Israeli forces attempt to arrest 2-year-old Palestinian child

Linah Alsaafin 4 April 2012

Mo’men Shtayeh probably owns a John Cena shirt, the WWE wrestler who the Palestinian kids hero worship, their shrill voices echoing in neighborhood streets of Cena’s catchphrase, “You can’t see me!” accompanied with waving a hand in front of their faces.

Mo’men Shtayeh has seen and knows too much. There is a chance — nay, a probability — that due to witnessing the Israeli army’s brutality and severe oppression in his village of Kufr Qaddoum, Mo’men might have grown up to be a warmongering Islamist (or perversely, a Tea Partier).

Mo’men Shtayeh represents a threat to the security of the Israeli racist occupying state. Apparently, it is well known that due to his savvy nature, Mo’men has been involved in drawing up specialized blueprints to attack enemy bases.

So it all makes perfect sense that the most moral army in the world, the Israeli Defense Forces, the fourth strongest army, the upholders of the beacon of democracy and godly light, tried to arrest Mo’men on Monday, 2 April.

The thing is, Mo’men is two-and-a-half years old.

Murad Shtayeh, the coordinator of the popular resistance committeee in Kufr Qaddoum and the father of little Mo’men, told The Electronic Intifada that heavily armed Israeli soldiers raided his house on Monday at 5:30pm. Two soldiers remained outside, two others went in the house, shouting they were going to arrest Mo’men.

“Mo’men was going inside the house,” Murad said, “when the soldiers suddenly took off from where they had been standing. They came running to the house like they were in a marathon, very fast and urgent, like a bunch of crazies.”

The soldiers claimed that Mo’men had not a nuclear warhead, or a submachine gun, but the most dangerous item in the world — a slingshot.

“Of course Mo’men didn’t have a slingshot in his hands!” scoffed Murad. “And even if he did, so what? He’s a kid.” For crying out loud.

The soldiers were adamant that Mo’men hand over his slingshot (which he doesn’t own) because he was using it to aim at the soldiers. What’s more, they wanted Mo’men to hand himself over to them too.

Bashar Shtayeh, Murad’s cousin, was also present at the scene. “The soldiers in the house drew their weapons and pointed them at the family,” he said, “threatening them that they would not leave unless Mo’men was handed over to them.”

A loud, angry arugment persisted for half an hour between Murad, other villagers who had come to see what the commotion was all about, and the soldiers. The soldiers then left, having cemented yet another moral meltdown in the occupation’s history. Not that they had morals in the first place.

But what of the toddler? Needless to say, Mo’men was terrified by what was going on around him.

“What can I say, of course he’s affected by this,” Murad said. “He was very scared. He’s doing slightly better now.”

Kufr Qaddoum began its weekly popular resistance protests in June 2011, against the encroaching illegal settlement of Qedumim that is built on the village’s land and to open the main village road that leads directly to Nablus.

The Israeli oppression against Kufr Qaddoum doesn’t just happen on Fridays. It occurs on a daily basis.

“Obviously, they thought this stunt — whether carried through or not — would serve as a punishment for us, but the truth is that it will not deter us from our protests,” Murad declared.

“Every day and night we have five to seven soldiers in the village harrassing us. Sometimes they come in with their dogs and fetch cars and houses. Yesterday [Tuesday] at 9:30pm the soldiers set up a checkpoint on one of the inner streets of the village.”

Mo’men Shtayeh, your little two-and-a-half-year-old self highlighted the absurdity, the idiocy, the shameful nature of the Israeli occupying army. May the force of John Cena be with you.

Editor’s Note: The family’s name is Shteiwi, not Shtayeh.

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Comments

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Oliver replied on

I would have thought that an air strike would be needed to deal with such a serious terrorist threat, and of course, the child's parents would be wasting their time complaining to the so called 'international criminal court'.

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Fatima replied on

If your thinking that the Palestinian people are the terrorist and which they have done no damage. Your certainly wrong. THE ISRAELIS ARE THE TERRORIST HERE they have done too much damage to the country more than anyone. Also killin everyone with a stupid reason or no reason.

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Fatima khodr replied on

In my opinion it's not.

