Israel to free 12-year-old Palestinian girl held in prison

[webfact]

Israel to free 12-year-old Palestinian girl held in prison
By AREEJ HAZBOUN

JERUSALEM (AP) — A 12-year-old Palestinian girl who was imprisoned after she confessed to planning a stabbing attack in a West Bank settlement will be released early, Israel's prison service said Monday, capping a saga that drew attention to the dual legal system in the West Bank.

The case has put Israel's military justice system in a tough spot as it deals with a girl who has pleaded guilty to a crime, yet has not even completed the seventh grade. She is believed to be the youngest female Palestinian ever sent to an Israeli prison.

According to court documents provided by the military, the girl, whose name could not be published because of her age, approached the West Bank settlement of Carmei Tsur on Feb. 9 with a knife hidden under a shirt.

A security guard ordered her to halt, and a resident instructed her to lie on the ground and told her to give up the knife, which she did. An amateur video clip shown on Israeli TV showed the resident asking the girl, who was wearing her school uniform, whether she had come to kill Jews, and she said yes. She later pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter in a plea bargain and was sentenced to 4½ months in prison.

Last week, the girl's family appealed to Israeli military and prison officials to release her, citing her age.

"Prison is not a place for a small child," said Abeer Baker, one of the girl's lawyers. "If it was a Jewish girl, she wouldn't stay in prison for even one hour because it is forbidden according to the Israeli law."

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war, and Palestinian residents there are subject to a system of military law that can sentence suspects as young as 12 to prison.

By contrast, Israeli settlers, as well as Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel, are subject to Israeli civil law, which does not allow anyone under 14 to go to prison.

Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after the 1967 war, are also subject to Israeli civil law. Last week, for instance, the Ynet news site reported that an 11-year-old Palestinian boy from Jerusalem convicted in a stabbing on the city's light rail has been sent to a juvenile facility run by Israeli social services.

According to Israel's prison service, 437 Palestinian minors were in Israeli prisons as of Feb. 29, the most recent date that statistics were available. Of those, 12 were female.

The 12-year-old was the only girl under age 14, according to the data. In addition, four Palestinian boys under 14 were in Israeli prison. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said it was not familiar with any other instance in which a girl so young was imprisoned.

B'Tselem, citing court records, said the girl was interrogated twice without either an attorney or her parents being present after being caught outside the settlement. Nine days after the incident, her lawyers reached a plea bargain that convicted her of voluntary attempted manslaughter and bearing a knife, and she was sentenced to the prison term, and her parents were fined about $2,000, according to the court documents.

In the court documents, the girl said she understood the terms of the plea bargain and her sentence.

Tareq Barghout, another lawyer assisting the girl, said the court accepted a request to move her to a female juvenile facility in the West Bank but that her family refused, fearing it was filled with drug addicts and violent offenders.

"This child is a victim of the Israeli court and her family," he said, "the court because it has left a child in prison and the family because they refused a reasonable solution."

Lawyers and relatives say she was not allowed to see her mother until March 28, about six weeks after the incident, and that the girl is not allowed physical contact with her mother.

"It was very difficult that I couldn't hug her when I visited her," said her mother, Sabha al-Wawi. "I demand her release. She's a minor."

The incident came amid nearly seven months of violence in which Palestinians have killed 28 Israelis and two Americans in stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks in Israel and the West Bank. At least 188 Palestinians have died from Israeli fire. Israel says most were attackers, and the rest died in clashes with Israeli security forces.

Many of the Palestinian attackers have been teenagers or in their early 20s. The girl came from Halhoul, a village near Hebron, a city that has been a focal point of violence.

Israelis and Palestinians have offered different explanations for why so many young Palestinians have been involved. Israel blames incitement by Palestinian leaders and on social media. Palestinian officials say it is the result of despair living under Israeli occupation. Others have said the assailants were suicidal, had personal problems, or engaged in copycat attacks.

The girl's family said it could not explain what motivated her to go out that day with a knife and questioned whether she had even really tried to carry out an attack.

