Israel condemned for jailing minors

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel is violating the rights of young Palestinians accused of stone-throwing, failing to protect them as minors and mistreating them during arrest, an Israeli rights group said on Monday.
In a report entitled "No Minor Matter," B'Tselem found that military law encouraged minors to plead guilty to avoid lengthy pre-trial detention, and that children were routinely sentenced to prison terms as a punishment rather than as a final resort. Of the 835 Palestinian minors, aged 17 and younger, arrested and prosecuted for stone-throwing between 2005 and 2010, just one was acquitted, the rights group said.
Palestinian children living in flashpoint areas of the West Bank and east Jerusalem are regularly arrested by Israeli forces for throwing stones during demonstrations or clashes.
The report cited the experiences of 50 youngsters interviewed by B'Tselem, 30 of whom said they had been arrested in the middle of the night and that their parents were not allowed to accompany them.
Only three of those arrested at night said they were interrogated on the same evening, with most not being questioned until the next day, and two held for five days before being questioned.
Meanwhile, Israel is to issue tenders for 336 new homes in two West Bank settlements, a spokesman for the Israeli ministry of construction and housing told AFP on Monday.
"We will very shortly issue tenders for the construction of 336 houses for Jews in Judea and Samaria" Ariel Rosenberg said, using the biblical term for the West Bank. "In total, 294 homes are planned for Beitar-Illit, and 42 others in Karnei Shomron," said Rosenberg. Beitar Illit is south of Jerusalem, while Karnei Shomron lies 15 kilometres (nine miles) west of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

Meanwhile, the Syrian foreign ministry said Monday that Damascus recognises a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital within the borders in effect prior to the 1967 Six-Day War. "Syria recognises a Palestinian state within the June 4, 1967 borders and east Jerusalem as its capital, and on the basis of the preservation of Palestinian legitimate rights," a statement said.
Syria "will treat the Damascus office of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) as an embassy upon the publication of this statement," the ministry added.
Meanwhile, Europe on Monday pressed the Mideast diplomatic Quartet to coax Israelis and Palestinians back to peace talks before a UN vote on recognising a Palestinian state, which could reveal EU divisions.
European Union foreign ministers adopted conclusions stressing that "urgent progress is needed towards a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
"The EU reiterates its concern at the continuing stalemate in the Peace Process and calls on the parties to show the highest sense of responsibility," they said after meeting in Brussels.