were 16 to 20 years old, and 10 percent were 15 or younger. |
| The spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Emmanuel Nahshon, said that “the severity of the crimes” and “their often ideologically motivated nature creates a unique set of demands from the criminal-justice system.” | The spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Emmanuel Nahshon, said that “the severity of the crimes” and “their often ideologically motivated nature creates a unique set of demands from the criminal-justice system.” |
| “The question is why are so many Palestinian children being dispatched to murder Israelis?” he asked. “The answer is they are being brainwashed by their leaders.” | “The question is why are so many Palestinian children being dispatched to murder Israelis?” he asked. “The answer is they are being brainwashed by their leaders.” |
| President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority said in a recent interview on Israeli television that his government was trying to tamp down the violence, with security forces going into schools to search for weapons. “In one school, we found 70 boys and girls who were carrying knives,” Mr. Abbas said, adding that the officers told the students, “ ‘This is a mistake. We do not want you to kill and be killed. We want you to live, and for the other side to live as well. ” | |
| But Mr. Abbas’s Fatah party was out in force to welcome Dima home as a hero, as was its rival Hamas, which openly encourages violence. | |
| Dima’s lawyer, Abir Baker, blamed the attacks mainly on the Israeli occupation, but said that many of the minors involved had other problems, arguing that they need rehabilitation, not punishment. | |
| Take Salwa Taqatqa, one of Dima’s prison pals, who is 13 and tried to stab an Israeli with a seven-inch blade on March 23. Her mother, Amna, said Salwa was a troubled tomboy who was repeating fifth grade, was scared of the dark and still wet her bed. | Take Salwa Taqatqa, one of Dima’s prison pals, who is 13 and tried to stab an Israeli with a seven-inch blade on March 23. Her mother, Amna, said Salwa was a troubled tomboy who was repeating fifth grade, was scared of the dark and still wet her bed. |
| Dima, who turned 12 in November, was hyperactive and having trouble at school, but her mother said that the family rejected a counselor’s advice that she see a psychiatrist, worried that neighbors would think she was “crazy.” | Dima, who turned 12 in November, was hyperactive and having trouble at school, but her mother said that the family rejected a counselor’s advice that she see a psychiatrist, worried that neighbors would think she was “crazy.” |
| The girl grew obsessed with the Palestinian attackers she saw on Al Aqsa television, which is run by the militant Islamist group Hamas, memorizing how and when they were killed by Israeli forces. (More than 200 Palestinians have been shot dead since Oct. 1, most during attacks, attempted attacks or suspected attacks.) | The girl grew obsessed with the Palestinian attackers she saw on Al Aqsa television, which is run by the militant Islamist group Hamas, memorizing how and when they were killed by Israeli forces. (More than 200 Palestinians have been shot dead since Oct. 1, most during attacks, attempted attacks or suspected attacks.) |
| On Feb. 9, Dima skipped school, stuffed a knife from the family kitchen under her long school shirt and walked from her home in the village of Halhoul to the nearby Karmi Tzur settlement. She said she stopped at the entrance, hoping a guard would search her so she could stab him from up close. The guard ordered her to sit down. | On Feb. 9, Dima skipped school, stuffed a knife from the family kitchen under her long school shirt and walked from her home in the village of Halhoul to the nearby Karmi Tzur settlement. She said she stopped at the entrance, hoping a guard would search her so she could stab him from up close. The guard ordered her to sit down. |
| A resident of the settlement, armed with a pistol, made Dima remove the bulge from her shirt, according to court documents provided by B’tselem, which closely followed the case. She tossed the knife away and was taken to an Israeli police station. | A resident of the settlement, armed with a pistol, made Dima remove the bulge from her shirt, according to court documents provided by B’tselem, which closely followed the case. She tossed the knife away and was taken to an Israeli police station. |
| Dima said that several men and women interrogated her before the police called her parents later in the afternoon. During the questioning, she felt her pants begin to fill with blood, and began to panic. | Dima said that several men and women interrogated her before the police called her parents later in the afternoon. During the questioning, she felt her pants begin to fill with blood, and began to panic. |
| Her father, Ismail, said he was not allowed to see his daughter at the station and was interrogated himself, then taken to the side by an officer and told about the bleeding. Dima’s mother said she fretted for days, unsure whether it was caused by some trauma during the arrest, or, as it turned out, the girl’s first menstruation. | Her father, Ismail, said he was not allowed to see his daughter at the station and was interrogated himself, then taken to the side by an officer and told about the bleeding. Dima’s mother said she fretted for days, unsure whether it was caused by some trauma during the arrest, or, as it turned out, the girl’s first menstruation. |
| “Her parents should have been there with her,” Ms. Wawi said. “She should have been in the house when that happened, not an Israeli prison.” | “Her parents should have been there with her,” Ms. Wawi said. “She should have been in the house when that happened, not an Israeli prison.” |
| During six military court hearings, Dima and her parents said, the girl’s legs were shackled and she was not allowed to touch her parents. Dima recalled one kind police officer, a woman named Ziva, who “used to roll down my pants and put the shackles above them, so it wouldn’t hurt me.” | During six military court hearings, Dima and her parents said, the girl’s legs were shackled and she was not allowed to touch her parents. Dima recalled one kind police officer, a woman named Ziva, who “used to roll down my pants and put the shackles above them, so it wouldn’t hurt me.” |
| On Feb. 18, she pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter and was sentenced to four and a half months in prison. She was released early because of “her extremely young age,” according to the Israeli prison spokesman. | On Feb. 18, she pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter and was sentenced to four and a half months in prison. She was released early because of “her extremely young age,” according to the Israeli prison spokesman. |
| Ms. Wawi had to apply for permits to enter Israel to visit her daughter, and then communicate with her only through a plastic barrier, using telephones. (In one consequence of her arrest, her father lost his permit to work in Israel.) | Ms. Wawi had to apply for permits to enter Israel to visit her daughter, and then communicate with her only through a plastic barrier, using telephones. (In one consequence of her arrest, her father lost his permit to work in Israel.) |
| Now, the girl has become a local celebrity. She was welcomed home on Sunday with a ceremony at the governor’s office in the West Bank city of Tulkarm. At her home in Halhoul, men from Fatah hoisted banners and those from Hamas released balloons in their trademark green, while a convoy of beeping cars, usually reserved for weddings, drove around town waving flags of their preferred party. | Now, the girl has become a local celebrity. She was welcomed home on Sunday with a ceremony at the governor’s office in the West Bank city of Tulkarm. At her home in Halhoul, men from Fatah hoisted banners and those from Hamas released balloons in their trademark green, while a convoy of beeping cars, usually reserved for weddings, drove around town waving flags of their preferred party. |
| On the way, Dima, holding an iPad, flipped through photographs of herself posted on social media sites. When she told a reporter she had gone to the settlement to kill Jews because “I wanted to be a martyr,” her mother interjected, noting, “You said you wanted to be an agricultural engineer.” | On the way, Dima, holding an iPad, flipped through photographs of herself posted on social media sites. When she told a reporter she had gone to the settlement to kill Jews because “I wanted to be a martyr,” her mother interjected, noting, “You said you wanted to be an agricultural engineer.” |
| “Mom!” Dima groaned. “I changed my mind!” | “Mom!” Dima groaned. “I changed my mind!” |