Israel Matzav

'Palestinian' children being encouraged to participate in terrorism ... by Jerusalem police

You will recall last Friday's attack on David Be'eri and his 13-year old son as they drove through the streets of Jerusalem. At least two of the main perpetrators of that attack were children under the age of 12. Dealing with the fallout of that attack seems to be giving the Israeli authorities apoplexy.

The headline of this article says that the police are going to hold the parents responsible for violent acts - including stone-throwing - perpetrated by children under the age of 12. But if you read the article, you will see that in fact, nothing of the sort can be done. All the authorities are doing is wringing their hands in frustration. And the result is that children under the age of 12 are getting a free pass to perpetrate terror attacks.

“We will not arrest the parents, because that would be problematic, but we do want to make them be responsible for their kids,” explained Shmuel Ben-Ruby, the Jerusalem Police District spokesman.

The police are able to punish children between the ages of 12-18 for stone throwing, but have difficultly stopping children under 12, the age of “criminal responsibility.”

On Monday, the Knesset’s Committee for Rights of the Child held an emergency session to examine the issue. At the meeting, residents of east Jerusalem showed videos of children who looked to be as young as five throwing rocks at passing cars.

“I actually think the parents are trying to restrain the kids,” Supt. Yoram Sa’ar, a youth officer for the Jerusalem District, said at Monday’s meeting.

“The ones who are inciting the children are the other, older, children, or other adults.”

Ben-Ruby said the police would continue to talk to the parents of children older than 12 involved in rock-throwing, but that the police could punish the older children. “We want to work in cooperation with the parents,” he said.

Sounds like the Barack Obama approach to fighting terrorism, doesn't it? Deny the reality that the parents are very happy to have their kids throw stones at cars, certainly as long as there is no price to be paid. Change the law and make the parents liable for their kids' actions? Not so fast....

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel expressed concern that holding the parents responsible would violate the law.

“An initiative to make parents accountable for the actions of children under the age of criminal liability seems to lack a legal basis,” attorney Tali Nir told the Post. “According to Israeli criminal law, parents have a legal obligation to provide their children with their basic physical needs such as shelter and food, but they do not bear criminal accountability for their children’s wrongdoings.”

Well, maybe the law ought to be changed. Maybe if a parent had to spend 72 hours in jail every time his kid was caught throwing rocks, s/he'd actually try to make sure s/he knows where that kid is at all times. That sounds like a basic parenting responsibility to me - to know where your kids are.

How much of a difference would it make if the kids weren't getting a free pass? Consider this:

In the past three and a half months, more than 450 rock-throwing incidents have been reported, averaging about four per day. Police have arrested 76 people for rock-throwing in east Jerusalem during that period. Thirty were minors and 46 were adults.

Jerusalem isn't Gaza. Most of the 'Palestinians' who live here actually have jobs. Not being able to go to those jobs for a few days because their kids threw stones could have a real impact and might give the parents an incentive to change their kids' behavior. But the Jerusalem police don't seem to be too interested in that. They're throwing their arms up in frustration instead.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:45 PM