Shadi Khoury, Child Detention, And Apartheid Israel
by Jonathan Kuttab
For weeks now we have noted a rapidly escalating level of violence by both settlers and Israeli soldiers against Palestinians, particularly youth and children. Not a day passes without an additional martyr, several wounded and kidnapped, houses destroyed, homes and vehicles attacked and vandalized. Some had even spoken of an undeclared war being gradually waged against Palestinians, now dubbed “Break the Wave,” partly using the background of international attention on the Ukraine and partly using the upcoming elections, as different Israeli politicians and officials try to outdo each other in their hostility toward Palestinians. Others have seen an undeclared third intifada of Palestinian resistance, largely uncoordinated (yet increasingly coalescing around a group known as “the Lion’s Den”) gathering momentum in a widespread phenomena covering all Palestine.
Yet, the general situation takes on a much different color when it touches a victim who is known to us personally, whose family worships with us, and whose home we may have visited.
Such is the case with Shadi Khoury, 16-year-old grandson of Samia Khoury, one of the founders of Sabeel. He was attacked in his home, beaten, his blood spilled, and was led away barefoot and blindfolded to be “interrogated.” As of this writing, he is still in detention with limited access to his family or attorney. Court hearings have been continuously delayed and his detention extended. The latest update from Samia is found below:
"Dear Friends: I was hoping to share with you some good news about Shadi at the end of the day. Unfortunately, there has been another extension to his detention since a week ago. The judge was not presented with any charges against Shadi, yet he decided to postpone the court session until Thursday. Your support and pressure have been a great help, and I hope Thursday will see the end of this nightmare for Shadi and all the family. He seemed concerned about the football [soccer] results today as he is quite a fan, but somebody managed to tip him on the results as he was getting into the police bus after the session. I actually listen to the sports section on Monte Carlo every morning so I can discuss the latest news with Shadi when he would stop by in the evenings. I do miss our evening chats, but the one who misses him most and is unable to express his feelings is the family dog, "Abboud” who was found sleeping in Shadi’s bed last night. Thank you again for your support and solidarity. Samia"
His detention has been extended yet again until Wednesday, November 2nd. We have yet to hear the verdict. We are not optimistic, but remain hopeful.
It makes no difference that Shadi is a minor or that he belongs to a Christian family known internationally for its commitment to nonviolence, its refusal to bear arms, its commitment to respecting our common humanity and mutual coexistence based on dignity, respect, and equality. It matters not that he lives in East Jerusalem, supposedly under Israeli civilian law, rather than the military law that applies in the rest of the West Bank. The only thing that matters is that he is Palestinian, not Jewish. Like thousands of other Palestinian children arrested and mistreated, like over 800 administrative detainees being held without charge or trial (only Palestinians and not a single Jew), he is just the latest example of the Israeli apartheid system of domination and control.
Like all other children kidnapped by the Israeli authorities, the “evidence” against him is essentially nonexistent. So, the goal of his detention is either to extract a “confession” from him under torture during interrogation, where he is isolated from parents, lawyers, or friends, and where he is subjected to pressure and intimidation (which is permitted under Israeli laws). If a confession can be obtained, he will then be “tried” and convicted on the basis of such confession, whether by him or by any of his friends who “name him” in their “confessions.” Barring that, the goal is to so frighten and intimidate the child that somehow his spirit will be broken, to live continuously in fear and anxiety and so refrain from any activity that might be viewed by Israel as unwelcome.
Israel has launched itself on a trajectory whereby it must continue to rule permanently over 7 million Palestinian Arabs, who must be bludgeoned into submission to its rule, acceptance of its dominance as a Jewish-supremacist state, and a negation of their own identity and humanity, hoping only for physical survival and no more. Palestinians, of course, have failed to oblige. We continue and will continue to insist upon our unique identity, our rights, and our essential humanity. To maintain its apartheid regime, this has inevitably required Israel to increasingly become more brutal and oppressive and to use more and more inhumane methods to achieve and maintain its domination over Palestine and Palestinians. The increasing rightward movement and the probable victory of Ben Gvir, who openly calls for ethnic cleansing and whose party is likely to become the third largest in the knesset, is both predictable and inevitable. The mask is falling off, and the struggle now is no longer for a Palestinian mini-state but for dismantling apartheid throughout the Holy Land.
Take Action!
Last week Shadi Khoury, 16-year-old student at the Ramallah Friends School and grandson of Sabeel co-founder Samia Khoury, was kidnapped this morning from his home in Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem by Israeli Occupation forces. He has been brutally assaulted and interogated without the presence of his family or legal counsel. As usual for the Israeli military courts, Shadi's case is continuously being delayed.
We have created an action link for you to email your Representatives and demand justice for 16 year old Shadi Khoury.
We are asking our Representatives to make 2 calls: one to the US State Department and one to the Israeli Embassy, demanding the immediate release of Shadi Khoury, alongside all children unlawfully kidnapped, interrogated, and violently detained by Israeli occupation forces.
Please email your Representatives with this link and #StandWithShadi!
Preach Palestine 2022
Now Is the Time!
Friends of Sabeel North America is calling on Christian leaders across the U.S. to commit their congregations to Preach Palestine this Advent season.
Be it an entire service or a single prayer, we are asking you to once again Preach Palestine and lift up the Palestinian people such that they would come to experience the joy, justice, and peace of Christ's liberating reign, as a very real light in the present darkness.
Click the link below to learn more and find resources!
Visit the Holy Land With Us!
This Advent season, join FOSNA in the Holy Land to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and bear witness to apartheid in action. Act fast, registration ends soon!
WATCH!
Click here to watch “Targeting the Lawyers and Journalists: Israel’s War on Palestinian Civil Society”
Get Involved!
We invite you to join us in the following events and activities:
Christian Zionism and Religious, Political and Economic Fundamentalisms: A Palestinian-Latin American Conversation
Our co-chair Joe Roos will be in Santiago, Chile this November for a conference on Christian Zionism in Latin America!
November 5: Dearborn
Palestine Israel: Past, Present, Future
On November 5, the Intercultural Community Center of Dearborn (ICCD), Michigan, will host an educational event titled "Palestine-Israel: Past, Present, and Future."
This will be both an in-person and Zoom event by registration. There will be a panel discussion, a documentary (in-person only), and a general discussion.
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, Jerusalem:
Weekly
Sabeel Prayer Service. Join Sabeel every Thursday (6pm Jerusalem) for online Bible Study, discussion, and prayer. Examine scripture in light of the ongoing realities confronting the Palestinian Church and the pursuit of Palestinian liberation.
Wave of Prayer. Subscribe to receive Sabeel's Wave of Prayer, enabling friends of Sabeel around the world to pray over issues of critical concern to the Holy Land on a weekly basis.
Kumi Now! (Week 43) Women in Conflict. There is a twisted irony at the intersection of war and gender: war is almost always declared and fought by men. But it is women and children that suffer much of the violence. The end of war is no different: men negotiate treaties, while the voices, needs, and expertise of women are ignored. In reality, however, women, and by extension children, bear unbelievable levels of violence and harm, especially in refugee camps, military occupations, and the ongoing crisis in Gaza. The United Nations acknowledged as much with its landmark resolution on women, peace, and security, Resolution 1325, on October 31, 2000. Kumi Now organizations and networks such as the Coalition of Women for Peace, MIFTAH, and Women in Black are Kumi Organizations working to protect women and make them part of the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Here’s what you need to know about violence against women in war and what you can do so that together we can rise up.