the diaries of palestine.

Stolen Childhood

The 7th of December 2017

My name is Fouzi Aljounidi, I'm the boy who became an icon after my picture when viral when I got arrested by 23 Israeli soldiers!

A lot of demonstrations and riots took place in different parts of Palestine and Gaza when Donald Trump announced Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel.

I had been arrested in Bab_alzawya in AL Khalil city (Hebrew), when furious fights took place between the people and the Israeli soldiers who broke into Bab_alzawya, they attacked people with stun grenades and tear gas.
They fired bullets like rain, I was under the pressure of the tear gas and bullets, so I panicked and tried to escape!

But then I didn’t know what was happening!
I was very nervous and confused...
Suddenly there was a big group of soldiers gathered around me!
Out of nowhere one of them stroked me with his gun on my belly and I fell.
He had beaten me up so hard and didn't stop... Other soldiers came and started beating me too!

I tried to run away from their guns, but I couldn't!
They kept hitting and cursing me with the filthiest words, till, at last, they forced me up and arrested me like in the famous picture.

I became completely numb and stopped feeling the pain, the number of hits I took on my whole body made me feel numb, so I guess I got lucky, cause after that I didn't feel any extra pain even though the soldiers never stopped hitting me.

They stroked me with the back of their guns and they slapped me with their hands and kicked me with their feet.
They kept doing that for 10 minutes, they didn't pay attention to my cries and screams, until at last, I felt numb.
It
They handcuffed me and blindfolded me, then the whole squad arrested me.
After all the beating I took I still got up with my head high.
This one quality is what made me overpass all of the soldiers who arrested me.

“When they released me I was shocked by the number of the soldiers!
I didn’t realize they were that many!
It’s such a shocking experience for a boy my age to get arrested that way! “

The soldiers led me to container Checkpoint, in alshohada'a street in Hebrew, where they carried on hitting and cursing me worse than before, then they poured cold water on me. I stayed there for Hours locked in an iron cage by the checkpoint, the soldiers kept pouring cold water on me, and they forced me to set in in a pool of cold water too, while they kept on hitting me.

I stopped feeling any pain after a while, I was completely numb, I stayed in the same position until they took me to Kiryat Arba Settlement, and they stopped beating me there.
After the investigation they took me to Gush Etzion military camp south Bethlehem, I stayed there in the youth department for 22 days, then I got bailed out.