Israelis mainly target Palestinian children: Analyst

Press TV has carried out an interview with Ralph Schoenman, the author of the Hidden History of Zionism, to discuss the rising trend of Israeli violence against Palestinian families and their children.

 Following is a rough transcription.

Press TV: When we look at now these door-to-door searches are taking place and it seems that Israel, no matter what happens even if there is some type of reprimand from the international community, they continue with their aggressive acts. Now we see [they are] continuing to arrest people and not even charging them. What will it take to actually turn Zionist policy around that we are witnessing so often there?

Schoenman: Only resistance can accomplish that. I want to emphasize that this targeting of Palestinian children was  well studied and documented by Dr. Elias Akleh in his study called Israeli war against Palestinian children.

These policies are in part, he writes, a racist expansionist ideology of … Israel and its army aimed at driving Palestinian families out of the country for the sake of their children’s future, traumatizing and terrorizing Palestinian children while they are very young and the particularity of this is that Palestinian children, he writes, as young as eight are the primary target for the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank.

They impose severe oppressive measures against all Palestinian communities, barriers checkpoints between town, impeding access to schools and universities, routine demolition of homes, confiscation of property, using rubber-coated bullets, breaking the casing of the bullet to make it more fatal, chasing children in particular, hitting them over the heads with batons to inflict permanent crippling injury.

These extreme settlers as well are brought into play by the army inducing violent crashes and then Israeli soldiers use these clashes, he writes, to raid Palestinians homes in the middle of the night.

Press TV: So why do you think then that they are mostly targeting teenagers or even younger?

Schoenman: Their focus is to destroy the family and to terrorize children to the extent that people would want to leave. Their overall objective is to drive the people out of the country, confiscate their land, seize their land, destroy their families and particularly the most vulnerable amongst them, children are the constant target.

For example, routine operation of the Israeli military forces in the West Bank is called Straw Window. These are pre-dawn, heavily armed raids on Palestinian homes. They break down the doors, scream and shout at family members, detain all family members particularly children and they use then as a military post as long as they deem it necessary, they leave the home fully trashed, especially children terrorized, traumatized and constantly vulnerable.

This has been [happening] year after year and escalated constantly. It is the norm; it is not an exceptional situation you are describing in the West Bank just now. They are kicking, beating and verbally abusing children as the norm of the army and the settlers. It is the constant that is aimed at destroying the Palestinian existence in the west Bank and terrorizing people into leaving.

MTM/KA

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