"We were surprised," her mother said. "If it's true, we don't know the reason why. She wasn't under any pressure at home."

Her father, Ismail al-Wawi, said he had worked legally in Israel for 25 years — indicating he was not considered a security threat. After his daughter's arrest, he said his work permit was revoked.

Prison service spokesman Assaf Librati said authorities had decided Sunday to free the girl on April 24 — six weeks before her scheduled release. He said the decision was made because of her "young age."

The girl has been held in a wing for female minors and attends classes, he said. "There is a school where they get, in accordance with the law, the basic education they need," Librati said.

She gets "conditions according to international law," including health care, as well as visits from social workers and relatives, he said. Family visits are allowed once or twice a month, he added. She saw her mother Monday.

"Is it possible that a 12-year-old girl is able to stab?" the mother said. "No. she does not pose a threat, not only to an armed soldier, but to anyone."


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-04-12

[ezzra]

Hopefully this girl will go back to resume the life of a normal 12 years old girl and will not try

to be or do things she has no business being in or doing.....

[Andaman Al]

Hopefully this girl will go back to resume the life of a normal 12 years old girl and will not try

to be or do things she has no business being in or doing.....

A nice idea, but until these children are allowed to live the 'normal' lives of children, there is little hope. Whatever side of the fence you are on I am afraid that 99.9% of us cannot comprehend in any slight way what it must be like to be a child growing up in this environment.

[boomerangutang]

"Prison is not a place for a small child," said Abeer Baker, one of the girl's lawyers.

Agreed. But neither is planning to stab someone, a realistic thought for a child.

Note: 12 is a child, but not a small child. Even a 5 year old can pull the trigger on a gun, for example. More than a few people die each year in the US from guns unwittingly shot by small children. Stabbing is a more personalized type of causing harm. It takes more strength and usually more determination.

It's a sad reflection on the state of peoples' mentality in that part of the world, when a child can harbor such thoughts. Parents, teachers, elder siblings and friends are all part of the equation.

[dexterm]

"Prison is not a place for a small child," said Abeer Baker, one of the girl's lawyers.

Agreed. But neither is planning to stab someone, a realistic thought for a child.

Note: 12 is a child, but not a small child. Even a 5 year old can pull the trigger on a gun, for example. More than a few people die each year in the US from guns unwittingly shot by small children. Stabbing is a more personalized type of causing harm. It takes more strength and usually more determination.

It's a sad reflection on the state of peoples' mentality in that part of the world, when a child can harbor such thoughts. Parents, teachers, elder siblings and friends are all part of the equation.

I agree ..it is very sad indeed. But these incidents don't happen in a vacuum.

Perhaps after 50 years of illegal Israeli occupation, seeing your friends and family suffering daily humiliations, beatings and murders at the hands of the IDF and fanatical Zionist colonists is part of the equation too.

The sooner Israel ends its illegal occupation and leaves the Palestinians in peace, the sooner children can enjoy normal childhood again.

[Ulysses G.]

The sooner Israel ends its illegal occupation and leaves the Palestinians in peace, the sooner children can enjoy normal childhood again.

The sooner the Palestinians AGREE to a peace treaty and stop the illegal terrorist attacks, the sooner that can happen, but they have refused for 70 years.

[F4UCorsair]

The sooner Israel ends its illegal occupation and leaves the Palestinians in peace, the sooner children can enjoy normal childhood again.

The sooner the Palestinians AGREE to a peace treaty and stop the illegal terrorist attacks, the sooner that can happen, but they have refused for 70 years.

Agreed ulysees. The Palestinians are as dumb as............ They don't have much more than slingshots against Israeli fighter jets, and the most determined nation, and fighting forces, on earth.

The Palestinians would argue there's a principle involved, but they'll be responsible for their own slow rate extermination if they keep going.

I wonder if/when common sense will prevail in the Palestinian leaders.

Edited April 12, 2016 by F4UCorsair

[Ulysses G.]

The sooner Israel ends its illegal occupation and leaves the Palestinians in peace, the sooner children can enjoy normal childhood again.

