Ramallah: A group of Palestinian women and children forced an Israeli soldier to release a Palestinian minor during the regular Friday protests held in the village of Al Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah.
The Israeli soldier had used violence against the minor and tried to detain 12-year-old Mohammad Basem Al Tamimi but a group of determined Palestinian women including the boy’s mother, Nariman Al Tamimi, and sister, Ahd Basem Al Timimi, managed to secure his release.
Protesting the spreading of Israeli colonies around their villages and the seizure of privately owned Palestinian lands, villagers of Al Nabi Saleh, Kofr Qadoum, Bilin and Nielin hold weekly protests after Friday prayers each week.
The peaceful protests are part of the strategy of popular and non-violent resistance the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) adopted as the path for the Palestinian public in resisting the Israeli occupation.
In a bid to cool down international outrage over the incident, the Israeli media claims the soldiers did not realise the boy was a minor. The Israeli daily the Haaretz reported that the boy’s release was ordered by the Israeli commander once he became aware of the boy’s age.
“The video which spread worldwide shows the kind of violence, aggression and brutality the Israeli occupation army uses against Palestinian women and children,” said Abdullah Abu Rahma, the General Coordinator of the Palestinian Popular Non Violent Anti- Colonial and Barrier Committees.
Abu Rahma said that such incidents happen everyday but this time the scuffle was caught on camera.
Manal Al Tamimi, a member of Al Nabi Saleh Popular Committee who is in charge of the Foreign Affairs Department at the committee, said that the published video clearly shows the moral weakness of the Israeli army.
“Mohammad is a minor whose arm was in a cast at the time of the unjustified attempted arrest,” Al Tamimi told Gulf News.
