Inside Story

Is Israel breaking laws by abusing Palestinian boys?

Israel is accused of systematically abusing of children in occupied East Jerusalem.

Handcuffed, arrested, and questioned without the presence of a lawyer or their parents. A new report says that is common for Palestinian boys picked up by Israeli police.

The Israeli human rights groups B’Tselem and HaMoked accuse Israel of systematically abusing young detainees in occupied East Jerusalem.

The report includes statements from 60 boys suspected of stone-throwing. It found 70 percent of them did not know they had a right to remain silent. Three out of 10 did not speak to lawyers before questioning, and in almost all the cases, the boys were in the interrogation room on their own, without parents or any other relative present.

And 80 percent of the confessions they signed were in Hebrew, a language they do not understand.

So, is there a hidden motive here for Israel?

Presenter: Patty Culhane

Guests:

Ayed Abu Eqtaish – Accountability Programme Director, The Defence for Children International

Yossi Beilin – former Israeli Minister of Justice

Mustafa Barghouti – Secretary-General, Palestinian National Initiative