The sooner the Palestinians AGREE to a peace treaty, stop the illegal terrorist attacks and stop teaching their children to hate Jews and non-Muslims, the sooner that can happen, but they have refused for 70 years.

[wabothai]

The sooner Israel ends its illegal occupation and leaves the Palestinians in peace, the sooner children can enjoy normal childhood again.

The sooner the Palestinians AGREE to a peace treaty and stop the illegal terrorist attacks, the sooner that can happen, but they have refused for 70 years.

Now, go back to the early forties and repeat your sentence.

[Thorgal]

4.5 months of prison in another serie of crime of intention, but this time to a child of 12 years old.

Another example of the widespread, systematic and institutionalised imprisonment of Palestinian children by the Israeli authorities in Occupied territories.

The child is being denied access to their families, to a lawyer and to education are violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Israel is a member...so, here again another violation of international law.

To know that estimated 500 other Palestinian children remain detained in similar unlawful prisonment.

Those Palestinian children are kept as hostages in order to force the PA to sign a fake peace treaty which would allow to Israeli government to conquer additional 70% of Palestinian land.

Edited April 12, 2016 by Thorgal

[Ulysses G.]

The sooner Israel ends its illegal occupation and leaves the Palestinians in peace, the sooner children can enjoy normal childhood again.

The sooner the Palestinians AGREE to a peace treaty and stop the illegal terrorist attacks, the sooner that can happen, but they have refused for 70 years.

Now, go back to the early forties and repeat your sentence.

The Jews finally started fighting back in an organized way after decades of Palestinian attacks. The blame for EVERY attack for almost the first 20 years of hostilities was attributed to the Palestinian Arabs.

List of killings and massacres committed in Mandate Palestine:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_and_massacres_in_Mandatory_Palestine

[Thorgal]

The sooner Israel ends its illegal occupation and leaves the Palestinians in peace, the sooner children can enjoy normal childhood again.

The sooner the Palestinians AGREE to a peace treaty and stop the illegal terrorist attacks, the sooner that can happen, but they have refused for 70 years.

Now, go back to the early forties and repeat your sentence.

The Jews finally started fighting back in an organized way after decades of Palestinian attacks. The blame for EVERY attack for almost the first 20 years of hostilities was attributed to the Palestinian Arabs.

List of killings and massacres committed in Mandate Palestine:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_and_massacres_in_Mandatory_Palestine

I don't see any link in your reply to the OP in which Dima Al-Wawi, a 12 year old girl has been arrested and detained for a crime of intention.

http://en.alkarama.org/2060-palestine-a-12-year-old-girl-sentenced-to-4-5-months-in-prison-by-an-israeli-court

The preemptive strikes of Israeli army have been debunked so many times on TV with historical accuracy.

The girl should be liberated.

Edited April 12, 2016 by Thorgal

[Ulysses G.]

The link is that the young girl had a knife and intended to commit an act of terrorism by murdering an innocent human being. If she had gotten away with her vicious, hateful crime, who would be crying crocodile tears then?

Edited April 12, 2016 by Ulysses G.

[Steely Dan]

Hopefully this girl will go back to resume the life of a normal 12 years old girl and will not try

to be or do things she has no business being in or doing.....

Not watching television would be a start.

[Steely Dan]

The sooner Israel ends its illegal occupation and leaves the Palestinians in peace, the sooner children can enjoy normal childhood again.

The sooner the Palestinians AGREE to a peace treaty and stop the illegal terrorist attacks, the sooner that can happen, but they have refused for 70 years.

Agreed ulysees. The Palestinians are as dumb as............ They don't have much more than slingshots against Israeli fighter jets, and the most determined nation, and fighting forces, on earth.

The Palestinians would argue there's a principle involved, but they'll be responsible for their own slow rate extermination if they keep going.

I wonder if/when common sense will prevail in the Palestinian leaders.

