Hamas War

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Finally, But...

Last night the IBA, Israel's Channel One TV news finally headlined the immoral and subhuman conditions in which the Israeli police hold young teenagers from "the right."


"The minor girls were given used military blankets that emit a bad smell, and that is an understatement," the report said. Three of the girls shared a cell with a adult woman who smoked. The cell "was full of cigarette smoke and had no ventilation aperture."
The two other girls said they had not been given bed sheets but "stinky, used, military blankets. They did receive towels," the report went on to say, "but these were dirty and unusable." The report determined that the jailers were denying the girls food and water and insisting that they identify themselves first. Medical service for injuries suffered during the Jabel Mukaber incident were also denied on the same pretext.
Making food, water and medical attention conditional on the girl's agreement to identify themselves "is baseless and constitutes an egregious violation of their rights," the Bar Association committee determined. The conditions of their imprisonment are "harsh, inhuman and illegal," the report stated. (complete article)

What I did find particularly strange in the broadcast were two things.

  1. The newscaster spoke so quickly, it was hard to understand him. He usually speaks fine. It seemed like the subject wasn't given enough time for the material they had; the editor hadn't reduced the material to fit the time slot or increased the allotted time to fit the material. Or maybe they didn't want the information to be easily understood.
  2. Nothing was said about Tzivya Sariel who had been released from jail just a couple of hours beforehand. it's obvious that the subjects are connected, so even if the Bar Association didn't mention Tzivya, the newscaster should have.

The really great thing about it was that the Bar Association finally entered the fray. I'd like to see the human rights groups get involved and admit that young Jewish prisoners, especially girls, get the worst treatment, something which must be corrected and must be publicized.

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