Palestinian teenager chooses prison over Israeli community service
The 15-year-old has turned himself in to prison authorities, rather than "working for free" in the service of Israeli institutions.
2 min read
The 15-year-old, arrested for stone-throwing, chose jail time over working on settlements [TheNewArab]
A Palestinian teenager handed himself in to a Jerusalem police station on Wednesday to serve a 100-day prison sentence rather than carry out community service within Israeli institutions.
Bassem Abdullah Siam, 15, said that he would rather carry out his sentence behind bars than spend five months "working for free for the occupation".
The nature of the community work detainees carry out varies, but Palestinians say it often includes work on Israeli settlements outside Jerusalem.
The Wadi Hilweh information Centre described the work as designed "to break the will of young men and boys".
Siam, a resident of the Wadi Hilweh neighbourhood in the town of Silwan, south of Jerusalem, was arrested on 15 March last year as he made his way home from school, and was charged with throwing stones at Israeli soldiers.
The teenager was detained for two months before being released on bail on the condition that he remain in his home, leaving only to attend school.
Siam is not the only Palestinian who has chosen prison rather than community service.
In November, 25-year-old Ahmed Hadeeb also gave himself up to Israeli authorities to serve a 60-day prison sentence in Jerusalem.
"It is unreasonable to stand up to the occupation on one hand, and work in its institutions on the other," he told al-Jazeera Arabic at the time.
Bassem Abdullah Siam, 15, said that he would rather carry out his sentence behind bars than spend five months "working for free for the occupation".
The nature of the community work detainees carry out varies, but Palestinians say it often includes work on Israeli settlements outside Jerusalem.
The Wadi Hilweh information Centre described the work as designed "to break the will of young men and boys".
 |
The teenager was detained for two months before being released on bail |  |
Siam, a resident of the Wadi Hilweh neighbourhood in the town of Silwan, south of Jerusalem, was arrested on 15 March last year as he made his way home from school, and was charged with throwing stones at Israeli soldiers.
The teenager was detained for two months before being released on bail on the condition that he remain in his home, leaving only to attend school.
Siam is not the only Palestinian who has chosen prison rather than community service.
In November, 25-year-old Ahmed Hadeeb also gave himself up to Israeli authorities to serve a 60-day prison sentence in Jerusalem.
"It is unreasonable to stand up to the occupation on one hand, and work in its institutions on the other," he told al-Jazeera Arabic at the time.
Follow the Middle East's top stories in English at The New Arab on Google News
More In News
![Israeli forces ordered bombed Gaza's Jabalia, ordering residents to leave [Getty]](/sites/default/files/styles/image_156x88/public/2176418030.jpeg?h=a5f2f23a&itok=srmqckaL)
