Children Getting Arrested

Like elsewhere in the West Bank, childhood for the youth of Nabi Saleh is anything but normal. For many here, it’s not a matter of if they’ll get arrested, but when. Because of that, the adults in the village organize regular training sessions where they simulate the experience of getting arrested, detained, and interrogated to teach the children their rights and what to expect.

During her hours long interrogation, Ahed remained silent refusing to even say her name. As many as 700 Palestinian children under the age of 18 from the occupied West Bank are prosicuted every year through Israli military courts. They’re not accompanied by a parent and are often interrogated without a lawyer or being informed on their right to silence. Over the last three years, the Palestinian child prisoner population has doubled.