Israeli Soldiers detain
developmentally-disabled Palestinian child in Hebron, 19 Oct. 2014

As part
of the wave of military repression soldiers briefly detained a developmentally
disabled Palestinian boy, who is under the age of criminal responsibility, on
suspicion that he had thrown stones. The boy, A. a-Rajbi, (full name withheld
in interest of privacy) who will be 12 in a month, was detained after
Palestinian children threw stones at soldiers on the main road of the Jabel
Johar neighborhood in Hebron, close to the settlement of Kiryat Arba. A-Rajbi
was handcuffed, blindfolded, and held on the floor of an army jeep for some 15
minutes until his father arrived and convinced the soldiers to release his son,
who is mentally disabled and cannot speak.

In the video footage, filmed by B’Tselem volunteer Samih Da’na from his window,
soldiers are seen holding the boy, handcuffing him, blindfolding him and
closing him in the jeep, despite cries by Palestinian residents that the boy is
mentally disabled. The footage also shows settlers from Kiryat Arba, watching
the incident from behind the settlement’s fence. Some are seen calling out
encouragement to the soldiers, including several racist remarks.