by Jonathan Kuttab

"For weeks now we have noted a rapidly escalating level of violence by both settlers and Israeli soldiers against Palestinians, particularly youth and children. Not a day passes without an additional martyr, several wounded and kidnapped, houses destroyed, homes and vehicles attacked and vandalized. Some had even spoken of an undeclared war being gradually waged against Palestinians, now dubbed “Break the Wave,” partly using the background of international attention on the Ukraine and partly using the upcoming elections, as different Israeli politicians and officials try to outdo each other in their hostility toward Palestinians. Others have seen an undeclared third intifada of Palestinian resistance, largely uncoordinated (yet increasingly coalescing around a group known as “the Lion’s Den”) gathering momentum in a widespread phenomena covering all Palestine.

Yet, the general situation takes on a much different color when it touches a victim who is known to us personally, whose family worships with us, and whose home we may have visited.

Such is the case with Shadi Khoury, 16-year-old grandson of Samia Khoury, one of the founders of Sabeel. He was attacked in his home, beaten, his blood spilled, and was led away barefoot and blindfolded to be “interrogated.” As of this writing, he is still in detention with limited access to his family or attorney. Court hearings have been continuously delayed and his detention extended. The latest update from Samia is found below: 

"Dear Friends: I was hoping to share with you some good news about Shadi at the end of the day. Unfortunately, there has been another extension to his detention since a week ago. The judge was not presented with any charges against Shadi, yet he decided to postpone the court session until Thursday. Your support and pressure have been a great help, and I hope Thursday will see the end of this nightmare for Shadi and all the family. He seemed concerned about the football [soccer] results today as he is quite a fan, but somebody managed to tip him on the results as he was getting into the police bus after the session. I actually listen to the sports section on Monte Carlo every morning so I can discuss  the latest news with Shadi when he would stop by in the evenings. I do miss our evening chats, but the one who misses him most and is unable to express his feelings is the family dog, "Abboud” who was found sleeping in Shadi’s bed last night. Thank you again for your support and solidarity. Samia"

His detention has been extended yet again until Wednesday, November 2nd. We have yet to hear the verdict. We are not optimistic, but remain hopeful.

It makes no difference that Shadi is a minor or that he belongs to a Christian family known internationally for its commitment to nonviolence, its refusal to bear arms, its commitment to respecting our common humanity and mutual coexistence based on dignity, respect, and equality. It matters not that he lives in East Jerusalem, supposedly under Israeli civilian law, rather than the military law that applies in the rest of the West Bank. The only thing that matters is that he is Palestinian, not Jewish. Like thousands of other Palestinian children arrested and mistreated, like over 800 administrative detainees being held without charge or trial (only Palestinians and not a single Jew), he is just the latest example of the Israeli apartheid system of domination and control.

Like all other children kidnapped by the Israeli authorities, the “evidence” against him is essentially nonexistent. So, the goal of his detention is either to extract a “confession” from him under torture during interrogation, where he is isolated from parents, lawyers, or friends, and where he is subjected to pressure and intimidation (which is permitted under Israeli laws). If a confession can be obtained, he will then be “tried” and convicted on the basis of such confession, whether by him or by any of his friends who “name him” in their “confessions.” Barring that, the goal is to so frighten and intimidate the child that somehow his spirit will be broken, to live continuously in fear and anxiety and so refrain from any activity that might be viewed by Israel as unwelcome.

Israel has launched itself on a trajectory whereby it must continue to rule permanently over 7 million Palestinian Arabs, who must be bludgeoned into submission to its rule, acceptance of its dominance as a Jewish-supremacist state, and a negation of their own identity and humanity, hoping only for physical survival and no more. Palestinians, of course, have failed to oblige. We continue and will continue to insist upon our unique identity, our rights, and our essential humanity. To maintain its apartheid regime, this has inevitably required Israel to increasingly become more brutal and oppressive and to use more and more inhumane methods to achieve and maintain its domination over Palestine and Palestinians. The increasing rightward movement and the probable victory of Ben Gvir, who openly calls for ethnic cleansing and whose party is likely to become the third largest in the knesset, is both predictable and inevitable. The mask is falling off, and the struggle now is no longer for a Palestinian mini-state but for dismantling apartheid throughout the Holy Land."