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frank kahn replied on

My only quibble with you is your use of the "I" word to describe the Zionist entities armed forces aka the Occupation. Shukran for an excellent article.

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Llyn Kidner-Williams replied on

How can the world continue to ignore the fact that the State of Israel is operating not only from a state of Paranoia but completely outside the realm of reality. It is now controlling the ICC, of which it is not a signatory; the IEAE, again of which it is not a signatory, does not obey the UN and has not met its' obligations that allow it to become a Member of that Body; and has never been ratified as a member of the UN; yet it used it to whine constantly about everyone else while it commits the worst attrocities against civillians imagineable.
One day there will be books written about children like little Mo'men......without realizing it, the Israelis are making so many heroes of Palestinian children and their stories will live on forever and will be cherished throughout the world

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gareth replied on

I would rather think is the palestinians who do not obey the UN an ignore them.firing rockets as civilians, aiming at them, expoding in busses and shopping malls. It kinf of reminds elkaida..mmmm.

I think all the israelis do is defend themselves, and its legitimate. What would you do if for example the US would have constantly been shot at?

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Eric Roberts replied on

I would agree, except that Israel is the occupying force that does not belong there. People have a right to their land and have a right not to be harassed by soldiers in their own homes. The Israelis learned well from their Nazi oppressors and have become them.

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Anonymous replied on

Gareth,
What would you do if someone came to your house and claimed their ancestors lived there thousands of years ago? They kill your mother and father, give you the bathroom and the kitchen and control when and where you can leave those areas, if at all. Would you sit there and take it for 64 years? would you defend your home and your family or would you excuse them for attempting to arrest your 2-year old child on the basis mere retaliation to your "unreasonable" frustration?

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Coexist replied on

You're so right. And the Israelis were just living in Israel 60 years ago when one day all these Palestinians descended upon that land and started firing rockets and blowing up busses and so on. Surely the Israelis must be allowed to defend themselves!

Sorry for the sarcasm, but until Israelis realize the basic injustice that was committed and continues to be committed against the Palestinians there will not be peace. I do not advocate violence on any side (and the Zionists are not innocent by any stretch of the imagination), but people can only take so much. Yet, despite the continued oppression, the peaceful protests that are now common amongst the majority of Palestinians are very encouraging.

Read some history before making such old and tired false statements.

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xiang chun replied on

ISRAEL is not being shot at everyday. THERE IS NO EXCUSE OF TRYING TO ARREST A 2 YEAR OLD CHILD. SHAME ON ISRAEL AND YOU FOR DEFENDING ISRAEL IN THIS MATTER UNTIL INFINITY AND BEYOND.... :(

YOU SHOULD DROWN YOURSELF IN SHAME.

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Mary Hughes Thompson replied on

Take a guess. Hint: It's not the Palestinians.

And if you want to talk ancient history let's not forget Ben Gurion and his terrorist pals who murdered British and Palestinians, and who began the pogroms against Palestinians that continue to this day.

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annabelle replied on

Good God, do you have no shame at all? A 2.5 year old? A slingshot?

What does Israel expect?

THEY're occupying their land, oppressing them, controlling every aspect of their lives, humiliating them, making sure they feel as powerless as possible, terrorize them, abduct their parents, brothers, children out of the blue, imprison them indefinitely without ever bringing any charges against them.

They control their daily lives, abuse, kill members of their families, their neighbours indiscriminately - children, women, elderly, anyone! - as they STEAL THEIR WATER, STEAL MORE AND MORE OF THEIR LAND to give to new settlers who proceed to harass them to drive them, as they send the soldiers to protect those settlers who abuse them!!

WHAT do YOU expect them to do? HOW do YOU expect them to react or deal with these conditions? WHAT is YOUR suggestion? WHAT would YOU do if YOU were in THEIR shoes that would be so superior to the limited ways they find to RESIST and maintain some tiny sense of control over what's being done to them?

It's ridiculous to punish and oppress an entire population, leave them without any control over their lives, in a constant state of struggle, dehumanization, fear and trauma and then somehow act surprised and condemn the small acts of fighting back and use it to justify the abuse Israel continues to inflict on millions of innocent civilians.

