Report: Israel rounded up 1,200 minors since start of 2010

[ 31/05/2011 - 09:28 PM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- A report released Tuesday reveals a drastic escalation in friction between Israeli police and the Palestinian citizens of Jerusalem, especially those in the Silwan and Al-Issawiyya districts. Issued by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the report documents that police since the beginning of 2010 rounded up 1,200 Palestinian suspected of throwing stones and kept some 760 of them in custody. About a third of those arrested were indicted and imprisoned until the end of the legal proceedings, the ACRI said. “The large numerical gap between the youth who were questioned and arrested and those who were actually indicted speaks to the suspicions of Palestinians, who believe that most of these arrests and interrogations are intended solely to intimidate the minors,” the report says. It details that in the past few months, wide-ranging clashes have erupted between Israeli police and Jerusalemites, where the police used excessive force killing one child in Al-Issawiyya after he breathed toxic gas that police hurled into residential areas. The report also highlights the police's use of collective punishment, violence, and pressure against the Palestinian population when enforcing Israeli laws in Jerusalem. It adds that complaints that civilians file against Israeli occupation authorities have often gone ignored.