Human Rights Voices

While the UN devotes its human rights operations to the demonization of the democratic state of Israel above all others and condemns the United States more often than the vast majority of non-democracies around the world, the voices of real victims around the world must be heard.

Palestinian Authority/Gaza, October 4, 2018

Report: Pre-Teen Palestinian Boy Threatens to Stab Israeli Soldiers

Original source

Jerusalem Post

A Palestinian boy, estimated to be around 8 years old, threatened to stab soldiers near a West Bank checkpoint close to Route 443 on Thursday, the IDF spokesperson reported.

According to the report, the boy arrived at the checkpoint and, after a few seconds, pulled out a large knife, shouted at the soldiers and threw the knife at them. No injuries were reported.

The boy then escaped to the nearby village of Beit Ur al-Tahta.

Palestinian sources suggested that the knife might have been planted on the boy by Israel. The Palestinian Maan news agency wrote that "Eyewitnesses have also said in a number of cases that Israeli security forces planted knives on slain or imprisoned Palestinians to claim that they were acting in self-defense during a stabbing attack.

The phenomenon of under-age attackers has become increasingly common in recent years and has been attributed to incitement in the Palestinian education system.

Last week, the European Parliament's budgetary committee voted to freeze more than 15 million euros from the Palestinian Authority if they do not reform their textbooks.

"The reserve will be released," the bill reads, "when the Palestinian Authority has committed to reform its school curriculum and textbooks to bring them in line with UNESCO standards for peace and tolerance in school education."