Jenin refugee camp has been a centre of Palestinian armed resistance for many years, and the resultant exposure of children to violence is reflected in drawings produced by youngsters in the camp’s Not to Forget centre.
Sally Hayden In Jenin, the West Bank. Sat Aug 17 2024 – 06:00
Ritaj’s scooter at the entrance to her familiy home in Jenin refugee camp, which was raided twice in November. Photograph: Sally Hayden
Falasteen Salameh’s sons were in the family home when the soldiers came for them. The young men, Nour (22) and Munir (24) still smile down from photos on the walls: both bearded, one in a baseball cap and the other in an Adidas jumper. Salameh hasn’t seen them since they were locked up last November: visits are prohibited, though the family has heard rumours, including that one was beaten badly and lost a tooth, or maybe more.
The UN Human Rights Office has said thousands of Palestinians, across the West Bank and Israel, have experienced “arbitrary, prolonged and incommunicado detention by Israeli authorities” since last October. The UN also documented allegations of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, including sexual abuse of women and men, saying in July that at least 53 Palestinian detainees have died.
Twenty days after her sons were taken away, soldiers took Salameh too, she says. “‘I will arrest you, I promised your son Nour that I will arrest his mom’,” she recalls a soldier telling her.
