noworldsystem.com

TV cameras have captured the terrible moment of a five-year-old Palestinian boy seeing his father arrested by Israeli soldiers, nearby Hebron.

Dr Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, commented the video, circulated yesterday on SKY TV and Al Jazeera, saying that “Palestinian children grow up under the Israeli occupation, surrounded by the Apartheid Wall, by oppression and destruction. Israel repudiates children’s rights and welfare and treats them like adults, clearly violating UN Declaration of Child’s Rights”.

After watching the footage, Hashem Abu Maria, of the Defence For Children International charity, said it was obvious the child thought his father would never return.

He said he was contacting child support agencies in the field to offer him psychological help to cope with the trauma.“This child does not comprehend the concept of arrest – he does not know what it means, like the policeman or soldier understands it,” he added. “I think that the child thinks that his father is leaving and not coming back – that he has lost him.”

Israeli forces raided the town of Bakka after accusing Palestinian farmers of stealing water from the nearby Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba. They pulled out irrigation pipes supplying vines and vegetable fields before arresting several villagers, including the boy’s father. Angry Palestinian residents say they have documents to prove they are registered with the Palestinian Water Authority, and are paying for the water they use.

They say it is the second time in a month police have removed their irrigation pipes. “This land is the source of our income, and it is the cause of our struggle with the occupation since day one of the occupation,” said Khaled’s grandfather Badran Jaber. “We live from it, we have no other job opportunity in light of unemployment reaching over 40% in the occupied territories.”