Israel’s system of military law for children is leaving lasting scars

The brutality of some recent cases has surprised even professionals.

Israel’s system of military law for Palestinian children has become a major issue, as our Middle East correspondent John Lyons reported in The Weekend Australian Magazine. Here he continues his investigation of the military court system, looking at the effect detention can have.

Fadia Saleh runs eleven rehabilitation centres in the Palestinian territories, or West Bank, on behalf of the YMCA which deal with the effects of detention on children.

“Usually the children isolate themselves, they become very angry for the simplest reasons, they have nightmares,” she says.

“They have usually lost trust in others. Usually they don’t have friends any more because they think their friends will betray them.

“There is also a stigma about them other children and parents say ‘Be careful being seen with him, because the Israeli soldiers will target you.”‘

The brutality of some recent cases has surprised even professionals. Read more