Israel releases Palestinian schoolgirl from prison
Israel has released a 14-year-old Palestinian schoolgirl after keeping her six weeks in jail for allegedly throwing stones at Israeli settlers and planning to attack Israeli forces.
Malak al-Khatib was set free in the occupied northern West Bank city of Tulkarm, located about 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) west of Nablus, on Friday, and was greeted by her parents, relatives and the mayor, Bashaer Othman, before being driven to her home town of Beitin, located five kilometers (3.1 miles) northeast of Ramallah.
Malak, the youngest girl detained by Israel so far, was arrested on her way home from school on December 31, 2014.
Following at least three hearings, an Israeli military court sentenced the fourteen-year-old to two months and a fine of 6,000 shekels (USD 1,500) on charges of stone-throwing and the possession of a knife. The girl’s parents vehemently rejected both charges.
Ali al-Khatib, Malak’s father, questioned Israel’s harsh court order, saying, “A 14-year-old girl won’t pose any threat to soldiers’ lives.”
“They are well-equipped and well-trained so what kind of threat could she have posed to them?” he asked.
Malak’s mother, Khawla, said, “She is a child. She was framed. She did not throw stones, nor did she carry a knife.”
Israel arrests about 1,000 children every year in the occupied West Bank, often on charges of stone-throwing, according to rights group Defense for Children International Palestine.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC) says some 200 Palestinian minors are held in Israeli prisons, but only four are girls, and Malak was the youngest.
Earlier this month, the club said Tel Aviv had arrested 350 Palestinians in different cities across the West Bank during the month of January.
More than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently held in some 17 Israeli jails, dozens of whom are serving multiple life sentences. About 540 Palestinians are being held without trial under the so-called administrative detention, which is a sort of imprisonment without trial or charge that allows Israel to incarcerate Palestinians for up to six months. The detention order can be renewed for indefinite periods of time.
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