Friday 29 May
CPT reservists Gretchen and Dick Williams and a group from a Sabeel pilgrimage visited with CPT. After the group had left, a Palestinian alerted Hicks and Martens on their way back to the Old City that a squad of Israeli soldiers had a Palestinian boy in custody.  The CPTers observed that a soldier had the child by his collar, roughly walking him down towards the main street.  Martens walked up to the soldiers and asked the soldiers to release him after trying to determine why they had taken him.  "He has thrown stones at our military post," the soldier said.  Martens replied, ""How can that hurt you?  You have the guns, he only a stone.  Don't you have little brothers who would do the same?"  As Martens persisted walking alongside them, the soldier said, "His parents have not taught him not to throw stones so we must teach him a lesson.  He is a terrorist."  After more speaking on the boy's behalf by Martens, the soldiers released the child who by then was openly crying from fear of a beating.