[OPINION] The reality of Palestinian detention under Israeli military law

AS THE rather fragile ceasefire unfolds, the Israelis captured by Hamas are described as hostages, while the Palestinians are depicted as prisoners. This implies that the latter could well be guilty of some offence.

What is ignored, is the fact that Palestinians live under military law, regardless of their age. (Unlike Israelis, who live under civil law.)

Living under military law means that a Palestinian can be arrested and held in “administrative detention” without trial, merely on the suspicion that he or she could be planning to break the law sometime in the future. The regional commander isn’t even obliged to share the “evidence”.

In the absence of legal proceedings, the Palestinian cannot disprove the allegations, and has no idea when he/she will be released. Although international law requires that there is a limit of six months of detention without trial, the Israeli authorities can renew the imprisonment repeatedly.

B’TSELEM, The Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, confirms on their webpage “btselem.org”, that Israel routinely holds Palestinians behind bars without charge.

The most heartbreaking issue as reported on by “Defence for Children International” on their page defenceforchildren.org, is the arrest of Palestinian children by Israel.

It is estimated that Israel systematically prosecutes between 500 and 700 Palestinian children between the ages of 12 and 17 each year, in military courts. Almost 60% of them are arrested during the night, while the reasons for doing so are withheld.

These children are likely to have been subjected to various forms of abuse, such as solitary confinement, being transported on the floor of the military vehicle, subjected to stress positions, deprived of food and water, and deprived of the use of a toilet.

When they arrive at the courthouse, they are usually blindfolded and sleep deprived, interrogated without even a family member present, and shown or made to sign a paper in Hebrew (not their mother tongue). It means that they often end up confessing to crimes they didn’t commit, nor intended to commit.

In conclusion, Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails are not necessarily guilty of any crime at all.

Lastly, it should be remembered that Palestinians didn’t go to Europe to cause harm; it’s the colonisers from there, who are the troublemakers.

Dr. E ROSS | Cape Town

Cape Times