IDF prevents Palestinian youth from trip to sea

Machsom Watch plans 'fun day' for 50 West Bank kids at Bat Yam beach, Civil Administration approves names of all but one, citing 'security reasons'. Organization recruits some local celebrities to sign petition to make 15-year-old Ahmad's wish come true

Daniel Edelson
07.20.09
Ynet/Israel News
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3749117,00.html

Fifteen-year-old Palestinians Ahmad Samir Said Najjar's only wish was to go to the sea for the first time in his life, but when the Machsom Watch organization tried to make his wish come true, the military prevented it for security reasons.

A petition sent out by the organization's women touched the hearts of many, including Israeli actors Sasson Gabai and Gavri Banai.

This is the third year Machsom Watch holds a 'fun day' of recreational activities for some 50 Palestinian children and youth from the area around the West Bank city of Nablus.

The activists are meant to take the children to beach in the central city of Bat Yam, where they will get the chance to bathe in the salty water for the first time in their lives and then return the to West Bank on the same day.

The 15-year-old Najjar, from the village of Burin, who works as a bottled-water and candy vendor at the Hawara checkpoint was supposed to attend the trip as well.

But the Civil Administration, that supervises the entry and exit of Palestinians from the West Bank, approved all the names of the children on the list, except for Najjar's.

The military said this was due to security reasons, but Machsom Watch sources are convinced the decision was made without explanation or reason. "This is a 15-year-old boy, what could he possibly do?" a source said.



On March 24, 2004, one week after capturing a bomb in the bag of 12-year-old Abdullah Quran, Hussam Abdo, a 16-year-old Palestinian (who initially claimed he was 14), was captured in a checkpoint near Nablus wearing an explosive belt. The young boy was paid by the Tanzim militia to detonate himself at the checkpoint. IDF soldiers manning the checkpoint were suspicious of him and told him to stay away from people. Later, an EOD team arrived and by using a police-sapper robot, removed the explosive belt from him.

On July 3,2004 the Israeli Security Forces thwarted a suicide bombing which it claimed was to have been carried out by 16-year-old Muataz Takhsin Karini. Karini and two of his operators were arrested, while a 12 kg explosive belt was detonated safely by an Israeli EOD crew.[24] On June 5, IDF forces detonated two explosive belts concealed in schoolbags. On July 14, the Shin Bet arrested in Kfar Maskha a suicide bomber. The bomber was identified as 17-year-old Ahmed Bushkar from Nablus.

On September 23, 2004, a day before Yom Kippur, the Shin Bet and the Israel Police announced their capture of a 15-year-old suicide bomber and a 7 kg explosive belt in the village of Dir-Hana in the Western Galilee. The 15-year-old was part of joint terrorist cell of Tanzim and Palestinian Islamic Jihad from Yamon village near Jenin. The four were Palestinians who worked illegally in Israel. The 15-year-old was allegedly paid 1000 shekels in order to blow himself up in Afula.

On September 27, 2004, a 15-year-old suspected suicide bomber was arrested in Nablus.

On October 28, Ayub Maaruf, a 16-year-old Fatah suicide bomber, was arrested near Nablus along with his operator.

On November 1, 16-year-old Aamer Alfar blew himself in Tel Aviv's Carmel Market, killing 3 Israelis in a suicide bombing that was claimed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Alfar's mother and father condemned what they saw as the exploitation of their son.

On November 4,2004 a 15-year-old suicide bomber was arrested in Nablus.

Machsom Watch: Which part don't you understand?