An Israeli tank driver who I used to work with said that violence is the only language the Palestinians understand. It seems he is correct, there has been a sharp drop in the number of knife attacks over the last two weeks as the consistent use of bullets to stop would be murderers has decreased their appetite for attacking Israelis. Sadly at some future time a refresher course is all to likely to be needed.

[helpisgood]

The sooner Israel ends its illegal occupation and leaves the Palestinians in peace, the sooner children can enjoy normal childhood again.

The sooner the Palestinians AGREE to a peace treaty, stop the illegal terrorist attacks and stop teaching their children to hate Jews and non-Muslims, the sooner that can happen, but they have refused for 70 years.

Thanks, Ulysses! That video was interesting, especially at about 3:12-3:38 and 5:07-5:40 ("martyrdom" mentioned).

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the production is Hamas affiliated with their details at the following link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow's_Pioneers

I have really begun a greater appreciation of Sesame Street and such characters like the Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch.

Edited April 12, 2016 by helpisgood

[Suradit69]

"Prison is not a place for a small child," said Abeer Baker, one of the girl's lawyers.

Agreed. But neither is planning to stab someone, a realistic thought for a child.

Note: 12 is a child, but not a small child. Even a 5 year old can pull the trigger on a gun, for example. More than a few people die each year in the US from guns unwittingly shot by small children. Stabbing is a more personalized type of causing harm. It takes more strength and usually more determination.

It's a sad reflection on the state of peoples' mentality in that part of the world, when a child can harbor such thoughts. Parents, teachers, elder siblings and friends are all part of the equation.

" Parents, teachers, elder siblings and friends are all part of the equation. "

You seem to have left out the ludicrous concentration camp lifestyle under which many are forced to live. She's probably witnessed her parents, teachers, siblings and friends being constantly harassed, humiliated and treated like animals.

[dexterm]

The link is that the young girl had a knife and intended to commit an act of terrorism by murdering an innocent human being. If she had gotten away with her vicious, hateful crime, who would be crying crocodile tears then?

Trespassing fanatical Zionist colonists who steal Palestinian land and force the original inhabitants into refugee camps are not innocent human beings.

The only rarity about the OP case is that the 12 year old Palestinian girl was not extra judicially executed, while Israeli Jewish children who attack Palestinians are not even charged. That's the daily reality of Israeli apartheid that operates 2 systems of [in]justice under the Israeli illegal occupation.

capping a saga that drew attention to the dual legal system in the West Bank.

Edited April 12, 2016 by dexterm

[sanukjim]

In urban terrorist operations The lesson learned is that terrorism is not restricted to include only males are adults.A trained 12 year old girl can kill you also.,only with a bit more cunning tactics.

[Thorgal]

The link is that the young girl had a knife and intended to commit an act of terrorism by murdering an innocent human being. If she had gotten away with her vicious, hateful crime, who would be crying crocodile tears then?

Strange that the words 'self-defense' can't be used for Palestinian children. Moreover, nobody dares to even discuss PTSD on both sides while political and religious subjects apparently are more interesting to report or to debate about.

Youngsters can be indoctrinated and terrorised till a certain level. Which is human. OP is clear example of a crime of intention in which a child can't live with extended daily humiliations.

[Grouse]

The link is that the young girl had a knife and intended to commit an act of terrorism by murdering an innocent human being. If she had gotten away with her vicious, hateful crime, who would be crying crocodile tears then?

She is a CHILD.

What do you not understand about that?

Are you a father?

[Grouse]

In urban terrorist operations The lesson learned is that terrorism is not restricted to include only males are adults.A trained 12 year old girl can kill you also.,only with a bit more cunning tactics.

And you would still hold the CHILD criminally responsible for its actions? You really think CHILDREN have a clear understanding of the law and carry full responsibility for their actions?

What a world we live in

Maybe you want the age of consent lowered to 10 years?

[BSJ]

A 12 year old moslem can be just as fanatical as an adult moslem. Apply the same punishment to all.

[JohnDodd]

The sooner Israel ends its illegal occupation and leaves the Palestinians in peace, the sooner children can enjoy normal childhood again.

