CPTnet
31 August 2011
AL-KHALIL (HEBRON): Six children detained by Israeli soldiers during
first day of Eid al-Fitr
by Andreas W. Andersson
At 4:00 p.m. on 30 August 2011, Israeli soldiers detained six boys, ages five
to nine, in Hebron’s Old City under the suspicion of intending to harm the
soldiers with their toy guns. The
soldiers brought the children to the military compound at Bab il
Baladiyye by the
entrance of the old city.
Members of Christian Peacemaker Teams observed as the soldiers detained
the children for forty minutes before releasing them. At one point the soldiers brought them
into the compound to have their toy guns examined by military police officers. This investigation took place just a
couple of hours after the soldiers entered the souq (Old City market area) and
held several groups of young boys based on the same suspicion.
August 30 was the first day of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, which
celebrates the end of the month of Ramadan. The Eid is a time for charity, exchanging gifts, and visiting
family and relatives. The
detention of the children had the same impact on them and their families as military or police
detention of children playing with their toys on Christmas would have had on
Christian families.
