Virtually all Palestinians appearing before Israeli military courts are convicted, according to data published in Haaretz last month. The data sourced to official Israeli military documents and compiled by Israeli human rights oganization, Yesh Din, show that there were 25 acquittals out of 9,542 cases. Palestinians have no chance of walking free from an Israeli military judge.
The military court system is an integral part of Israel's occupation of the Palestinians and has prosecuted hundreds of thousands of people since 1967. The military courts work in tandem with the army and Civil Administration to maintain control over Palestinians. All cases involving settlers who have committed criminal and/or security offenses in the West Bank are brought before the civilian courts within the State of Israel, so the military courts are designed to lock up Palestinians for "security" offenses, most of which concern involvement with banned political organizations.
Most disturbing is treatment of Palestinian children in the military court system. Here is a description of Courtroom 2, the children's courtroom, by two Israeli observers:
Courtroom number 2. The children’s court. Every Monday. On the podium, judge Sharon Rivlin Ahai. From 9 a.m. until to 6 p.m. Boy follows boy. One child and then another child. Wearing brown prison garb. Chained feet. Shackled hands, one hand shackled to that of another boy. Some of them are so small that their feet wave in the air when they are seated on the bench. Some of them are so small that our eyes look away. Most of them are accused of throwing stones. Molotov cocktails. Most of them are not released on bail, have not been interrogated in the presence of an adult – parent or social worker. Most of them were picked up in the dead of night. All these are violations of the international law in defense of children, even those under occupation. Most of them were arrested following denunciation, mostly by some other child, who – like them – was taken in the dead of night because someone else gave in his name. And most of them confessed, if not immediately then later on, to anything they were told to admit.
At a meeting of an Israeli committee investigating abuse of children in the military courts, expert witness, child psychiatrist Dr. Graciela Carmon testified about techniques she witnessed in videotaped recordings of child interrogations that included sleep deprivation, shackling of children in uncomfortable positions for hours at a time, and complete isolation from family or any adult they could trust. Additionally, most detentions take place in the middle of the night. She concluded:
A new Israeli documentary focuses on the Israeli judges that mete out these convictions. A Newsweek Magazine piece on the film contains the following exchange:
At times, (the film's director Ra'anan) Alexandrowicz seems to be putting the judges themselves on trial—as when he reads to them a Palestinian’s account of a beating during an interrogation. Physical abuse was standard interrogation fare for years in Israel’s Shin Bet security service. But investigative commissions have concluded that military judges knew nothing about it. Yonatan Livni, who served as a judge from 1976 to 1999, suggests that wasn’t the case. “What are you asking me, if I knew about these things?” Livni says. “Of course.” When asked whether judges have the power to curtail abuses, Livni cuts to the heart of the problem: “Theoretically, you can write, you can complain, you can speak out. Practically speaking, no. You serve a system.”
No doubt, both Palestinian and Israeli societies suffer gravely from this brutal occupation.
Support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement. The time for change is now. Support freedom for Palestinian and Israeli children (forced to serve the occupation) and may they know war no more.