The sooner the Palestinians AGREE to a peace treaty and stop the illegal terrorist attacks, the sooner that can happen, but they have refused for 70 years.

Agreed ulysees. The Palestinians are as dumb as............ They don't have much more than slingshots against Israeli fighter jets, and the most determined nation, and fighting forces, on earth.

The Palestinians would argue there's a principle involved, but they'll be responsible for their own slow rate extermination if they keep going.

I wonder if/when common sense will prevail in the Palestinian leaders.

An Israeli tank driver who I used to work with said that violence is the only language the Palestinians understand. It seems he is correct, there has been a sharp drop in the number of knife attacks over the last two weeks as the consistent use of bullets to stop would be murderers has decreased their appetite for attacking Israelis. Sadly at some future time a refresher course is all to likely to be needed.

"Violence is the only language the Palestinians understand"....your tank driving mate obviously knows the reverse gear if its Hezbollah is in the area... these Israeli, trigger happy goons are only facing unarmed kids with sling shots.....I see their bleeding corpses, their brains on the road, even shuddering in their death throes after being riddled with bullets every evening on PressTV....and you,the guy with the Big Brother avatar, and the username of W. Burroughs dildo.....strange semiotics...and even stranger views on basic humanity.

[khunken]

A 12 year old moslem can be just as fanatical as an adult moslem. Apply the same punishment to all.

As can a 12 year old Israeli brainwashed by the fanatical settler groups.

Unfortunately the same punishment cannot be applied because there are different laws for Israelis compared to Palestinians.

It's better known as an Apartheid system that most of the world came to reject in South Africa and sanctions did the rest. Unfortunately Israel is protected from its abominable human rights record - so far.

Edited April 12, 2016 by khunken

[DeaconJohn]

A 12 year old moslem can be just as fanatical as an adult moslem. Apply the same punishment to all.

Then let's include the children of the illegal Israeli settlers when they attack the Palestinians.

[Steely Dan]

The sooner Israel ends its illegal occupation and leaves the Palestinians in peace, the sooner children can enjoy normal childhood again.

The sooner the Palestinians AGREE to a peace treaty and stop the illegal terrorist attacks, the sooner that can happen, but they have refused for 70 years.

Agreed ulysees. The Palestinians are as dumb as............ They don't have much more than slingshots against Israeli fighter jets, and the most determined nation, and fighting forces, on earth.
The Palestinians would argue there's a principle involved, but they'll be responsible for their own slow rate extermination if they keep going.
I wonder if/when common sense will prevail in the Palestinian leaders.

An Israeli tank driver who I used to work with said that violence is the only language the Palestinians understand. It seems he is correct, there has been a sharp drop in the number of knife attacks over the last two weeks as the consistent use of bullets to stop would be murderers has decreased their appetite for attacking Israelis. Sadly at some future time a refresher course is all to likely to be needed.

"Violence is the only language the Palestinians understand"....your tank driving mate obviously knows the reverse gear if its Hezbollah is in the area... these Israeli, trigger happy goons are only facing unarmed kids with sling shots.....I see their bleeding corpses, their brains on the road, even shuddering in their death throes after being riddled with bullets every evening on PressTV....and you,the guy with the Big Brother avatar, and the username of W. Burroughs dildo.....strange semiotics...and even stranger views on basic humanity.

Press TV, the press organ of the Iranians, who murder gays and torture Christians just for fun. Sorry I don't need your help to calibrate my moral compass. Full marks for dildo recognition by the way.

[Thorgal]

Must be a real threat to keep a 12-year old handcuffed girl at gun point...

[F4UCorsair]

[quote name="Grouse" post="10630407"

Maybe you want the age of consent lowered to 10 years?

Nah....that's the muslims. Oops, got that wrong. The muslims already reckon that 9 is OK!!

[johnatong]

It is right that the child be released but not so she is returned to the rabid mob which spawned her.

The girl should be fostered, adopted ------whatever and taught that the world is not comprised of Muslim extremists and that there are better things in life than seeking death .

Edited April 12, 2016 by johnatong