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Israeli soldiers “are the law:” The detainment of children

by Emma and Becka

29 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Thursday October 29, in Huwarra, around 3:00PM, soldiers detained busses and services for no apparent reasons.

The busses that were stopped were filled with children going home from school. The passengers passports were taken from them, without any explanation, and held for about 45 minutes. Two internationals on their way back from olive harvesting in the area saw what was happening and made an attempt to ease the situation.

They were met with an aggressive appearance and threatend with arrest. The soldiers showed no concern that the detained were mostly young children. They said, “This is our job. We are the law, we only protect our country from people like them” and pointed at the children.

The internationals sat down and observed from a close distance after being threatened and insulted by the soldiers.

Soon after, the detained were given back their passports and were allowed to leave and the soldiers left as well.

Another group of soldiers placed a spike carpet at a near by road, to make it difficult for cars to pass,  and randomly stopped cars.

When questioned about their presence the answer was ,”This is a dangerous area, we can´t talk about it.”

Emma and Becka are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names changed).