One must be absolutely out of his or her mind to fail to realize what is obvious here; that the occupation will ALWAYS create this threat, that Israel is the OPPRESSOR and that it is not in any way surprising, unusual or unreasonable for the OPPRESSED to use what means it can to RESIST the inhumane treatment and humiliations inflicted on him/her.

It doesn't take a genius to come to that conclusion so I really don't know what you're expecting but it truly defies logic. Are the Palestinians just supposed to passively agree to submit to Israel, their master? Or WHAT?! I mean, COME ON!

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caribbean critic replied on

The IDF are a criminal organization committing continuous war crimes! however the ICC cannot hear the evidence because the Palestinians are not part of a state. I beg to differ the 1947 resolution Ratified in 1948 created two states, Israel and Palestine!
"Hey" you are such a moron it defies words to describe. The Israelis have ignored defied 160+ UN resolutions and that does not include the resolutions vetoed by the US and Britain. Israel is a signatory to the Hague and Geneva conventions but continuously violate these conventions and treaties with impunity given them by the US veto!

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Ina replied on

haha the palestinians who do not obey the UN , too funny your remark . Can you tell me what about Israel who hasn't obeyed any UN resolution aimed at them for their total existence? get your self educated about what really is happening in Israel and palestine and don't let yourself get sidetracked bij Israeli hasbara that is aiming to make you belief the opposite from what is really happening.

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oded replied on

I have no information whether this story is true or not. But I think it is you who are "operating not only from a state of Paranoia but completely outside the realm of reality" - Israel does not control the ICC nor the IEAE. Furthermore, Israel does not "commits the worst attrocities against civillians imagineable" - for that you need to go to Syria, Iran, China, Russia, and the list goes on. I am not trying to defend Israel, but I am trying to point out your paranoia - once you lose sight of the degrees of evil and the shades of injustice - you become blind.

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Abigail replied on

If you think this story has been made up to to www.btselem.org, the website of Zochroth, an Israeli organization that investigates and locates the many many villages destroyed by Israel in 1948 (not before) which are nice parks - funded by Keren Kayemet leYisrael - today or parking lots. Go to the website of HaMoked. Or ask some refuseniks why they do not want to serve in the Occupied Territories. Stories like this and worse happen day in day out. So before your lame comments, either shame on you - before Pesach mind you - or humble yourself. This was also a toddler. But it was only an Arab right?

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Jon replied on

How does some Israeli soldier decide to arrest a 2 year old? How does he even know he exists? It must be that they arrested and questioned another Palestinian who gave the IDF Mo'men's name (and address). They went to the house, the soldiers came to arrest little Mo'men, the family screamed that he was a baby, the soldiers, sure of their orders, argued for a bit, probably saw proof in some sort of ID card and left after 20, 30 minutes.

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Kareem replied on

You are assuming the symbolic element of this incident is unintentional. Mo'men's father is one of the organizers of the protests against nearby settlers. Intimidating him by threatening arrest to his young son and harassing his home seems like a pretty good reason enough for an unscrupulous military force to carry out this type of 'raid'. You might assume that Israel's military has some high moral principles they stick to, but if you read into the military history of the IDF, it has regularly been used by Zionist politicians to pursue their political agendas.

For an excellent resource on this (that any supporter of Israel will struggle to rationalize or defend) here is a link to an analysis of Moshe Sharett's diary, one of Israel's first prime ministers. http://chss.montclair.edu/engl...

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L W replied on

As an Israeli who served 42 (!) years in the reserve army, and a large part of that in the IDF Spokesman's Department, I find the incident reported in this (and other) stories disgusting, and can only agree with Eric Roberts about becoming like our Nazi oppressors. The Occupation and the behaviour of today's IDF is eating away at what little is left of the moral fibre of this nation.

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Charity Clayton replied on

Woo, watch that 2yr old, he's weilding a dangerous dummy!! Ludicrous is the word. Are the Israelis stark, raving mad? Something very worrying about the mental state of all involved in this one.

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rosa replied on

It sounds quite frightening and overdone. But i could not find in this story where they were going to arrest Mo'men.

Linah Alsaafin

Linah Alsaafin's picture

22 years old, from both Gaza and the West Bank. Writer and editor based in Ramallah. 

Twitter: @LinahAlsaafin