CPTnet
23 October 2007
HEBRON REFLECTION: Which toys for which boys?
by Jan Benvie
During the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr (the festival of fast breaking),
marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, children receive Eid
gifts: new clothes, toys and sweets.
A common Eid gift for boys is a toy gun. Some are water pistols; some shoot
little plastic pellets; some are ominously like the real thing.
Palestinian children do not need to watch television or play violent video
games to become attracted to guns. Here in Hebron, armed Israeli soldiers
patrol the streets throughout the day (and sometimes night). Palestinian
children pass armed soldiers at checkpoints every day when traveling to and
from school. They regularly see armed settlers in the streets between the
settlements and the synagogue.
For the Israeli military, it appears that real guns in the hands of Israelis
are acceptable, but toy guns in the hands of Palestinian children are
unacceptable.
A few weeks ago CPTers saw heavily armed Israeli soldiers ordering
Palestinian shopkeepers to remove the toy guns from their shops. Over the
past week or so, Palestinians have reported instances of Israeli soldiers
taking toy guns from children. Two days ago, I watched in amazement as an
Israeli soldier snatched a small gun from the hands of a Palestinian child.
When I attempted to photograph the incident, another soldier tried to stop
me.
He told me, "It is against the law for a Palestinian to have a gun or
anything that looks like a gun, or that sounds like a gun, like fire
crackers. * It is dangerous. The children point them at us. If we shoot
them, that is their fault."
When I suggested to him that it would be even less dangerous if he were not
walking in a Palestinian area with a real gun, he replied, "We have to
protect our civilians."
I don't like guns of any sort, real or toy. I worry when I see young
Palestinian children hiding in alleyways of the old market, jumping out and
"firing" their guns at passersby. I also worry when I see the heavily armed
Israeli military and settlers on the streets.
I am glad the Israeli military are concerned about shooting Palestinian
children. Goodness knows, enough have been killed; since 2000, Israeli
security forces have killed 858 Palestinian minors
(http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/Casualties.asp ). However, I
believe ending the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian
territories is the answer, not heavily armed Israeli soldiers snatching toy
guns from the hands of Palestinian children.
*On Tuesday 2 October 2007, the Israeli border police shot two Palestinians
near the Ibrahimi Mosque. Many people reported that, immediately before the
shooting, a Palestinian man had approached the checkpoint with a toy gun and
set off firecrackers.
For photos of children & soldiers in Hebron, see
http://www.cpt.org/gallery/album222
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