World is shocked  that Palestinian children are locked in solitary confinement  – but does Israel still care what the World thinks?

The evidence produced against Israel is damning. Defence for Children International (DCI) has collected sworn testimonies from 426 minors detained in Israel’s military justice system. Minors are rarely questioned in the presence of a parent, and rarely see a lawyer before or during initial interrogation. The evidence is corroborated by the ‚Guardian’, as well as a separate study, conducted by the Israeli group, B’Tselem. The question is no longer anymore whether Israel is mistreating Palestinian children, but whether Israel still cares what the world thinks.

Between 500 and 700 Palestinian children are arrested by Israeli soldiers each year, mostly accused of throwing stones. Since 2008, Defence for Children International (DCI) has collected sworn testimonies from 426 minors detained in Israel’s military justice system. Most are detained inside Israel, making family visits very difficult. Few parents are told where their children have been taken. Minors are rarely questioned in the presence of a parent, and rarely see a lawyer before or during initial interrogation. Most are detained inside Israel, making family visits very difficult. Following detention many children exhibit symptoms of trauma: nightmares, mistrust of others, fear of the future, feelings of helplessness and worthlessness, obsessive compulsive behaviour, bedwetting, aggression, withdrawal and lack of motivation.

These are blatent violations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which Israel has ratified, and the fourth Geneva convention.

According to Nader Abu Amsha, the director of the YMCA in Beit Sahour, the Israeli authorities should consider the long-term effects of minors detained and mistreated in Israel’s military justice system.  “They don’t give attention to how this might continue the vicious cycle of violence, of how this might increase hatred”, says Abu Amsha. “These children come out of this process with a lot of anger. Some of them feel the need for revenge.”

This raises some very interesting questions: Does the Israeli government still believe in a peaceful solution between Israel and Palestine? Does the Israeli government actually still care what the world thinks about it’s policy in Palestine?

It does not seem so. The whole world is in despair at the Israeli government’s lack of commitment to a just peace in Palestine.

According to Dr. Paul Frosch, Metaphysician in Tel Aviv and expert in Israeli international policy, Israel has given up on the idea of peace. “They are just digging in and making a fortress, and to me that is a disastrous policy, because you can’t win like that. History has shown that”, says Paul Frosch. “The Israeli government, and the people that support it, are no longer concerned anymore what the world thinks. They just say, ‘Fuck’ the rest of the world.  A bit like the attitude certain persons in South Africa had during the Apartheid era. But the Israeli’s can’t live in isolation. They can’t go on like that. They have to try to win back the trust of the nations, which Israel had for a long time. Initially Israel was seen as the little start-up state, being bullied by the big Arab nations; but now Israel is seen as the big bully. That is counter-productive for any kind of peace, and detrimental for the future of Israel.”

But back now to the Palestinian children, who are locked in solitary confinement  What is Israel’s true policy regarding minors detained in Israel’s military justice system?

According to the Guardian, the Israeli security agency (ISA) – also known as Shin Bet – responded to these accusations: “No one questioned, including minors, is kept alone in a cell as a punitive measure or in order to obtain a confession. The ISA categorically denies all claims with regard to the interrogation of minors. In fact, the complete opposite is true – the ISA guidelines grant minors special protections needed because of their age.”

But then again, what else is the ISA supposed to say? Tell the truth to the international community, that the Israeli government no longer is concerned anymore what the world thinks? Tell them that occassionaly ISA employees have to ‘cross the line’, to prevent Israeli’s from being murdered?

According to the Guardian, this is how Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, responded to the accusations: “If detainees believe they have been mistreated, especially in the case of minors … it’s very important that these people, or people representing them, come forward and raise these issues. The test of a democracy is how you treat people incarcerated, people in jail, and especially so with minors.”

Stone-throwing, he added, was a dangerous activity that had resulted in the deaths of an Israeli father and his infant son last year. “Rock-throwing, throwing molotov cocktails and other forms of violence is unacceptable, and the security authorities have to bring it to an end when it happens.”

This is a very diplomatic, but also a very ambigious statement by Mark Regev. One the one hand, Regev agrees that if ‘detainess believe they have been mistreated’, that this is not a good thing. But on the other hand, he grants the security authorities the right to bring an end to Rock-throwing, to prevent further Israeli’s from being murdered. To what extent he does not mention; but if, for example, the interrogation methods used by Israeli’s are similar to the ones used by the U.S.A after 9/11, then solitary confinement of Palestinian minors is probably an acceptable interrogation method, sanctioned by the Israeli government – at least on an unoffical level.

Some people say that a country’s goodness is measured by the way it treats its children. In that category, Israel would fall into the category as a rather bad and uncivilised country. Israeli’s would probably disagree, and argue that Palestinian children are not their responsibility, since they do not belong to their country. There is only one logical flaw with that argument; namely, that Palestinian children are living under Israeli occupation, and are being detained and mistreated by Israeli’s. So a certain responsibility definitely falls to Israel, to ensure the well-being of the Palestinian children.

But then again, if it is really true, that the Israeli government is no longer concerned anymore what the world thinks – and Israel does not care if it looses the respect of the international community – than every further discussion about the matter is redundant.