Press Release
O Muslim Armies! The Terrorising of Palestinian Children by the Jewish Entity Will Not End Unless You Move to Uproot this Brutal Occupation from its Roots!

According to Palestinian activists and lawyers, the Jewish occupying entity has intensified its targeting of Palestinian children for arrest over the past few weeks as part of its “Operation Law and Order”, many of whom have been brutally beaten and subjected to psychological torture. On May 20^th, 13-year-old Mohammed Saadi was kidnapped, blindfolded, beaten and threatened with a gun to his head by 5 members of the Musta’ribeen, an undercover unit posing as Palestinians belonging to the Jewish entity’s police. At the end of May, the occupation’s police force issued a statement that said that more than 1550 Palestinians had been arrested since May 9^th, including in Haifa, Yafa, Lydd, al-Jalil and al-Naqab, and that thousands of security forces from all units will be deployed to carry out raids on homes in towns and cities predominantly inhabited by Palestinians. Dozens of those arrested in this campaign of terror have been children, some as young as 10, 11 and 12, who could face a possible prison sentence of 20 years.

This current wave of mass arrests and detention is aimed at punishing Palestinian youth and families who rallied in support of their brothers and sisters in Sheikh Jarrah, as well as against the attacks on Al-Aqsa and military bombardment on Gaza by the Jewish entity. This campaign aimed at terrorising the younger generation of Palestinians is also aimed at crushing and deterring any future uprising against this brutal occupation. Lawyers have commented that this recent spate of arrests has been marked for its level of brutality, which has resulted in broken bones in those detained. Youssed al-Zayed, a lawyer in al-Jalil stated that this was the first time he saw “children being arrested in huge numbers and with such monstrosity.” He described the arrests as a way to, “terrorise an entire generation from speaking out…It’s an attempt to crush their spirit.”

Of course, this is only the latest chapter of the Jewish entity’s widespread and systematic terrorising and abuse of Palestinian children. According to the organisation Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), since 2000, the Jewish entity’s military has “detained, interrogated, prosecuted and imprisoned” around 13,000 Palestinian children, and that it typically prosecutes 500 to 700 children annually in military courts. A report by the Palestinian Ministry of Information published March 2019 stated that 95% of Palestinian children arrested by the Jewish entity were tortured during detention.

O Sons of the Muslim Armies! The children and youth of Palestine are being terrorised for defending the sanctities of their Deen, standing in support of their Ummah, and confronting this brutal occupation…while you remain in your barracks, held back from your Islamic duty of liberating this Blessed Land and the captive Al-Aqsa by the regimes of the Muslim lands who have sold their soul to their Western masters, normalised relationships with the butcher of the children of Gaza, and aided and abetted this criminal occupation through their inaction and economic ties. How can you bear to serve under these treacherous and spineless rulers who care nothing for your Deen, your Ummah and have shamed your name? It is blatantly clear that this 7-decade long nightmare that the Muslims of Palestine have endured will never end unless every single inch of this murderous brutal occupation is uprooted from the Blessed Land, and this will never materialise except with the mobilisation of an Islamic army. So this Muslim Ummah is looking towards you – our brothers, fathers and sons of military power – to respond to the Command of Allah (swt) and to follow in the footsteps of the great Muslim generals of the past such as Khalid bin Walid (ra), Salahuddin Ayyubi and Muhammad ibn Qasim by moving to the defense of your Ummah and Deen and to give your Nussrah for the establishment of the Khilafah (Caliphate) based upon the method of the Prophethood which will be the shield and guardian of the Muslims and bring honour to your name!

[وَمَا لَكُمْ لاَ تُقَاتِلُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ وَالْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ وَالنِّسَاء وَالْوِلْدَانِ الَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا أَخْرِجْنَا مِنْ هَـذِهِ الْقَرْيَةِ الظَّالِمِ أَهْلُهَا وَاجْعَل لَّنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ وَلِيًّا وَاجْعَل لَّنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ نَصِيرًا]

“And what is [the matter] with you that you fight not in the cause of Allah and [for] the oppressed among men, women, and children who say, ‘Our Lord, take us out of this city of oppressive people and appoint for us from Yourself a protector and appoint for us from Yourself a helper?’"[4: 75]

Dr. Nazreen Nawaz
Director of the Women’s Section in The Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir