For the Israeli military it appears that real guns in the hands of Israeli's are acceptable, but toy guns in the hands of Palestinian children are unacceptable.
A few weeks ago CPTers saw heavily armed Israeli soldiers ordering Palestinian shopkeepers to remove the toy guns from their shops. Over the past week or so, Palestinians have reported instances of Israeli soldiers taking toy guns from children. Two days ago I watched in amazement as an Israeli soldier snatched a small gun from the hands of a Palestinian child. When I attempted to photograph the incident another soldier tried to stop me.
He told me "It is against the law for a Palestinian to have a gun or anything that looks like a gun, or that sounds like a gun, like fire crackers. It is dangerous1. The children point them at us. If we shoot them, that is their fault."
When I suggested to him that it would be even less dangerous if he were not walking in a Palestinian area with a real gun, he replied "We have to protect our civilians."
I don't like guns of any sort, real or toy. I do worry when I see young Palestinian children hiding in alley-ways of the old market, jumping out and 'firing' their guns at passers by. I also worry when I see the heavily armed Israeli military and settlers on the streets.
I am glad the Israeli military are concerned about shooting Palestinian children. Goodness knows, enough have been killed - since 2000 Israeli security forces have killed 858 Palestinian minors (http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/Casualties.asp ). However, I believe ending the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territories is the answer, not heavily armed Israeli soldiers snatching toy guns from the hands of Palestinian children.
1On Tuesday 2 October, 2007, the Israeli border police shot two Palestinians near the Ibrahimi Mosque. Many people reported that, immediately before the shooting, a Palestinian man had approached the checkpoint with a toy gun and set off firecrackers.
For photos of children & soldiers in Hebron see http://www.cpt.org/gallery/album222
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical initiative to support violence reduction efforts around the world. To learn more about CPT's peacemaking work, visit our website www.cpt.org Photos of our projects are at www.cpt.org/
A few weeks ago CPTers saw heavily armed Israeli soldiers ordering Palestinian shopkeepers to remove the toy guns from their shops. Over the past week or so, Palestinians have reported instances of Israeli soldiers taking toy guns from children. Two days ago I watched in amazement as an Israeli soldier snatched a small gun from the hands of a Palestinian child. When I attempted to photograph the incident another soldier tried to stop me.
He told me "It is against the law for a Palestinian to have a gun or anything that looks like a gun, or that sounds like a gun, like fire crackers. It is dangerous1. The children point them at us. If we shoot them, that is their fault."
When I suggested to him that it would be even less dangerous if he were not walking in a Palestinian area with a real gun, he replied "We have to protect our civilians."
I don't like guns of any sort, real or toy. I do worry when I see young Palestinian children hiding in alley-ways of the old market, jumping out and 'firing' their guns at passers by. I also worry when I see the heavily armed Israeli military and settlers on the streets.
I am glad the Israeli military are concerned about shooting Palestinian children. Goodness knows, enough have been killed - since 2000 Israeli security forces have killed 858 Palestinian minors (http://www.btselem.
1On Tuesday 2 October, 2007, the Israeli border police shot two Palestinians near the Ibrahimi Mosque. Many people reported that, immediately before the shooting, a Palestinian man had approached the checkpoint with a toy gun and set off firecrackers.
For photos of children & soldiers in Hebron see http://www.cpt.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical initiative to support violence reduction efforts around the world. To learn more about CPT's peacemaking work, visit our website www.cpt.org Photos of our projects are at www.cpt.org/
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