Quaker school student held by Israeli military released under house arrest
A 16-year-old student at a Quaker school in Palestine has been released under house arrest after 40 days in prison.
Shadi Khoury was taken from his family home in East Jerusalem in the middle of the night by the Israeli military, barefoot and blindfolded, on 18 October. After six court hearings, he was charged with stone-throwing and attacking police officers, charges he denies.
Each year 500-700 Palestinian children are detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system and UNICEF has been raising concerns about their rights with the Israeli authorities since 2013.
The United Nations also raised concerns last month that Israel is using excessive force against Palestinian children, with at least 26 killed so far this year in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and more than 800 injured.
Recording Clerk of Quakers in Britain, Paul Parker, wrote to Foreign Secretary James Cleverly in October, highlighting Shadi's case.
He asked the UK government to engage with the Government of Israel to ensure not only Shadi's release, but an end to the military trial and detention of Palestinian children.
The Foreign Office replied that they had: "made clear our concern about the continued reports of ill-treatment of Palestinian minors in Israeli military detention."
But they said they recognised the legitimate need for Israeli authorities to deploy security measures to address violence and encouraged them to deploy these in a way which "minimised tension and used appropriate force."
Research by Save the Children found that children in the Israeli military detention system are, like Shadi, routinely taken from their homes at night, blindfolded, with their hands bound behind their backs.
The most common charge is throwing stones, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Shadi, a student at the 150-year-old Ramallah Friends School, is accused with others of throwing stones at an Israeli family's car during the Sukkot Jewish holiday.
He will not yet be able to return to the school, where students attend silent meetings for worship and are guided by the Quaker testimonies, but his family are relieved to have him home to continue his education remotely and celebrate Christmas together.
His mother Raina Elias said: "The most important thing is he will be with us in our warm home, in the place where he should be, with Aboud (his dog). He will watch the World Cup and follow the matches with us."