Former Israeli soldiers who served in the occupied territories say that mistreatment of Palestinian children by troops is "routine" and occurs even at times of relative calm. A collection of over 30 testimonies published on Sunday by Breaking the Silence, a group of ex-servicemen critical of army practices, says physical violence, often arbitrary, is used against very young children.
Entitled "Children and Youth: Soldiers' Testimonies 2005-2011," it covers a period after the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, of 2000-2005.
"Although the events described here took place after the peak of the second intifada, at a time perceived as calm and uneventful from a 'security' standpoint, the reality that emerges from the testimonies shows that harsh treatment of Palestinian children continues unabated," it says.
In one example, a former staff-sergeant, unidentified like most who give testimony, describes a punitive raid on a neighbourhood in the Ramallah area following earlier clashes with Palestinians.
He said a dozen soldiers with wooden clubs "beat people to a pulp. Finally the children who remained on the ground were arrested. The order was to run, make people fall to the ground," he said. "A slow runner was beaten, that was the rule," he said. Another former staff-sergeant describes an operation against the West Bank village of Azzun, where stones had been thrown from a curve in the road at motorists from the nearby Israeli settlement of Maale Shomron.
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