Palestinian boy becomes symbol of Jerusalem protests

By Turgut Alp Boyraz and Esat Firat

HEBRON, West Bank (AA) - Palestinian teenage boy Fawzi al-Juneidi has become the symbol of ongoing protests against U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Al-Juneidi, 16, was detained on Thursday during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron and dragged away blind-folded by dozens of Israeli soldiers.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, his uncle Rashad al-Juneidi said his nephew was accidently detained while going to buy things for his family.

“He was badly beaten and detained by Israeli soldiers,” al-Juneidi said.

He said the teenage boy was supposed to appear before court on Sunday. “However, we were told that his trial was postponed until Monday,” the sad uncle said.

Al-Juneidi said his nephew is the sole breadwinner of his 7-member family.

“He had to leave school to work for fulfilling the needs of his family,” he said, going on to appeal to Palestinian authorities and human rights groups to intervene to secure his release.

Tension has risen across the Palestinian territories since Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, drawing a storm of condemnations across the Arab and Muslim world.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- now occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

-"Badly beaten"

Wesam al-Hashlamon, an Anadolu Agency photographer who shot al-Juneidi’s detention, said scores of Israeli soldiers had set up a trap for stone-throwing Palestinians in central Hebron.

“As the boy passed, he was detained and badly beaten by soldiers,” he said. “They slammed him to the ground, put their boots on his body and blindfolded him before taking him into custody.”

Khalid Kazmar, the director of the Palestinian branch of the Movement for Protection of World's Children, decried the Israeli policy of detaining Palestinian children.

“Hundreds of children have been detained by the Israeli army this year, most of them were in Jerusalem before being released shortly afterwards,” he said.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society NGO, around 300 children are languishing in Israeli prisons.

Kazmar said some 700 Palestinian children have been court-martialled this year.

“Israel is the only country in the world where children are tried in military courts,” he said.

"The fact that Palestinian children are subjected to custody and torture is a crime against humanity according to international law.”