Ahmed Issa Salibi, from Beit Umar in the Hebron district, cannot forget the day he was detained by Israeli soldiers who claimed to have been trying to repel demonstrators from the separation fence. Ahmed, then 15, who was with his father at the time, was arrested and accused of rioting and stone throwing. "I was in the jeep with my eyes covered, not knowing what was going on around me," he recalled to Haaretz. "One of the soldiers, who had something sharp, began cutting at my legs. At some point or another, he began putting out cigarettes on me; the pain was horrific." Ahmed remained in detention for five days. Today, Ahmed is continuing with his studies in the 10th grade, and despite the trauma, still accompanies his father to the popular protests against the separation fence. "We're fighting against the separation wall, it's a legitimate struggle," his father says. "Ahmed goes with me to the protests. It helps him deal with the trauma. I want him to become stronger and not to break. "Because I'm an activist and I know other human rights activists, we exposed the details; but there are many more children who were victims of violence and abuse in detention and nobody knows anything," he added. "I hope exposing this information will prevent further incidents like this."
Haaretz Daily Newspaper
No comments:
Post a Comment