Dec. 2: Underage Umm-Al-Kheir Teen Kidnapped by Soldiers, Beaten, Released Next Day – Without Explanation

Umm-Al-Kheir is in the northeast corner of Massafer Yatta. Even in “ordinary” Occupation times, it is more exposed than other villages to settler and military harassment, due to its location right under Carmel – the region’s first Israeli settlement established on expropriated Umm-Al-Kheir lands – and near a major regional junction. A larger map of Massafer Yatta can be found here. To see the broader surroundings, go to B’Tselem’s interactive map and zoom towards the very south of the West Bank.

A 17-year-old youth, I., was kidnapped from his home in Umm Al Kheir on Saturday around noon. “Border Police” soldiers loaded him onto a white Isuzu pickup-truck, blindfolded, his hands shackled behind his back, and drove off. Why did they do this? Just so, because he is Palestinian.

His family spent many hours worrying and not knowing a thing. We tried everything to find out where he was, and put our dedicated lawyer Riham to work – but all in vain. Like many other cases lately, he simply disappeared.

On Sunday morning, after 20 hours of worry and uncertainty, he was released. When we came to visit him at noon, he was sleeping. His mother and sisters told us that he was injured all over, beaten up all night, his knees were trampled upon, he could not walk. He was not given anything to drink or eat while being kidnapped. He is such a delicate and sensitive child; his mother told us. How would he recover?

When I. called his family to come pick him up, he could not tell where he was. He was blindfolded from the moment he was kidnapped until his captors threw him out somewhere. He did not know where he had been, probably a nearby military base. Now we understood how come we couldn’t locate him: this was no official arrest, just arbitrary sadism of soldiers on the ground.

I. woke up with all the bruises and pains. His brothers took him to the hospital at Yatta, to check whether anything was broken. His face was all swollen and wounded, and the rest of his wounds could not be seen under his clothes. Despite his pain, anger, and helplessness, he was glad to see us and attempted to shake my hand. I wanted to photograph him so you could see what those human beasts did to this good-looking boy, but I could not.

I. is a beautiful boy, the beloved youngest son of his father, the late Haj Shu’eib, who had spoiled him since he was a baby. We have known him and all his brothers and sisters for years. We helped most of them go on to study towards a college degree and get a profession. I. too has been a good student, and is supposed to matriculate this year, though one knows how this year will end. Most schools are closed because of the harassment by settlers and soldiers. The teachers have not been paid, because far-right Smotrich and Ben Gvir who control the Israeli government, have not been giving the Palestinian Authority the funds [obtained via taxes on Palestinian laborers in Israeli businesses] that it officially deserves.

Beside all these difficulties, this 17-year-old now has to face a trauma of absolute helplessness facing violence and racism. We have not yet heard all the details, but I saw the look in his eyes, swollen from the beatings he received.

Our car proceeded on its way and the wife of one of I.’s older brothers arrived with the new baby. What is his name? Shu’eib, like the grandfather who passed away about half a year ago. Erella took little Shu’eib in her arms. He seemed pretty happy with the world he had just emerged into.

Ya’ir, on behalf of the Villages Group [translated by Tal Haran; webmaster comments by Assaf Oron]